Jump to content

Sinclair, Tribune Close to Merger Deal


MidwestTV

Recommended Posts

I read that both WGN and WPIX are on the selling block too! I hope KTLA is on that list too because Sinclair will F@*k them up! (Excuse the language)

 

*Plus I would still want those 3 to be sister stations.

On the updated comprehensive exhibit, they proposed to divest the two, but on the footnotes, it said it would still operate the two though master service agreements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 2.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
It’s a class A station owned by the Klaus family (dba Media-Com) who own longtime FM talker WNIR/100.1 in Kent.

 

And it has recently been put up for sale. Their longtime sister station WAOH 29 (also a class A that only went digital a few years back) cashed out in the auction and went off the air this fall.

 

The ad has been on TVNewsCheck for a few weeks now...

 

Now if a certain company gets snubbed from WJW...would a Class A purchase count towards cap space even if it is irrelevant in terms of multiple station ownership?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And it has recently been put up for sale. Their longtime sister station WAOH 29 (also a class A that only went digital a few years back) cashed out in the auction and went off the air this fall.

 

The ad has been on TVNewsCheck for a few weeks now...

 

Now if a certain company gets snubbed from WJW...would a Class A purchase count towards cap space even if it is irrelevant in terms of multiple station ownership?

Do WBTS and WYCN count for Comcast? Legit question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read that both WGN and WPIX are on the selling block too! I hope KTLA is on that list too because Sinclair will F@*k them up! (Excuse the language)

 

*Plus I would still want those 3 to be sister stations.

Sinclair wants to unload those stations to Howard Strik but continue to operate them.

 

Of course they're pulling this stunt after the FCC's IG announced he was looking into the re-institution of the "UHF Discount" under Ajit Paid Off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the FCC document, the situation in OKC is a bit hard to decipher. On one hand, regarding the conflicts between KFOR/KAUT and KOKH/KOCB...

The parties intend to divest one of the Top-Four stations and one other station to a third party or parties, and an assignment application or applications will be filed promptly upon entering into a purchase agreement or agreements. In the meantime, Divestiture Trust Applications for all four of the Oklahoma City stations are being filed concurrently with this Amendment in order to retain flexibility, based on the outcome of our negotiations with prospective purchasers, to determine the precise stations to be placed in trust.

 

But then there's this...

Upon the closing of the sale of this station, Sinclair intends to enter into an option and services agreement(s) with the buyer(s) of KOCB(TV) and/or KAUT-TV and will file copies of the agreements along with the application(s) to assign the licenses of these stations to one or more third parties.

So are they saying they plan to keep either their existing duopoly or KFOR/KAUT depending on any offers, and sell the outlier top-4 outlet (either KFOR or KOKH) to an independent buyer, thereby creating a virtual triopoly, or are they divesting one duopoly to a separate third-party and keeping the other?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the FCC document, the situation in OKC is a bit hard to decipher. On one hand, regarding the conflicts between KFOR/KAUT and KOKH/KOCB...

 

 

But then there's this...

 

So are they saying they plan to keep either their existing duopoly or KFOR/KAUT depending on any offers, and sell the outlier top-4 outlet (either KFOR or KOKH) to an independent buyer, thereby creating a virtual triopoly, or are they divesting one duopoly to a separate third-party and keeping the other?

 

I guess depending on the buyer, they might either sell one big-4 station or one of the duopolies intact given that the footnote says it will enter into an SSA "with the buyer(s) of KOCB(TV) and/or KAUT-TV".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the updated comprehensive exhibit, they proposed to divest the two, but on the footnotes, it said it would still operate the two though master service agreements.

 

They say an owner(s) has been identified. With the footnote, it means it will be a sidecar company like Cunningham. It skirts the cap, but in reality Sinclair has total control. FCC should deny this. Any thoughts that Tegna, Scripps, Hearst or Cox would buy either of the stations is out the window unless the FCC requires them to sell the stations outright. I'm not going to bet on that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess depending on the buyer, they might either sell one big-4 station or one of the duopolies intact given that the footnote says it will enter into an SSA "with the buyer(s) of KOCB(TV) and/or KAUT-TV".

I think that Sinclair themselves don't know what they'll do with OKC, yet going back to the quote from Variety I posted earlier this week, it's my belief that Tegna would be the favorite for KFOR while Cox would take KOKH, to pair with KOKI in Tulsa, depending on which top 4 OKC station Sinclair decides to keep. Here's a possible scenario chart:

 

Should KOKH Stay:

KOKH/KOCB stay as is

KFOR to Tegna

KAUT to either Tegna or shelled

 

Should KFOR Be Acquired:

KFOR/KAUT join Sinclair

KOKH to Cox

KOCB to either Cox or shelled to keep KFOR the senior partner

 

I apologize if I placed this in the wrong thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that Sinclair themselves don't know what they'll do with OKC, yet going back to the quote from Variety I posted earlier this week, it's my belief that Tegna would be the favorite for KFOR while Cox would take KOKH, to pair with KOKI in Tulsa, depending on which top 4 OKC station Sinclair decides to keep. Here's a possible scenario chart:

 

Should KOKH Stay:

KOKH/KOCB stay as is

KFOR to Tegna

KAUT to either Tegna or shelled

 

Should KFOR Be Acquired:

KFOR/KAUT join Sinclair

KOKH to Cox

KOCB to either Cox or shelled to keep KFOR the senior partner

 

I apologize if I placed this in the wrong thread.

Somehow, I think that it's gonna be a KOKH/KOCB/KAUT combo (similar to Sinclair's triopoly situations in Baltimore and Nashville, minus the fact that KAUT is not a MyNetworkTV affiliate and hasn't been since it lost rights to the service to KSBI in September 2012), with KFOR getting tossed to another group. In earnest, KFOR would be a decent commodity, especially considering that it has a competitive weather operation -- helped by Mike Morgan's moves to best KWTV through the rivalry that he and Gary England had dating back to when Morgan was at KOCO in the late '80s/early '90s and up to England's retirement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They say an owner(s) has been identified. With the footnote, it means it will be a sidecar company like Cunningham. It skirts the cap, but in reality Sinclair has total control. FCC should deny this. Any thoughts that Tegna, Scripps, Hearst or Cox would buy either of the stations is out the window unless the FCC requires them to sell the stations outright. I'm not going to bet on that.

Ajit Paid Off may give it a wink and a nod, but there’s no guarantee that the other two Republican commissioners will join him... ESPECIALLY when the commission’s inspector general has poked his nose into evaluating the UHF Discount reinstatement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ajit Paid Off may give it a wink and a nod, but there’s no guarantee that the other two Republican commissioners will join him... ESPECIALLY when the commission’s inspector general has poked his nose into evaluating the UHF Discount reinstatement.
I get that you're not a big fan of Trump or Ajit Pai, but can you please knock it off with the politicizing of this thread?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get that you're not a big fan of Trump or Ajit Pai, but can you please knock it off with the politicizing of this thread?

 

I once said that to him and he got pissed and blocked me (was also pissed because I called him out on his constant insistence that there was no way in hell NBC Boston was gonna happen...and it did). It’s so hard to take his comments seriously when he makes the sly comments and refers to Pai as Paid off. Same with the other poster who constantly quotes breitbart as an unbiased source for news but is in no way conservative (but I better shut up because his posse might come after me again for no reason). I don’t care what you’re politics are just be straightforward about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somehow, I think that it's gonna be a KOKH/KOCB/KAUT combo (similar to Sinclair's triopoly situations in Baltimore and Nashville, minus the fact that KAUT is not a MyNetworkTV affiliate and hasn't been since it lost rights to the service to KSBI in September 2012), with KFOR getting tossed to another group. In earnest, KFOR would be a decent commodity, especially considering that it has a competitive weather operation -- helped by Mike Morgan's moves to best KWTV through the rivalry that he and Gary England had dating back to when Morgan was at KOCO in the late '80s/early '90s and up to England's retirement.

I can see Sinclair taking KAUT only to eliminate the news competition as the KFOR produced newscasts on KAUT, Rise & Shine and Oklahoma's News 4 at 9, would obviously be cancelled. Furthermore, this may lead to KWTV picking up the slack by launching similar newscasts on KSBI.

 

ICYMI: As for the weather competition, David Payne, who worked under Mike Morgan for many years at KFOR moved to KWTV and is now the latter's Chief Meterologist, took over for Gary England upon his retirement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My biggest question becomes why does Sinclair want to break one of the OKC duopolies up? Because that's a lot of infastructure that both KOKH and KFOR built that's gonna be torn down and be rebuilt. But if there was one OKC duopoly I would prefer to see get broken up it would be KOKH/KOCB because the only things that KOCB would take to KFOR/KAUT would be their operations (as they don't do any newscasts other than a repeat of the 9pm newscast and occaisionally airing the 9pm newscast whenever Fox Sports runs into the regulary scheduled newscast on KOKH)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ICYMI: As for the weather competition, David Payne, who worked under Mike Morgan for many years at KFOR moved to KWTV and is now the latter's Chief Meterologist, took over for Gary England upon his retirement.

 

Yeah, and Payne's kinda carried on the technological competitiveness with his former mentor as KWTV's chief, particularly in regards to one of that station's most recent efforts: the deployment of their real-time radar, "NextGen Live". I've been reading Weathering the Storm (Gary England's 1996 autobio) and The Mercy of the Sky (about the May 2013 Moore tornado), which both touch upon how England strived to provide more real-time weather warnings, in part through the development of better radar systems that scanned precipitation at faster rates than those operated by the NWS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's what I gathered from the application:

  • Seattle: Sinclair will keep KOMO and KUNS, will sell KZJO to a shell company and will also sell KCPQ (no mention of SSA for the latter, and given that the applications mention "third parties", probably someone not tied to Sinclair)
  • St. Louis: Sinclair will keep KTVI and KDNL (they claim the latter is ranked #5), will sell KPLR (no mention of SSA)
  • Salt Lake: Sinclair will keep KUTV, KJZZ and KMYU, will sell KSTU (no mention of SSA)
  • Greensboro: Sinclair has requested a waiver to keep WGHP and WXLV, will sell WMYV to a shell company
  • Harrisburg: Sinclair has requested a waiver to keep WHP and WPMT (doubtful)
  • Grand Rapids: Sinclair will sell either WWMT or WXMI (probably the former since it broadcasts on VHF; no mention of SSA)
  • Richmond: Sinclair will sell either WTVR or WRLH (probably the latter; no mention of SSA)
  • Des Moines: Sinclair will sell either WHO or KDSM (probably the latter; no mention of SSA)

 

One thing I did notice re-reading the divestiture plans just now, they omitted what they plan to do with their conflict in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Among other things, it makes no mention whether Sinclair plans to acquire WNEP directly, whether it would divest any of the three stations they already operate through the SSAs with MPS Media and New Age Media, or if they would consider acquiring WSWB or WQMY directly to form a legal duopoly with WNEP (or at least, transfer the SSA of one of the stations under WNEP) should it choose to acquire the latter outright.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the most glaring conflict market on account of the fact that -- like others such as Seattle, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake City -- it involves four stations. I'm not sure whether the fact that neither Sinclair nor Tribune owns their respective stations in that market (they just operate them under SSAs) has anything to do with it, but it would make sense to address that conflict.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I did notice re-reading the divestiture plans just now, they omitted what they plan to do with their conflict in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Among other things, it makes no mention whether Sinclair plans to acquire WNEP directly, whether it would divest any of the three stations they already operate through the SSAs with MPS Media and New Age Media, or if they would consider acquiring WSWB or WQMY directly to form a legal duopoly with WNEP (or at least, transfer the SSA of one of the stations under WNEP) should it choose to acquire the latter outright.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the most glaring conflict market on account of the fact that -- like others such as Seattle, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake City -- it involves four stations. I'm not sure whether the fact that neither Sinclair nor Tribune owns their respective stations in that market (they just operate them under SSAs) has anything to do with it, but it would make sense to address that conflict.

That and they also omitted NorfolkVirginia Beach/Hampton Roads and it involves 3 stations (WTVX and the WTKR-WGNT duopoly) so I don't know if Sinclair is ignoring the Dreamcatcher stations on purpose orif gthey're waiting until they absolutely postively have to address both Scranton and Norfolk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That and they also omitted NorfolkVirginia Beach/Hampton Roads and it involves 3 stations (WTVX and the WTKR-WGNT duopoly) so I don't know if Sinclair is ignoring the Dreamcatcher stations on purpose orif gthey're waiting until they absolutely postively have to address both Scranton and Norfolk

 

Are we sure that Sinclair is going to do anything with these stations other than take over the SSA? There's really no reason for them to be transferred to another shell company, they'll probably remain under Dreamcatcher "ownership".

 

In fact, there's really no reason for them to be brought up in the merger at all because, again, Tribune doesn't actually own them.

 

The whole reason Dreamcatcher exists is for Tribune to skirt around ownership rules anyways (it's funny how nobody seems to care when they did it, but when Sinclair tries to skirt around ownership issues it's the worst thing imaginable.) Do you really think the FCC is going to care that Sinclair owns WTVZ and has a SSA with WTKR-WGNT when they clearly don't care that Tribune (pre-split) owned the Daily Press and was providing services to these two stations?

 

Dreamcatcher will probably stay Dreamcatcher and Ed Wilson will get his checks from Sinclair instead of from Tribune. There's no reason to reinvent the wheel here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are we sure that Sinclair is going to do anything with these stations other than take over the SSA? There's really no reason for them to be transferred to another shell company, they'll probably remain under Dreamcatcher "ownership".

 

In fact, there's really no reason for them to be brought up in the merger at all because, again, Tribune doesn't actually own them.

 

The whole reason Dreamcatcher exists is for Tribune to skirt around ownership rules anyways (it's funny how nobody seems to care when they did it, but when Sinclair tries to skirt around ownership issues it's the worst thing imaginable.) Do you really think the FCC is going to care that Sinclair owns WTVZ and has a SSA with WTKR-WGNT when they clearly don't care that Tribune (pre-split) owned the Daily Press and was providing services to these two stations?

 

Dreamcatcher will probably stay Dreamcatcher and Ed Wilson will get his checks from Sinclair instead of from Tribune. There's no reason to reinvent the wheel here.

 

Not sure many folks knew this existed, and it is in limited markets. Did Tribune set those up or do they go back to Local TV or NYT? Sinclair broadly uses and abuses it, especially talking about large market stations which is not inline with Pai's public thinking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure many folks knew this existed, and it is in limited markets. Did Tribune set those up or do they go back to Local TV or NYT? Sinclair broadly uses and abuses it, especially talking about large market stations which is not inline with Pai's public thinking.

 

As mentioned above, Tribune set them up due to issues with the now-repealed newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using TVNewsTalk you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.