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Sinclair and Tribune Part 2: The Redux


Weeters

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Due to a variety of reasons, mainly that there seemed to be 30 concurrent discussions going on at once, as well as constant political discourse that didn't belong in the thread, the old Sinclair/Tribune thread has been retired and taken to a nice farm upstate to live out the rest of it's life in peace.

 

Because the deal is not yet finalized, there is a need for place to discuss the merger. This is one of those places. As this is a large business transaction, there are many moving parts, and therefore there are several other aspects of the merger that have been split off into their own discussions.

  • This thread exists to be a central discussion of procedural and regulatory updates regarding the merger (releases from the FCC, DOJ, etc.) as well as a place to discuss general news updates regarding the merger (statements by executives, FTVLive updates, single station divestiture proceedings, etc.)
  • General TV: Sinclair and Tribune: Just the Facts
    This thread is for updates and developments without all the discussion. Please cross post any news updates to both threads!
  • Corporate Chat: Sinclair Broadcast Group
    This thread is for any discussion of policy and procedure at existing Sinclair stations, such as "must-runs" and group-wide initiatives like promo campaigns.
  • General TV: Fox and Sinclair finalizing purchase of six stations
    Thread for discussion about a reported deal with Fox Television Stations to sell a number of Tribune stations to Fox Television Stations.
  • Speculation: Sinclair-Tribune: Repercussions, rumors
    This is the speculation thread, where you can come up with all sorts of wild scenarios as to how this deal will play out. If your post is largely based in fantasy ("Here's what I think will happen" "What if..." etc.) it belongs in this thread.
  • Additional threads may be created or broken off from this thread as they warrant. Check back here for updates.

The last thread became a real mess, and I'd like to avoid this one becoming a big mess as well, so there are some special rules in this thread that I intend on strictly enforcing.

  1. Politics play a their part in this. There's no arguing that. However, there is zero need to attack any other user here based on their political leanings. Keep the politics to a minimum. Any harassment or attacks directed at another user will earn you a 2 day thread ban the first time and a permanent thread ban the second time and a strike on your account.
  2. Don't get emotional. There is almost no need to get emotionally invested in this deal unless you yourself work for Tribune. Ranting and raving (going on and on for several sentences) about how Sinclair is going to "ruin" your favorite/a completely arbitrary station will be considered off-topic and will incur the typical penalty for off-topic posting.
  3. Don't be repetitive. Don't ask the same question over and over or bring up the same subject repeatedly. This tends to tie into rule #2.
  4. Remember the rest of the rules. Consider reviewing your posts before hitting submit. Edit your posts to add thoughts that you may have after submitting. If you're replying to multiple posts, use the multi-reply feature (Click the "+Quote" button on every post you want to reply to, then scroll down to the quick reply box and click the big "Insert Quotes..." button.)
  5. STAY ON TOPIC. Going off on a tangent about a completely unrelated topic is not allowed. Your posts will be deleted and you may be thread banned temporarily and/or given strikes for breaking the rules.

I will try to monitor this thread as much as possible. Don't forget to hit that "Report" button if you feel a post has violated the rules.

 

Thanks you.

Weeters

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Any chance there's a feature in this forum software to have a wiki/sticky post at the top of that thread that could just have the links to the latest news/blog articles about the merger? I care about this topic, but 95% of what has been in these threads have made it not worth it to even try to read. I only want to see the latest, concrete developments.

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Thanks! Now I remember why I became Vp/General Manager emeritus. Especially the emeritus part.

 

Weeters said those guys trashed that last thread pretty good.

 

You (as designated VP-GM Emeritus) should go collect some money from those guys for the deposit on that room they trashed.

 

 

RECONQUISTA!

 

재협상하다

 

jaehyeobsanghada

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Weeters said those guys trashed that last thread pretty good.

 

You (as designated VP-GM Emeritus) should go collect some money from those guys for the deposit on that room they trashed.

 

 

RECONQUISTA!

 

재협상하다

 

jaehyeobsanghada

And he's right. Again, sorry that I was a part of it. Polarization hits everyone hard doesn't it? And it readed its ugly head on that last thread. I'll have a dedicated thread about polarization in politics in the breakroom section.

 

Anyway, for this thread, any news on Sinclair's acquisition of Tribune?

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I could care less about the fact Sinclair leans to the right.

 

I’m quite right leaning myself.

 

If they didn’t bastardize local television, and cram the right wing viewpoint down the viewer’s throat so overtly and openly, I could care less about the deal.

 

Sinclair runs their stations cheaply. WKEF/WRGT, one of their stronger duopolies, didn’t go HD until 2013. They were some of the last stations in the country to convert to HD. WKEF and WRGT didn’t even have morning newscasts until the mid-2000s. In the case of WKEF, from the end of Early Today, to the beginning of the Today Show, nothing but old sitcom reruns (Suddenly Susan, Cosby, etc.) and infomercials.

 

If they weren’t so cheap, didn’t bastardize local television, and didn’t openly cram a right wing viewpoint down the viewer’s throat, I don’t think any of us would have much opposition to this deal.

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Word from Harry Jessell is that Sinclair has received final bids for the stations they are selling off and divestures will be announced next week.

 

Here's the article being referred to. I agree with Jessell that Sinclair is making Ajit Pai look horrible.

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Here's the article being referred to. I agree with Jessell that Sinclair is making Ajit Pai look horrible.
Most of the coverage of Sinclair's acquisition is raher one sided, even though I kind of agree with Jessell. I'm not even gonna bother mentioning why here because to do so would cause a shitstorm like the last thread.

 

I could care less about the fact Sinclair leans to the right.

 

I’m quite right leaning myself.

 

If they didn’t bastardize local television, and cram the right wing viewpoint down the viewer’s throat so overtly and openly, I could care less about the deal.

 

Sinclair runs their stations cheaply. WKEF/WRGT, one of their stronger duopolies, didn’t go HD until 2013. They were some of the last stations in the country to convert to HD. WKEF and WRGT didn’t even have morning newscasts until the mid-2000s. In the case of WKEF, from the end of Early Today, to the beginning of the Today Show, nothing but old sitcom reruns (Suddenly Susan, Cosby, etc.) and infomercials.

 

If they weren’t so cheap, didn’t bastardize local television, and didn’t openly cram a right wing viewpoint down the viewer’s throat, I don’t think any of us would have much opposition to this deal.

Local TV was already being bastardized by those bastards at other station groups as well, not just Sinclair, although they certainly didn't help. And besides, at least Sinclair has the balls to not care about ratings and to show their bias openly rather than to lie about it, even if they are part of the problem (yes, better to show your bias openly than to lie about it like Fox News once did and more recently, CNN). Also, while Sinclair did run their stations rather cheaply, so did Nexstar (at least it got the criticism it deserved) and many other station groups because of how badly the economy was doing. If they still run their stations cheaply even after the acquisition however, given how the economy is on a path to recovery, then yeah, we should scrutinize them for it.
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Most of the coverage of Sinclair's acquisition is raher one sided, even though I kind of agree with Jessell. I'm not even gonna bother mentioning why here because to do so would cause a shitstorm like the last thread.

 

Local TV was already being bastardized by those bastards at other station groups as well, not just Sinclair, although they certainly didn't help. And besides, at least Sinclair has the balls to not care about ratings and to show their bias openly rather than to lie about it, even if they are part of the problem (yes, better to show your bias openly than to lie about it like Fox News once did and more recently, CNN). Also, while Sinclair did run their stations rather cheaply, so did Nexstar (at least it got the criticism it deserved) and many other station groups because of how badly the economy was doing. If they still run their stations cheaply even after the acquisition however, given how the economy is on a path to recovery, then yeah, we should scrutinize them for it.

 

Even Fox’s own O&Os are beginning to move away from FNC styled newscasts. I’m sorry, but I tune in to a local newscast for the local/national/world news of the day, the 5 day forecast and sports highlights from a game I may have missed. I didn’t tune in to hear how “IF YOU DON’T SUPPORT TRUMP YOU’RE WITH THE TERRORISTS!!!”

 

Just report the issues and let the viewer make an informed decision.

 

Some people do not know the difference between editorialization and news... after an editorial, you could hear someone say “I heard on the news last night that the government was going to get our guns!”

 

It’s dangerous. Not to mention, Sinclair doesn’t offer a chance for viewers to respond to their must-runs.

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Even Fox’s own O&Os are beginning to move away from FNC styled newscasts. I’m sorry, but I tune in to a local newscast for the local/national/world news of the day, the 5 day forecast and sports highlights from a game I may have missed. I didn’t tune in to hear how “IF YOU DON’T SUPPORT TRUMP YOU’RE WITH THE TERRORISTS!!!”

 

Just report the issues and let the viewer make an informed decision.

 

Some people do not know the difference between editorialization and news... after an editorial, you could hear someone say “I heard on the news last night that the government was going to get our guns!”

 

It’s dangerous. Not to mention, Sinclair doesn’t offer a chance for viewers to respond to their must-runs.

Maybe this thread should be abandoned too before it gets political as well.

 

Speaking of politics, I've made a dedicated thread for this so that we won't have to have it intruding on this thread: https://forums.tvnewstalk.net/index.php?threads/polarization-in-politics.16698/

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I think what has gotten lost in this whole process is that Tribune Media didn't have to put itself up for sale in the first place. Yes they were in debt (which they were slowly reducing since emerging from bankruptcy), but they could have chosen a different option to increase the company's value. They picked the easiest way and didn't give a crap about their employees and the legacy/image of stations like WGN. They deserve some shade thrown their way too.

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Any chance there's a feature in this forum software to have a wiki/sticky post at the top of that thread that could just have the links to the latest news/blog articles about the merger? I care about this topic, but 95% of what has been in these threads have made it not worth it to even try to read. I only want to see the latest, concrete developments.

 

Ask and ye shall receive:

https://forums.tvnewstalk.net/index.php?threads/sinclair-and-tribune-just-the-facts.16699/

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We already know that Fox, Meredith, and the Sinclair shells are the main players for the divestitures. Also, we know that some of the Tribune Fox affiliates will likely be gutted once they shack up with the respective Big-3 station. Next week, I'll be looking forward to whether Cleveland's Own will answer to Fox Television Stations or Sinclair.

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Here's the article being referred to. I agree with Jessell that Sinclair is making Ajit Pai look horrible.

Ajit Pai makes Ajit Pai look horrible. He doesn't need help from Sinclair, nor does he care about any optics whatsoever.

 

His tone-deaf - and totally disgraceful - handling of Net Neutrality was exactly what his bosses and bankrollers at Verizon wanted, and to hell with what the general populace thinks.

 

That's why he's Ajit Paid Off.

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We already know that Fox, Meredith, and the Sinclair shells are the main players for the divestitures. Also, we know that some of the Tribune Fox affiliates will likely be gutted once they shack up with the respective Big-3 station. Next week, I'll be looking forward to whether Cleveland's Own will answer to Fox Television Stations or Sinclair.

 

Don't forget Tegna and Nexstar as well.

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I think what has gotten lost in this whole process is that Tribune Media didn't have to put itself up for sale in the first place. Yes they were in debt (which they were slowly reducing since emerging from bankruptcy), but they could have chosen a different option to increase the company's value. They picked the easiest way and didn't give a crap about their employees and the legacy/image of stations like WGN. They deserve some shade thrown their way too.

 

Tribune does seem to have a history of questionable decisions made at the corporate level. Sam Zell, anyone? (And, technically, tronc counts, too.)

 

Don't forget Tegna and Nexstar as well.

 

Or Hearst, Raycom, Scripps, Graham, Meredith...

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I think what has gotten lost in this whole process is that Tribune Media didn't have to put itself up for sale in the first place. Yes they were in debt (which they were slowly reducing since emerging from bankruptcy), but they could have chosen a different option to increase the company's value. They picked the easiest way and didn't give a crap about their employees and the legacy/image of stations like WGN. They deserve some shade thrown their way too.

 

I think the outside view of Tribune was different than the reality. On paper they might have been reducing debt, but there were big problems inside the stations. Outside of New York, L.A. and Chicago, they had stations in big markets making little money. They had been downsized and downgraded to the point that they could barely function. The stations that weren't ABC/CBS/NBC affiliates had crap ratings because of crap syndication, which meant no leverage to upgrade. Revenues at those stations suffered, badly. They might have been in the black, but they were badly underperforming. Many of the affiliated stations were no better. Thinking back to school, a D might have been a passing grade, but perennial D students went nowhere.

 

Tribune's management structure was a three ring circus. You had bosses in Chicago and New York, the local GMs, and then regional executives that dropped in every few months. None of the people second guessing everything had any connection to the stations to understand how they operated. They didn't understand market nuances. And they didn't always agree. Their priorities were too different, too often. The local GM pushed the local agenda while the corporate people only cared about the corporate agenda, with compromise or common ground hard to find.

 

People might say they hate the big management structures of companies like Hearst, NBC or Sinclair, but those management structures have one thing Tribune's brand of management did not have: High degrees of success. Tribune could not get out of its own way. Walking away from television was the only long term guarantee of success.

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I think the outside view of Tribune was different than the reality. On paper they might have been reducing debt, but there were big problems inside the stations. Tribune's management structure was a three ring circus. You had bosses in Chicago and New York, the local GMs, and then regional executives that dropped in every few months. None of the people second guessing everything had any connection to the stations to understand how they operated. People might say they hate the big management structures of companies like Hearst, NBC or Sinclair, but those management structures have one thing Tribune's brand of management did not have: High degrees of success. Tribune could not get out of its own way. Walking away from television was the only long term guarantee of success.

 

Poor management structures and corporate interference is always a problem and exist in a number of companies, industries, etc... everywhere on the planet. Again, if the ultimate goal was to strengthen the company, from a financial pov, they could have just simply sold stations, properties and the like to accomplished that goal. Did they even try to see if Sony was interested in co-owning or buying WGN America outright? The point is, they didn't seem to care much about the consequences of their actions, just the money.

 

And before anyone ask, I would feel that same way if it was anyone else besides Sinclair involved. However futile, I'm still hoping the Disney/FOX deal falls apart too.

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I feel like Tribune hasn't been right since they hitched their wagon to The WB. That network - and Warner Bros. as a whole - was riddled with management issues, and you had ill-advised deals and ideas on Tribune's own end like the Times Mirror merger, the local TV buying spree (Renaissance's quartet of Fox stations and KCPQ seem to be the only big contributions to the chain that have been worthwhile), and Tribune's push into cheap first-run syndication.

 

I admit I was someone who had confidence in Ligouri to put WGN America on the map but of course that went wrong, or was shorted out by the Sinclair deal.

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I think the outside view of Tribune was different than the reality. On paper they might have been reducing debt, but there were big problems inside the stations. Outside of New York, L.A. and Chicago, they had stations in big markets making little money. They had been downsized and downgraded to the point that they could barely function. The stations that weren't ABC/CBS/NBC affiliates had crap ratings because of crap syndication, which meant no leverage to upgrade. Revenues at those stations suffered, badly. They might have been in the black, but they were badly underperforming. Many of the affiliated stations were no better. Thinking back to school, a D might have been a passing grade, but perennial D students went nowhere.

 

Didn't Albritton treat their non-WJLA stations in a similar way?

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Mod note: The off-topic rules are being strictly enforced in this thread. If it doesn't have to do with the Sinclair/Tribune merger, it doesn't go in this thread. Its already against the rules, but I added it to the thread rules for emphasis.

 

A casual mention of "Well I think this deal is better/worse than this completely other deal" is fine, but doubling down and going off on the aspects of the other deal is off-topic. Your post will be deleted and you'll be given an off-topic strike.

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I feel like Tribune hasn't been right since they hitched their wagon to The WB. That network - and Warner Bros. as a whole - was riddled with management issues, and you had ill-advised deals and ideas on Tribune's own end like the Times Mirror merger, the local TV buying spree (Renaissance's quartet of Fox stations and KCPQ seem to be the only big contributions to the chain that have been worthwhile), and Tribune's push into cheap first-run syndication.

 

I admit I was someone who had confidence in Ligouri to put WGN America on the map but of course that went wrong, or was shorted out by the Sinclair deal.

Sinclair did want to get dibs on Renaissance before Tribune did. I guess this deal also nets them the stations that were once with Renaissance when Tribune acquired them, except WSFL of course.
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I think the outside view of Tribune was different than the reality. On paper they might have been reducing debt, but there were big problems inside the stations. Outside of New York, L.A. and Chicago, they had stations in big markets making little money. They had been downsized and downgraded to the point that they could barely function. The stations that weren't ABC/CBS/NBC affiliates had crap ratings because of crap syndication, which meant no leverage to upgrade. Revenues at those stations suffered, badly. They might have been in the black, but they were badly underperforming. Many of the affiliated stations were no better. Thinking back to school, a D might have been a passing grade, but perennial D students went nowhere.

 

Tribune's management structure was a three ring circus. You had bosses in Chicago and New York, the local GMs, and then regional executives that dropped in every few months. None of the people second guessing everything had any connection to the stations to understand how they operated. They didn't understand market nuances. And they didn't always agree. Their priorities were too different, too often. The local GM pushed the local agenda while the corporate people only cared about the corporate agenda, with compromise or common ground hard to find.

 

People might say they hate the big management structures of companies like Hearst, NBC or Sinclair, but those management structures have one thing Tribune's brand of management did not have: High degrees of success. Tribune could not get out of its own way. Walking away from television was the only long term guarantee of success.

NewsFix, EyeOpener, and News With a Twist are reason enough that Tribune was in trouble.

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