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Sinclair, Tribune Close to Merger Deal


MidwestTV

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I'm surprised that Armstrong Williams hasn't gone after, and Sinclair has wished to dump markets like Minneapolis and Raleigh/Durham. You would have thought that Raleigh would have been ditched long ago. From the cursed WRDC to the self-inflicted damage of WLFL (by losing FOX to WRAZ). It's like they're holding out for ABC to sell WTVD....

 

I posted this in the Speculation thread but there may be the possibility of Raleigh being spun off to get under the cap. If they'd do some signal reshuffling, Nexstar would be the one to get it, likely shutting down WLFL and moving its programming to a sub off of WRDC or WNCN.

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For Armstrong Williams to claim to want to advance minority ownership, he sure has a funny way of showing it.

It’s the politics of victimization. He knows he has little to no shot whatsoever, and he’s going to bellyache about it.

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https://www.armstrongwilliams.com/brands

 

Good luck with that. Our best friends want to shell out WRLH, KOKH/KOCB, KZJO, WGNT, and KDNL. They're also trying to acquire WCWG/Greensboro (which is already being sold to Hearst) to try to play the quadropoly game.

 

Keep dreaming!

Just because Atji Paid Off could give that a wink and a nod doesn’t exactly mean his Republican compatriots or the DOJ would sign off on something that brazen.

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https://www.armstrongwilliams.com/brands

 

Good luck with that. Our best friends want to shell out WRLH, KOKH/KOCB, KZJO, WGNT, and KDNL. They're also trying to acquire WCWG/Greensboro (which is already being sold to Hearst) to try to play the quadropoly game.

 

Keep dreaming!

ICYMI: Lockwood sold WCWG's spectrum in the auction $105,731,122 and is now living on WXII's stick, so it makes sense that Hearst just take over that entire operation. Hearst is apparently going to give Lockwood $3.3 million to do so. Let's just hope that Lockwood can put that $109,000,000+ to good use, cough KTEN cough.

 

Also, can anyone see a quadropoly in OKC?

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KTVU is a good example. Cox ran an excellent news operation but because of the 49ers, Fox wanted the station. Cox finally gave in and sold it to Fox. People were worried that KTVU would change for the worse, but outside of the logo changing and the name change (now called KTVU Fox 2), not much has changed content wise. Instead, they have expanded their newscasts to new time slots (4pm and 11pm).

 

Anyone who actually lives in the Bay Area is welcome to tell me if I'm wrong in this observation.

 

KTVU has changed a lot in terms of content. The Ten O'Clock News is still a pretty good and trustworthy show, and I'd say a lot of that has to do with the nightside EP who is a legend. But KTVU has lost about half of their reporters and photogs, many of whom were veterans with 10+ years of seniority there. They're paying staff less and have cut back on resources. That's not a good thing to be doing when you're also adding newscasts. It's still a great news operation, but it's not the same, undisputed leader in the market that it was before.

 

There's a lot more to working in news than just what the logo looks like or how many hours of news you put on the air.

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Well we know the FCC have paused the 180-day shot clock of the deal earlier this month. Now advocacy group Demand Progress wants the FCC's Inspector General to investigate why they'd stop the shot clock.

In a letter to Sinclair explaining why it had paused the informal 180-day shot clock on the merger, Michele Carey, chief of the Media Bureau, cited Sinclair's Jan. 4 ex parte note to the FCC that it was evaluating divestitures and other amendments to the deal based on changes in the FCC's media ownership rules, as well as the impact of the DOJ review on possible divestiture choices.

________

 

Demand Progress saw that as a pause that refreshed the deal's chances of success and thus the chairman's thumb on the scale, "giving time for Sinclair to sell off some stations to get it approved," adding: "It's clear Chairman Pai is rolling out the red carpet for Sinclair, without regard to whether or not this merger is good for the public interest."

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Well we know the FCC have paused the 180-day shot clock of the deal earlier this month. Now advocacy group Demand Progress wants the FCC's Inspector General to investigate why they'd stop the shot clock.

 

That's a really good question. Why WOULD they stop the shot clock? Perhaps because certain changes haven't taken effect yet?

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That's a really good question. Why WOULD they stop the shot clock? Perhaps because certain changes haven't taken effect yet?

 

All they need is a PLAUSIBLE reason.

 

Plausible Reason #1:If DOJ has hinted to the Bureau that they are going to require divestitures for merger approval, the FCC will definitely defer to them until they make a final determination. Plus, Fox Television Stations, Sinclair and Tribune (and probably a few other station groups) are in talks to acquire some stations in an attempt to assuage the national cap concerns, so the FCC is playing nice, and waiting for that to go through.

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All they need is a PLAUSIBLE reason.

 

Plausible Reason #1:If DOJ has hinted to the Bureau that they are going to require divestitures for merger approval, the FCC will definitely defer to them until they make a final determination. Plus, Fox Television Stations, Sinclair and Tribune (and probably a few other station groups) are in talks to acquire some stations in an attempt to assuage the national cap concerns, so the FCC is playing nice, and waiting for that to go through.

 

I agree not until Sinclair is done with selling the stations to Fox and other stations kinda surprise the deals haven't been made final yet.

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I wouldn't be surprised if they're waiting for February 7th. That's when the new FCC dereg rules go into effect.

 

But those advocacy groups (a couple have already filed suit challenging the new rules) could go to the Third Circuit in Philly and ask for an "emergency" stay. And if that stay is granted, the new rules wouldn't be in effect until after a pending court case is done. One of the groups tried requesting a stay the UHF Discount comeback last year, but the D.C. Circuit denied their request.

 

The DOJ could be announcing their ruling any day now.........

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The DOJ could be announcing their ruling any day now.........

 

Which could come as early as sometime today to sometime next week according to Broadcasting&Cable and sources close to the DOJ, etc.

 

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/sources-doj-close-okaying-sinclair-tribune/171391

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I wouldn't be surprised if they're waiting for February 7th. That's when the new FCC dereg rules go into effect.

 

But those advocacy groups (a couple have already filed suit challenging the new rules) could go to the Third Circuit in Philly and ask for an "emergency" stay. And if that stay is granted, the new rules wouldn't be in effect until after a pending court case is done. One of the groups tried requesting a stay the UHF Discount comeback last year, but the D.C. Circuit denied their request.

 

The DOJ could be announcing their ruling any day now.........

 

According to the Broadcast Law Blog and Broadcasting and Cable, those groups did file an emergency petition with the Third Circuit, asking the Court to stop the new rules from going into effect. They also requested the Court appoint a Special Master to oversee how the FCC proceeds with further ownership rules changes.

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RIP Tribune! Goodbye localization!

 

Former CW2/FOX31 news director Holly Gauntt feared the Sinclair merger might happen. She was right, and she made the right move to KMGH ABC7 across the street on Speer Boulevard.

 

Sayonara Colorado ski lodge set for KWGN CW2 with Stephen Arnold's Locals Only. Buh-bye regular set for KDVR FOX31 with This is the Place, also by Stephen Arnold. Possible layoffs for viewer favorites like Mike Landess and Ernie Bjorkman on CW2. Altogether, it was Exciting and Fun to watch while it lasted!

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Wonder why they're not willing to announce the divestures before getting DOJ approval?

 

Because I'm guessing the DOJ will signal exactly what has to be divested when they come down with their ruling. Sinclair is not going to divest stations that they won't have to.

 

It appears that, since the day is coming to an end, we will have to wait until Monday for a ruling.

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Wonder why they're not willing to announce the divestures before getting DOJ approval?

From what I understand, the Fox deal is a handshake deal and will be announced after the DOJ ruling. But Fox has their wish list of 6-10 stations and is likely going to get what they want.

 

The ruling is academic and should surprise no one.

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