The Sinclair Broadcast Group is making the case for its $3.9 billion buyout of Tribune Media, which is awaiting approval after the companies agreed to the deal back in May.
The company’s argument, detailed in a 173-page filing with the FCC, is summed up by Variety this way: “The future of local television is threatened unless TV station owners are allowed to bulk up to compete more effectively with MVPDs and digital competitors.”
Today was the deadline for Sinclair to respond to the more than 1,000 comments received by the FCC from individuals and competitors imploring the panel to reject the merger, Variety notes.
“The union of Sinclair and Tribune would create a broadcast TV behemoth with more than 200 stations reaching 72% of U.S. TV households,” Variety adds.
Replies to Sinclair’s latest filing are due by Aug. 29.
What they really mean is that by merging together, they can prevent any distributor from including their programming without paying higher fees and passing them on to consumers.
What they really mean is that will give them more stations to air their “must carry” far right wing propaganda. They are currently in talks with Steve Bannon and already have Boris Epstyn on staff. Please, Sinclair, tell me again how you don’t lean at all to the right.
Scott, I think the Guilty Cleric has the correct answer on this one. This is a business deal, not a political deal. While I will allow that both can and sometimes are present in a transaction, the overriding impetus behind this deal is BID-NESS.
Both points are valid except I’m far less concerned with Sinclair having more leverage in their negotiations with MVPDs than I am their newly amplified voice being used to spread toxic conservative propaganda. If only someone at NBC in the past decade and change thought about the ramifications of continuing to do “bid-ness” with Trump, whose true colors became more and more apparent as time went on…
So based on the previous comment, may I assume that you are suggesting that liberalism in broadcast media is never toxic?