Sinclair broadcasting buys Tribune. It was announced May 8th, that Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. will buy Tribune Media Co. for $3.9 billion. This is a big deal for broadcasters in the USA because Sinclair and Tribune were two of the largest local TV stations owners in America. Merging of these two companies now creates a TV behemoth
The marriage of Sinclair broadcasting and Tribune, two of the largest local TV station owners in the U.S., creates a U.S. broadcasting behemoth. Sinclair will gain TV stations in big media markets like New York, Chicago, Miami and in smaller but important markets like Pittsburgh and Denver
Sinclair broadcasting and Tribune previously had little overlap in their TV stations despite their size. Sinclair had 173 stations in 81 markets and affiliations with Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC reaching 24% of U.S. TV homes. Tribune had 42 statios reaching 26% with stations in the top 3 media markets in the U.S., seven in the tiop 10 and 34 in the top 50. They also own the cable network WGN with minority states in the TV Food Network and CareerBuilder.
Of course the deal announcement wasn't without controversy. Sinclair broadcasting in the past has been recognized for its ties to Republican politicians and its on-air support for conservative causes. Concerns from the other side say the Trump administration isn't just approving this deal, they're practically arranging it. The worry being - it will put cookie-cutter conservative newscasts in 70% of the land forcing journalist to set aside their independent judgement and force them into conservative leaning Trump administration talking points. Public interest groups also oppose the deal and are asking the FCC to reject it because it will reduce viewpoint and diversity and conform newscasts around the country.
The deal means Sinclair will add stations in the top three markets in the USA including KTLA in Los Angeles, WGN in Chicago and WPIX in New York. Sinclair, which owned 173 stations previously, will now have 233 under its belt. Sinclair is also in the process of buying Bonten Media Group for $240 million, which owns 14 stations.