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Exclusive: Sinclair approaches Tribune Media about possible deal - sources

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...sman-presses-sinclair-merger-concerns-1053744

Congressman Tony Cardenas questions the move of the Sinclair/Tribune deal

In a letter, Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas asked tough questions about the Sinclair-Tribune merger.
On Wednesday afternoon, Congressman Tony Cardenas sent a letter to Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley outlining concerns he and his 48 co-signers have about the company's pending acquisition of Tribune Media.

Democratic politicians have joined with public interest groups and even conservative media companies to oppose the merger, which is under review by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice. Opponents have argued that the transaction will result in staff cuts at local television stations and the politicization of the medium.

"What percentage of station staff does Sinclair plan to keep for each local station it acquires, and what percentage would it replace with Sinclair-hired staff?" Rep. Cardenas asked Ripley in the letter. "Would Sinclair keep local news directors and local news anchors in their positions if the merger is approved? How would Sinclair ensure that local news is respectful and responsive to local concerns?"

Sinclair has said repeatedly that the company is committed to local news, but has not provided specifics about how it will handle the local TV stations that will come with the deal. The company expects the deal to close in early 2018, Ripley said Wednesday morning on an earnings call.

Cardenas asked for a response to his letter by Nov. 10. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said that Sinclair's coverage is "very skewed, and it's very divisive in some ways," adding that "it's really scary to think that they would actually have the ability to influence what people hear and see in their local news across the country."
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RadioPatrol said:
Congressman Tony Cardenas questions the move of the Sinclair/Tribune deal
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Truthfully, some of the questions are beyond the scope of current federal regulations. If the Congressman would like to change the law to make retention of existing staff part of the requirement of a merger, then it would be applicable. And truthfully, Congress doesn't directly approve mergers. If they want to reverse an FCC approval, they can do that. But the Democrats don't have the votes. So it's pretty much an empty threat.
 
Or as I like to call it a dog & pony show no matter what Sinclair says Dems aren't going to like. If I was ever was grilled by congress I'd be a smarta to them while answering their question I'd gladly play that little game.
 
Pretty much Sinclair is happy with the FCC giving them everything they wanted to know if they will divest any of overlap Tribune Stations now. Hoping DOJ does make Sinclair to divest although will be years before the new rule take effect because the courts will be deciding on it.
 
If Sinclair were anything else other than a group owner of broadcast stations, maybe DOJ would have objections, but they won't.
 
I was thinking maybe this upcoming marriage between Tribune and Sinclair is why WCCT-TV in Hartford moved the One Magnificent Morning Block to Saturdays in September (instead of splitting it up on Saturdays and Sundays) and running infomercials on Sunday Morning as a place-holder to add the Sinclair kids block. This is why the block was split between Saturdays and Sundays.

WCCT has a mandatory live Catholic Church Mass at 10AM - 7 days a week. It's been on for almost 25 years. I think it's like the mandatory 700 Club Programming on Freeform on cable. So going back to when WCCT was WB-20 WTXX, KIDS WB would air 8AM-10AM on Saturdays and Sundays. And the same for whatever other "kids" block that the CW was programming.
 
Jonathan7157 said:
I wonder if most Tribune stations are going to lose their affiliates from this merger if they are in a market with a Sinclair-owned station. Because this also happened when Allbritton merged with Sinclair, where WCFT, WJSU and WCIV all had to lose their ABC affiliates post-merger for "subchannel" affiliates (networks that are usually in subchannels, such as H&I, Heartland, etc.), instead of keeping their network affiliates (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.)
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Using Denver as an example, I'm thinking IF KDVR & KWGN are retained by Sinclair, what will likely happen is Fox moving to KWGN 2 (Which would donothing but PUT SMILES ON THE FACES OF THE BRASS of News Corp. executives) while the CW will fall to KDVR 31

As for the news, the 7:00 & 11:00 PM newscast will switch from KWGN 2 (Yes they actually air one at that hour here) to KDVR 31. The 4:00 PM newscast could go either way. All other newscasts would remain unaffected

If Sinclair either chooses NOT to keep the Denver duo (Or is forced by the FCC to sell it), then I'm thing Fox will not only buy KDVR back but will also buy KWGN as well & move Fox to KWGN as described above & run KDVR either as an Independent (With the CW going to KTVD 20) or keep the CW affiliation (Either on KWGN or move it to KDVR) for the duration of the current contract & then offer a swap between KWGN/KDVR & KTVD whereas KTVD gets the CW affiliation in exchange for the MyNetwork TV affiliation (But given the worthiness of MNTV, It's doubtful Fox will even bother with such a move, but will let the CW simply go to KTVD 20 & run KDVR as an Independent) with the newscasts being moved around as described above regardless of what happens

I don't see anyone else buying the duo if Sinclair is forced to sell (Though Fox could also spin off KDVR 31 to CBS who would of course put the CW on there & pair it with KCNC 4 with newscasts produced by them instead)

JMO though.....
 
I think Meredith would be the likely buyer for Fox17 if Sinclair doesn't sidecar WXMI. Looks like that Sinclair will be selling 6 stations to Fox mainly in NFL markets it looks like and Fox has wanted to get into Seattle for years for Seahawks.
 
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/109659/sinclair-takes-out-additional-loans

Update Sinclair takes additional loans

Sinclair Broadcast Group has raised $3.725 billion of new loans and amended some terms of its bank credit facility. The new term B loans mature in 2024 and are priced at LIBOR plus 2.50%. The proceeds “are expected to be used to purchase the outstanding shares of Tribune Media Co., refinance certain of Tribune’s existing indebtedness, pay costs and expenses expected to be incurred in connection with the acquisition, and for general corporate purposes,” the company said.
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One has to wonder if the Murdochs is using the sale of 21st Century Fox as a way to go after more stations, especially the ones that Sinclair has to divest.
 
only1moore said:
One has to wonder if the Murdochs is using the sale of 21st Century Fox as a way to go after more stations, especially the ones that Sinclair has to divest.
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Initially the Murdochs wanted Ion to get the Fox Affiliations away from Sinclair though in cities like Sacramento, Baltimore, San Diego and Seattle. These were some of the most notable cities most affected by the Sinclair/Tribune deal with Fox Affiliations.
Fox originally intended Ion to grab Fox affiliations away from these cities where a Sinclair/Tribune station had a contract with Fox.
But that went cold due to the unrelated deal with Murdoch's involving Fox Studios/Disney Deal recently.
 
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