DirtyHarry 727 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Station Group Marriages: Bliss Or Miss The spate of local TV mergers and acquisitions has created some partnerships made in heaven—and some not so much - ================ Plenty of fodder here for haters of Sinclair and other groups: http://goo.gl/JpJuJK (Google Cached Version) Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 738 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Station Group Marriages: Bliss Or Miss The spate of local TV mergers and acquisitions has created some partnerships made in heaven—and some not so much - ================ Plenty of fodder here for haters of Sinclair and other groups: http://goo.gl/JpJuJK (Google Cached Version) Pretty much hits the basic points that we've talked about on numerous threads. Most companies make sure that they share a similar culture before acquiring a station group. Belo and Gannett do share a similar approach to how they handle news and Local TV/Tribune fit like a perfect glove considering how they handle the LMA's here in St. Louis and Denver. Sinclair on the other hand just focuses on the amount of scale and doesn't consider the difference in culture between their acquired companies and them at all. I still don't think the Barrington one made any sense to me since those are mostly small-market stations and Sinclair is more Middle to Large Market. It does seem like an odd strategy to take as culture is a very large part in determining how successful an acquisition is. Just look at the Dalmer-Chrysler and AOLTimeWarner mergers as examples of how a merger SHOULDN'T go. Some interesting quotes: Several privately say Sinclair makes for an odd match with its acquired properties. One veteran Barrington exec mentions “culture shock” at the acquired stations as they start getting marching orders from Sinclair headquarters in Baltimore. “Our localism is first and foremost—serving the local community with news and information,” says the broadcast vet. “I’m not sure what Sinclair’s model is in that regard.” While Barrington general managers held a president/ CEO title in their market, a value unique to Barrington, general managers are more stewards of the station’s sales operation now, say multiple sources. (Sinclair is one of the few groups whose general managers are not, for the most part, VPs or presidents.) “It’s very difficult to make decisions from 100 miles away,” says the Barrington exec. “Or 1,000 miles away.” It’s closer to 3,000 miles away for the Fisher stations, clustered in the Pacific Northwest. “I can’t think of two more disparate cultures,” says a former Fisher exec who asked to not be named. Must-run content coming from corporate, the exec adds, does not go over well in Fisher’s more liberal markets. They have never run a station group on this scale before so it will be interesting to see if their strategy continues to work. I continue to remain skeptical that this strategy will work for Sinclair. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/#findComment-97926 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmkcool2002 8 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 how do you access cached articles? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/#findComment-97940 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2896 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 At some point Sinclair will fall apart, either under the debt load or the crushing scale of the company. I'm taking a college class right now on Western Civilizations. Empires are made by voluminous conquests, and then they crumble apart and are lost. The same will happen to Sinclair. Their conquest of far-flung companies in so many states is just unsustainable in terms of culture and finances. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/#findComment-97942 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 738 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 At some point Sinclair will fall apart, either under the debt load or the crushing scale of the company. I'm taking a college class right now on Western Civilizations. Empires are made by voluminous conquests, and then they crumble apart and are lost. The same will happen to Sinclair. Their conquest of far-flung companies in so many states is just unsustainable in terms of culture and finances. I feel the same way. In Business School, we looked at Dalmer-Chrysler and AolTimeWarner as examples of what NOT to do when it comes to acquisitions. Sinclair's executives must've fallen asleep in class during that lesson. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/#findComment-97944 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 how do you access cached articles? Right after the URL there is a triangle. Click on it and if cache appears as an option select it. There is also a way you can do this manually but you'll have to google it. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/#findComment-97949 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 292 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Or those Sincliar execs just skipped class and went and got high on peyote. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13302-broadcasting-and-cable-article-on-station-group-mergers/#findComment-97951 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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