Sinclair, Tribune Close to Merger Deal

[NowBergen 486]

Detroit just spent millions on a new sports arena for the Red Wings and are about to spend millions on updates to the Lions' current home, Ford Field (if they haven't done so already). They're not leaving anytime soon. That is a very asinine argument you are trying to make here.

 

And what does any of this have to do with Fox and/or Sinclair in NFL markets?

 

Someone seems to be making assumptions rather than being informed. Detroit has received a lot of positive press lately with a rennaisance happening downtown. The promise of the two stadiums is finally happening. Detroit and Philly are not moving. Ever. The only franchise that will move in the near term (5 yrs or less) will be Oakland to Vegas.

[Rusty Muck 4168]

I agree the Cleveland move is surprising, since I am sure Sinclair would want a big leap in the red-leaning swing state.

I don’t think it’s surprising in the least. WJW has been one of the best-performing Fox affiliates since the late 1990s, it’s in a football-crazy market (there are Browns games that air on WJW due to interleague play) and it’s a VHF RF/PSIP signal. Plus Fox owned WJW for a decade and only sold it off to finance the purchase of Dow Jones.

 

Sinclair already has three stations in Ohio’s largest metropolitan city... Columbus. They will get a ton of money from that cluster alone.

If Sinclair really wants into Cleveland, there are no legitimate targets left unless some combination of Scripps, Tegna and Raycom merge with each other (but that's a topic for another day).

Ernest Angley is over 90 years old. He can’t hold on to WBNX forever.

[Rusty Muck 4168]

I'm surprised KTVI isn't in the picture. So the DOJ is ok with Sinclair possibly having a Triopoly here in St. Louis?

KDNL is so much a non-factor, moving the ABC affiliation to a sub of either 2 or 11 would be a welcome upgrade.

 

Plus STL is no longer an NFL market.

[mre29 1340]

KDNL is so much a non-factor, moving the ABC affiliation to a sub of either 2 or 11 would be a welcome upgrade.

 

Plus STL is no longer an NFL market.

 

It's going to be downright scandalous around here if Fox starts buying stations that aren't in NFL markets.

[Rusty Muck 4168]

It's going to be downright scandalous around here if Fox starts buying stations that aren't in NFL markets.

Not really. If they opt to buy back WGHP and KTVI, I wouldn’t be shocked.

 

There’s enough logical sense towards Fox buying back those two stations that doesn’t have to involve them not being in an NFL market. I mean, WITI is on their wish list, and it makes as much sense as getting WGHP.

[Weeters 1811]

Starting to get super speculative in here.

 

Don't make me lock the thread before it can reach 100 pages!

[Rusty Muck 4168]

It’s only a question of WHEN the deal is announced. Not if. And because of that, it’s impossible to understand the specifics of what is effectively a backroom handshake deal until the details slowly leak out.

 

This sums up the situation rather succinctly, IMO.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

It’s only a question of WHEN the deal is announced. Not if. And because of that, it’s impossible to understand the specifics of what is effectively a backroom handshake deal until the details slowly leak out.

 

This sums up the situation rather succinctly, IMO.

On top of that, Sinclair won't even tell us exactly which stations they're selling off (we know that they'll have to sell off at least 12 of those) and it could be next week before we even know which of the 12 are getting spun off, we don't know as of yet so therefore any potential trades, etc. is speculation (which can be discussed in the speculatron thread)

[Rusty Muck 4168]

On top of that, Sinclair won't even tell us exactly which stations they're selling off (we know that they'll have to sell off at least 12 of those)

No offense, and I’m not trying to be mean, but is a recap post really necessary?

[Mrtraveler01 737]

KDNL is so much a non-factor, moving the ABC affiliation to a sub of either 2 or 11 would be a welcome upgrade.

 

Plus STL is no longer an NFL market.

 

True, but then FTVLive says they're also interested in KSWB in San Diego which no longer has an NFL team.

 

Curious to see if the goal is for Fox to at least recover the majority of the stations they had to sell off to Local TV/Tribune a decade ago. If I recall, the only reason they got rid of them was because News Corp trying to financially recover from their acquistion of the Wall Street Journal.

[Megatron81 181]

I'm thinking because it 12 to 13 that Sinclair has to divest that Fox17 is a station they have to sell and I'm saying it will be Meredith as the front runner just my opinion. Can't wait until what Sinclair will be selling which Fox is a buyer be interesting who else will be buying. Indy is the wildcard since Fox/CBS are at the hip be hard to disband the stations.

[T.L. Hughes 752]

On top of that, Sinclair won't even tell us exactly which stations they're selling off (we know that they'll have to sell off at least 12 of those) and it could be next week before we even know which of the 12 are getting spun off, we don't know as of yet so therefore any potential trades, etc. is speculation (which can be discussed in the speculatron thread)

FTR, while the DOJ wasn't clear on which stations Sinclair had to sell, presumably those are supposed to involve stations in the ten conflict markets; I don't think many of the conflict outlets could be shuffled to a shell without running into more issues with the DOJ's ad share limits since they could still be counted as de facto Sinclair outlets.

 

The side deal with Fox can be assumed to be a separate sale, intended for the network to keep enough Fox affiliates out of Sinclair's hands. Besides, Sinclair would be best suited to sell many of the conflict outlets that Fox doesn't get (Seattle is the only one which sticks out where Fox could buy a conflict property free and clear, with Milwaukee being iffy because of the entanglements involving Sinclair's channel-share agreements there) to multiple companies (Meredith, Nexstar, etc.), since those sales -- which would come in at tidy sums -- would allow Sinclair to help them pay down the debt it would accrue through the Tribune purchase.

[hmaxhanson 650]

I'm sure Sinclair doesn't care how much they need to sell or how much of Tribune they actually acquire, just as long as they get the biggies (WPIX, KTLA and WGN).

[oklahomanewsman 210]

FTR, while the DOJ wasn't clear on which stations Sinclair had to sell, presumably those are supposed to involve stations in the ten conflict markets; I don't think many of the conflict outlets could be shuffled to a shell without running into more issues with the DOJ's ad share limits since they could still be counted as de facto Sinclair outlets.

 

The side deal with Fox can be assumed to be a separate sale, intended for the network to keep enough Fox affiliates out of Sinclair's hands. Besides, Sinclair would be best suited to sell many of the conflict outlets that Fox doesn't get (Seattle is the only one which sticks out where Fox could buy a conflict property free and clear, with Milwaukee being iffy because of the entanglements involving Sinclair's channel-share agreements there) to multiple companies (Meredith, Nexstar, etc.), since those sales -- which would come in at tidy sums -- would allow Sinclair to help them pay down the debt it would accrue through the Tribune purchase.

Even though I could understand why Fox doesn't want Sinclair to have so many stations affiliated with the network I just don't understand the need to buy back the former O&Os Fox sold off to Local TV in 2008 (KTVI, WJW, WITI, WGHP, WDAF, KDVR and KSTU) at least those 7 former Fox-owned stations can go somewhere besides Fox

[Rusty Muck 4168]

I'm sure Sinclair doesn't care how much they need to sell or how much of Tribune they actually acquire, just as long as they get the biggies (WPIX, KTLA and WGN).

I concur.

 

I won’t be shocked if they give Fox all of the stations they want, and then some. If it helps Sinclair get any closer to nabbing those three stations they covet before all else, they’ll do it.

[A578TV 5]

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the St. Louis stations. Sinclair probably can't sell KPLR since it's not a Top 4 station, so it'll come down to the other two. My guess would be that they sell KDNL, but imagine if it's KTVI instead. That could mean a possible affiliation swap in the future (ABC to KPLR, CW to KDNL).

 

As for Fox, I guess they want to own stations in the AFC markets too, now that the ownership cap isn't in the way. I think Seattle is the last decent sized NFC market they don't have a presence in. After that, it's just New Orleans and Green Bay, which I can't imagine they would have interest in.

[Rusty Muck 4168]

As for Fox, I guess they want to own stations in the AFC markets too, now that the ownership cap isn't in the way. I think Seattle is the last decent sized NFC market they don't have a presence in. After that, it's just New Orleans and Green Bay, which I can't imagine they would have interest in.

How much does Fox covet KCPQ? So much so that they actually made a purchase offer for this rimshot a few years ago as a threat towards Tribune.

 

Because of that, Sinclair is clearly letting Fox pick the stations they want, along with KCPQ, in order to close the deal.

[WAVY 10 Fan 232]

Haven't checked in this thread in a while, but WTKR and WGNT have added Sinclair-owned subchannels to their .3 channels

[MEDIA=twitter]944653838006603777[/MEDIA]

 

[MEDIA=twitter]944653840195997698[/MEDIA]

[kruejac 9]

I wonder when they will announce which stations will get sold off

[Rusty Muck 4168]

Haven't checked in this thread in a while, but WTKR and WGNT have added Sinclair-owned subchannels to their .3 channels

[MEDIA=twitter]944653838006603777[/MEDIA]

 

[MEDIA=twitter]944653840195997698[/MEDIA]

WJW added Comet and Charge! to 8.3 and 8.4. I'd say it was a group-wide arrangement regardless of the fate of some of the stations.

 

Funny thing is, Sinclair inherited the TBD name and concept from a failed Allbritton venture.

[24994J 5276]

WGN has added TBD to 9.4, with Antenna and THIS already on .2 and .3, respectively.

[SoFloTVClassics 905]

I don't know if WSFL will follow suit.

[JCB4TV 334]

I know that it's most likely an error, but I see this on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justice_Network_affiliates#Oklahoma showing KFOR being owned by Tegna. I only bring this up as I believe that OKC is one of the Sinclair/Tribune conflict markets.

 

[broadcastfan9751 136]

I know that it's most likely an error, but I see this on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justice_Network_affiliates#Oklahoma showing KFOR being owned by Tegna. I only bring this up as I believe that OKC is one of the Sinclair/Tribune conflict markets.

 

[ATTACH=full]4948[/ATTACH]

 

It was added by an IP address editor two months ago, so it's probably false.

[JCB4TV 334]

It was added by an IP address editor two months ago, so it's probably false.

I know, but, just like all of you, I also anxiously awaiting to see who stays, who goes and where.