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Sinclair...Again


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so let me get this straight and yes from the article I was reading and stumbled upon a quote: "As part of its $1 billion transaction with Allbritton, Sinclair will acquire the company's seven TV stations, including its Big Four stations in Charleston, S.C. and Harrisburg, Pa. Sinclair, fully aware that the FCC's rules would not permit its outright ownership of these Charleston and Harrisburg stations, is also proposing to assign its own stations in these markets to third parties - so-called sidecar companies - while continuing to provide many "support services" to the stations through a variety of sharing agreements. Under the agreements, Sinclair will create "virtual" duopolies that are tantamount to mergers in all respects except its name would not appear on record as the formal owner of the station."

 

Translation 1: we must make more money to continue our buying spree and sell off any stations to these sidecar corporations that are not much of an asset to us, we control their debt and pay their bills and enter agreements that would basically get unraveled, instead of selling the station(s) to different owners.

 

Translation 2: we will continue to grow into an Mega-Broadcasting chain with excessive amounts of stations that Sinclair has no control over.

The latest volley in the Sinclair debate has come from the editorial page of the Seattle Times.

 

I like having this stat, so I'm going to quote them on it:

 

Within two years, Sinclair has closed or pursued deals to increase its holdings from 58 to 162 stations — covering nearly 40 percent of the country’s audience.

The latest volley in the Sinclair debate has come from the editorial page of the Seattle Times.

This the second opinionated piece that the Seattle Times has made on this Media Consolidation. They made one after the announcement of the Gannett/Belo deal. Although it's more in likely that most of the deal will get the greenlight, I think it's right for many of the papers are informing many folks about the tactics that Sincrap has done in these past 25 months.

 

I will say this though, should the FCC didn't docketed these four M&As, we probably would've heard more new M&As. And since they're planning on fully-eliminating the discount, that's probably why no new M&A deals have been announced. Although we know how outdated that loophole is, we know why the heads at the FCC really ended that loophole, and the timing of it. Let's see if the broadcasters are going to rally for a raise of the 39%. Good luck with that.

 

I still think M&As will occur should these pending deal get close (which will most likely be close at the start of 2014). I don't see Granite, Grant, lasting longer than 2014, with Murphy, Hoak, Cordillera to be swallowed, I mean follow. They just need to avoided by those "Heathens of Hunt Valley".

This week I received a thick packet from Cinnamon Mueller in Chicago. Since I have family there, I thought this might have something to do with that. Nope. (Not with a Michigan Avenue address.)

 

Well, Cinnamon Mueller is a law firm—a boutique firm specializing in cable and telecom clients. Among them, the American Cable Association. Happily, you don't need to get a thick, 19-page single-sided packet mailed to you from Chicago (like me) to read their reply to the opposition to the petitions to deny. I did not receive any others by snail mail, but Rainbow PUSH also replied (here's their petition) and so did Free Press/Put People First! PA. All of this activity has come since October 22.

 

I also missed oppositions to the petitions from shareholders of Perpetual Corporation (in which I am relegated to a footnote), HSH Charleston (WMMP) Licensee (in which they say that I am merely challenging Sinclair's acquisition of stations and not HSH's) and Deerfield Media (whose opposition is remarkably similar to the HSH one, as in "carbon copy"). There was also some sort of rebuttal to Rainbow PUSH's petition to deny from a Tee Thompson in Maryland (which deserves a read for its praise of Armstrong Williams). The Perpetual filing is the only one of these which was filed after the government shutdown—it also calls my petition "little more than a catalog of Sinclair's broadcast holdings followed by a few paragraphs of unsubstantiated allegations concerning the effect of Sinclair's holdings on local diversity" and "unfounded".

 

Also, Cinnamon managed to do what Deerfield/HSH didn't: "Because Mr. Humbert did not provide his address, Deerfield [HSH] is unable to serve him a copy of the Consolidated Opposition." Then why did Cinnamon manage to send me this...? I *did* put my address in when I filed this petition, too.

 

This week I received a thick packet from Cinnamon Mueller in Chicago. Since I have family there, I thought this might have something to do with that. Nope. (Not with a Michigan Avenue address.)

 

Well, Cinnamon Mueller is a law firm—a boutique firm specializing in cable and telecom clients. Among them, the American Cable Association. Happily, you don't need to get a thick, 19-page single-sided packet mailed to you from Chicago (like me) to read their reply to the opposition to the petitions to deny. I did not receive any others by snail mail, but Rainbow PUSH also replied (here's their petition) and so did Free Press/Put People First! PA. All of this activity has come since October 22.

 

I also missed oppositions to the petitions from shareholders of Perpetual Corporation (in which I am relegated to a footnote), HSH Charleston (WMMP) Licensee (in which they say that I am merely challenging Sinclair's acquisition of stations and not HSH's) and Deerfield Media (whose opposition is remarkably similar to the HSH one, as in "carbon copy"). There was also some sort of rebuttal to Rainbow PUSH's petition to deny from a Tee Thompson in Maryland (which deserves a read for its praise of Armstrong Williams). The Perpetual filing is the only one of these which was filed after the government shutdown—it also calls my petition "little more than a catalog of Sinclair's broadcast holdings followed by a few paragraphs of unsubstantiated allegations concerning the effect of Sinclair's holdings on local diversity" and "unfounded".

 

Also, Cinnamon managed to do what Deerfield/HSH didn't: "Because Mr. Humbert did not provide his address, Deerfield [HSH] is unable to serve him a copy of the Consolidated Opposition." Then why did Cinnamon manage to send me this...? I *did* put my address in when I filed this petition, too.

 

This is EXACTLY why I hate this company. They are very unprofessional when it comes to handling situations like this. They know they're breaking the law, and they're getting angry because they're being exposed more than ever.

 

Now, the American Cable Association is challenging Sinclair's purchase of New Age Media, claiming that it would allow Sinclair to coordinate retransmission consent negotiations for two big 4 affiliates in Gainesville and Tallahassee.

 

I'll give Sinclair some benefit of the doubt in this case. Neither of the acquiring stations have in-house newscasts, and neither Tallahassee nor Gainesville are likely big enough for more than 2 news operations given the dominance of another station (WCTV owns Tallahassee in terms of ratings, while WCJB owns Gainesville). Any in-house news operation in Tallahassee (if one is started) would be a gain, while Gainesville would be a status-quo situation.

 

I now remember why I don't trust Sinclair with an Television Station at all after selling an station in Kansas City, ever.

 

Hey at least Sinclair is not as bad as RKO General was who LIED to the FCC and were deemed unfit to hold a broadcast license.

Hey at least Sinclair is not as bad as RKO General was who LIED to the FCC and were deemed unfit to hold a broadcast license.

agreed! Sinclair used to own a station in Kansas City until 2005 when it was sold to make an duopoly partner with the CBS affiliate that is owned by Meredith.

 

Now, the American Cable Association is challenging Sinclair's purchase of New Age Media, claiming that it would allow Sinclair to coordinate retransmission consent negotiations for two big 4 affiliates in Gainesville and Tallahassee.

 

WOW!!! It's noticeable that the ACA doesn't want Sincrap to get shit. LOL. I doubt that this would matter all that much.

 

 

I'll give Sinclair some benefit of the doubt in this case. Neither of the acquiring stations have in-house newscasts, and neither Tallahassee nor Gainesville are likely big enough for more than 2 news operations given the dominance of another station (WCTV owns Tallahassee in terms of ratings, while WCJB owns Gainesville). Any in-house news operation in Tallahassee (if one is started) would be a gain, while Gainesville would be a status-quo situation.

 

Let's not forget Calkin's WTXL competes with Gray's WCTV. So like I stated earlier when that deal was announced, Should the deal gets finalized, its obvious that they're not going to keep the outsoured Davenport-produced news long term in Gainesville, and keep the news agreement with WCTV in the long haul in Tallahassee, as they will have to do massive heavy lifting in both cities. It's a two station news town in the capital. If Sincrap is wise, they would at least pour some capital into starting a news department there. At least WTWC would get some news again. They can do the same in Gainesville, although like you stated, they obviously can't trump out Hildreth's WCJB, they could at least do some heavy lifting so they can show "some" sign of competitiveness in a small market town.

 

NEPA on the other hand. I look at Scranton there's in Market #54 and I look at Fresno which is #55. Nexstar just completed the consolidation, having news on the CBS & NBC, Sinclair have news on Fox. Could I see Sincrap starting its own news ops on WOLF-TV? Giving that Nexstar simulcast most of its news on the CBS & NBC in NEPA, and produce the 10pm show on Fox, and knowing who's been #1 in that area for over three decades+, I strongly doubt that they will even attempt to do such a thing.

Sinclair is buying the non-license assets of WPFO, the Fox affiliate in Portland, ME from Corporate Media Consultants Group and Max Media, and will provide sales and other services to it under a shared services agreement. WGME, Sinclair's current station in Portland, has provided newscasts to WPFO since 2007.

 

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/496450-Sinclair_Acquires_WPFO_Portland_ME_Assets_For_13_6_Million.php

 

Sinclair is buying the non-license assets of WPFO, the Fox affiliate in Portland, ME from Corporate Media Consultants Group and Max Media, and will provide sales and other services to it under a shared services agreement. WGME, Sinclair's current station in Portland, has provided newscasts to WPFO since 2007.

 

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/496450-Sinclair_Acquires_WPFO_Portland_ME_Assets_For_13_6_Million.php

 

It just proves that Max is cashing in and getting out of dodge. I think the only thing they now have is WNKY in Bowling Green. This is similar to last year when Sinclair bought the non-license assets to the GOCOM Central Illinois stations. It won't be long until they re-assigned these licenses to one of those shells. That was mentioned, as they've released their Q3 earnings report today.

Here's something related to the KDBC/KFOX consolidation, from the El Paso Inc.

 

More media moves

 

Looks like KFOX-TV Channel 14 will move about a mile up the road. We’d heard that KFOX, the former Cox station now owned by a spinoff of Sinclair Broadcast Group, would move out of its North Mesa building when it combines with KDBC Channel 4, which is owned by related company.

 

Now residents who live near the old Alto Mesa theater building just off North Mesa have been told that eight satellite dishes and other TV equipment could go in there. KFOX and KDBC would need about that many dishes to take in all the syndicated and network programming the two stations carry.

Sinclair has issued a filing that attempts to "correct factual misstatements" and reply to both the replies to the oppositions to the petitions to deny from Free Press/Put People First! PA, the American Cable Association and Rainbow PUSH. This showed up on Tuesday. Some interesting notes and quotes:

  • RPC opposes the entire transaction, whereas ACA and Free Press are only opposing the use of sidecars.
  • Sinclair calls the "allegation" that Deerfield and HSH are "shell" companies (their use of quotes) "unsupported and unsupportable" in its reply to Free Press.
  • "What Free Press really means is that the transactions do not comport with a version of the duopoly rule Free Press has asked the Commission to adopt." SBG is challenging Free Press's contention that the transactions violate the duopoly rule.
  • "The Free Press Reply manufactures a narrative which is simply not the truth in an effort to block a transaction that fully complies with the FCC's rules (but not with the rules Free Press would like the FCC to adopt)."
  • RPC's reply mentioned the Wall Street Journal article from October 20 which examines Sinclair's use of sidecars. Apparently that information is too new to be used in this proceeding since it post-dates the filing of the opposition. The filing also counters the use of a newspaper article: "The Commission long ago determined that hearsay, such as that contained in newspaper articles is not reliable evidence of the truth of the matters stated in the article."
  • Sinclair dings RPC for citing a Free Press report that Sinclair had "debunked" in its entirety in a press release on October 24.
  • There is also an email from Barry M. Faber, Sinclair's EVP and general counsel, to Free Press from August. I feel like I've read some of it before somewhere else, almost word-for-word. Most of the content in these latter two bullets has to do with Sinclair contending that it has increased news and local output at its various stations.

Opinion: Sinclair is feeling the heat. The fact that we have now had the acquisition, petitions to deny, consolidated oppositions to those petitions, replies to the oppositions, and Sinclair's counterreply to the replies to the oppositions says that there is something at stake. Nobody is willing to budge in this case. Sinclair is standing its ground on the legality of the transactions, Deerfield and HSH not being shells for Sinclair, flaws in the replies (Sinclair calls out Free Press in its report for quoting someone on diversity from 1945) and the increase in local content on other stations.

 

In a middle-of-the-road scenario, I could see this transaction getting approved except for the assignment of licenses to Deerfield and HSH. The battleground in this case is Charleston and Harrisburg. The other Allbritton stations will be successfully sold, such as KTUL, KATV and WJLA.

 

Sinclair has issued a filing that attempts to "correct factual misstatements" and reply to both the replies to the oppositions to the petitions to deny from Free Press/Put People First! PA, the American Cable Association and Rainbow PUSH. This showed up on Tuesday. Some interesting notes and quotes:

  • RPC opposes the entire transaction, whereas ACA and Free Press are only opposing the use of sidecars.
  • Sinclair calls the "allegation" that Deerfield and HSH are "shell" companies (their use of quotes) "unsupported and unsupportable" in its reply to Free Press.
  • "What Free Press really means is that the transactions do not comport with a version of the duopoly rule Free Press has asked the Commission to adopt." SBG is challenging Free Press's contention that the transactions violate the duopoly rule.
  • "The Free Press Reply manufactures a narrative which is simply not the truth in an effort to block a transaction that fully complies with the FCC's rules (but not with the rules Free Press would like the FCC to adopt)."
  • RPC's reply mentioned the Wall Street Journal article from October 20 which examines Sinclair's use of sidecars. Apparently that information is too new to be used in this proceeding since it post-dates the filing of the opposition. The filing also counters the use of a newspaper article: "The Commission long ago determined that hearsay, such as that contained in newspaper articles is not reliable evidence of the truth of the matters stated in the article."
  • Sinclair dings RPC for citing a Free Press report that Sinclair had "debunked" in its entirety in a press release on October 24.
  • There is also an email from Barry M. Faber, Sinclair's EVP and general counsel, to Free Press from August. I feel like I've read some of it before somewhere else, almost word-for-word. Most of the content in these latter two bullets has to do with Sinclair contending that it has increased news and local output at its various stations.

Opinion: Sinclair is feeling the heat. The fact that we have now had the acquisition, petitions to deny, consolidated oppositions to those petitions, replies to the oppositions, and Sinclair's counterreply to the replies to the oppositions says that there is something at stake. Nobody is willing to budge in this case. Sinclair is standing its ground on the legality of the transactions, Deerfield and HSH not being shells for Sinclair, flaws in the replies (Sinclair calls out Free Press in its report for quoting someone on diversity from 1945) and the increase in local content on other stations.

 

In a middle-of-the-road scenario, I could see this transaction getting approved except for the assignment of licenses to Deerfield and HSH. The battleground in this case is Charleston and Harrisburg. The other Allbritton stations will be successfully sold, such as KTUL, KATV and WJLA.

 

Indeed it appears that Sinclair is really taking a beating here, and seems to be in denial mode. There is no website for any of the shells involved and the petitions seem quite clear. The denying of the WSJ article is especially striking - saying it is too new to be considered??? Wow, they are really getting desperate right now it seems - they know they are losing.

 

If either a) the entire transaction is denied, or b ) the middle-of-the-road scenario, occurs, who would be in line to get the stations then with Sinclair out? I don't know of anyone with a clean purchase (i.e. that does not have at least one conflict). In scenario B, conflicts occur for Hearst, Tribune, Nexstar, Raycom and Media General.

 

The Free Press reply talk that they don't back up their accusations is laughable. It is Sinclair that is not backing up their claims of independence.

Raymie, I think you need to see this.

 

This is a letter written from the west chapter of the Writers Guild of America. They are in favor of the eliminating of the UHF discount. On the letter, they also mentioning a very key reason why the discount should end, and mention a certain company that was willing to use THAT for their gain.

 

Raymie, I think you need to see this.

 

This is a letter written from the west chapter of the Writers Guild of America. They are in favor of the eliminating of the UHF discount. On the letter, they also mentioning a very key reason why the discount should end, and mention a certain company that was willing to use THAT for their gain.

 

Why is the Writers Guild getting involved? Tell me how they're affected by this. This makes no sense...

 

Why is the Writers Guild getting involved? Tell me how they're affected by this. This makes no sense...

 

This actually makes sense to me, The reason the WGA is getting involved is because of News Writers and consolidation the way Sinclair does it. With News writers losing their jobs left and right plus Sinclair depend on the news wire.

 

So how do you stop a monster of a company that keeps growing? Attack where it hurts. One of the main reasons that Sinclair has grown is because is due to the UHF discount. Take away the discount and Sinclair all of a sudden has to sell a load of stations that it don't want to sell. In idea it might expand ownership but In practice, probably it will be swallowed up by someone worse, who would "Out-Sinclair" Sinclair. .

 

This actually makes sense to me, The reason the WGA is getting involved is because of News Writers and consolidation the way Sinclair does it. With News writers losing their jobs left and right plus Sinclair depend on the news wire.

 

So how do you stop a monster of a company that keeps growing? Attack where it hurts. One of the main reasons that Sinclair has grown is because is due to the UHF discount. Take away the discount and Sinclair all of a sudden has to sell a load of stations that it don't want to sell. In idea it might expand ownership but In practice, probably it will be swallowed up by someone worse, who would "Out-Sinclair" Sinclair. .

 

The current stations that they own (and the ones with deals pending?) are presumably going to be grandfathered in, so I don't think they would have to sell anything, but it would certainly end their buying streak.

 

Raymie, I think you need to see this.

 

This is a letter written from the west chapter of the Writers Guild of America. They are in favor of the eliminating of the UHF discount. On the letter, they also mentioning a very key reason why the discount should end, and mention a certain company that was willing to use THAT for their gain.

 

Huh. That's the only filing that's been made on that NPRM. But it is quite something what is being said.

 

Huh. That's the only filing that's been made on that NPRM. But it is quite something what is being said.

 

You know what would shock the hell out of me? And what would start up a whole lot of mess? As if Sinclair write up a letter on that NPRM docket (13-236), and state their disapproval about the elimination of the UHF discount. I would be shocked if they do that. Or to beg the FCC (the one who's responsible for getting rid of the discount) to raise the ownership cap higher than 39%, which I don't think that would happen anytime soon.

 

But if they write a letter disapproving the end of the discount, I think that would be a total shock. Free Press would have a field day.

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