Sinclair Broadcast Group

Sinclair Broadcast Group said today that, as a result of tax reform legislation, it will pay a special $1,000 bonus to almost 9,000 full-time and part-time regular employees at all of its stations and subsidiaries, excluding senior level executives. “We are grateful to our president and legislature for passing the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and are excited about the benefits it will provide for our country’s economy, our company, and our employees,” said CEO Chris Ripley.

The multi-year agreement also provides for carriage of Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel.

The $13.4 million notice of apparent liability is for its airing of paid programming that did not include proper disclosures when broadcast. Sinclair says it will contest the fine.

Three former employees claim a Sinclair affiliate discriminates against women and ignored complaints about harassment. Jaclyn Mason, Richelle Meiss and Rebecca Zak are suing Sinclair, along with its digital comedy venture Circa Laughs, Medio Pictures Partners, Airplane! writer-director David Zucker and Medio COO Randall Sherman.

The FCC plans to fine Sinclair Broadcast Group $13.3 million after it failed to properly disclose that paid programming that aired on its TV stations was sponsored by a cancer institute, three people briefed on the matter told Reuters. The proposed fine covers about 1,700 spots including commercials that looked like news stories that aired during newscasts for the Utah-based Huntsman Cancer Institute over a six-month period in 2016.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department has signaled it is willing to approve Sinclair Broadcast Group’s planned takeover of Tribune Media. but with a condition: It wants the companies to sell off roughly a dozen television stations. DOJ told the companies the deal as currently structured raises antitrust problems and that 12 to 13 station sales are necessary to alleviate concerns about competition in markets where a combined Sinclair-Tribune would otherwise have a commanding presence. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has raised $3.725 billion of new loans and amended some terms of its bank credit facility. The new term B loans mature in 2024 and are priced at LIBOR plus 2.50%. The proceeds “are expected to be used to purchase the outstanding shares of Tribune Media Co., refinance certain of Tribune’s existing indebtedness, pay costs and expenses expected to be incurred in connection with the acquisition, and for general corporate purposes,” the company said.

Looser rules plus technology improvements should spur broader adoption of the newsgathering tool.

Sen. Claire McCaskill has written FCC Chairman Ajit Pai voicing concerns about the “negative impact” on the St. Louis media market from the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media. “If the Sinclair-Tribune transaction is approved as proposed it would leave three stations in the hands of one company, including two of the top four stations in the market,” she wrote.

What do the two TV entrepreneurs have in common? They are both betting that the future lies in spectrum and the Internet of Things. They just envision different ways of realizing the vast potential. The real question is can they get a return on the hefty investments they will have to make so that they can compete is the space.

If ATSC 3.0 becomes the de facto standard for TV broadcasting in the coming decade, Sinclair’s One Media could make a small fortune from patent royalties from manufacturers of 3.0 receivers and transmission gear. That’s cause for concern for the FCC’s Jessica Rosenworcel. Sinclair, however, says its primary interest is in the 3.0 tech that it believes will let it enhance its broadcast capabilities and move into new businesses.

The station group moves up Rob Weisbord from SVP, chief operating officer of Sinclair Digital Group. He will be responsible for “developing, executing and leading sales and revenue growth strategies and initiatives for broadcasting, digital, advanced revenue and all networks sales.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group said Thursday that International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union Number 51 is no longer representing Sinclair employees at its ABC affiliate WICS Springfield, Ill. (DMA 88). […]

Sinclair Broadcast Group is close to accepting a remedy proposed by the Department of Justice to allow its $6.6 billion buyout of Tribune Media to gain regulatory approval. The feds want Sinclair, whose 193 TV stations spread over 89 markets makes it the largest TV station owner in the country, to sell 13 Tribune stations, sources say.

Nexstar, Sinclair, Tribune, Tegna launch TV Interface Practices (TIP), a standards-based project to bring streamlined business interfaces to local TV. They are inviting broadcasters, advertisers and others to join to improve competitiveness with other media.

Sinclair Broadcast Group says it will add 367 new jobs over the next six years through an aggressive expansion of its Hunt Valley, Md., operations. The nation’s largest broadcaster says it will invest $12 million into its headquarters and hopes to have 700 full-time employees in Baltimore County by the end of 2023. Sinclair is in the midst of a growth plan, which includes a planned $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co.

Senators led by Cantwell and Udall say there’s a troubling timeline and call for Pai to recuse himself from Sinclair-related business until the matter is fully investigated.

With the FCC poised to approve the use of the new broadcast standard tomorrow, One Media EVP Jerry Fritz takes on the critics of the standard and the “horror stories” they tell about its impact on consumers and MVPDs.

The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik: “On CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday, I explained how Sinclair used its WBMA Birmingham, Ala., last week to try to attack the credibility of a Washington Post article in which a women says Senate candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 14 and he was 32. I also explained how Breitbart promoted the WBMA report with a headline on its homepage saying: “Alabama ABC affiliate can’t find one voter who believes [Washington Post] report about Roy Moore in man on the street segment.”

Sinclair is using public cloud-based playout to broadcast a three-hour block of children’s programming loaded across 51 stations. So far, so good, says CTO Del Parks. “It’s been pretty bulletproof.” And it also just may be the future for the whole industry.

Even if the FCC relaxes its ownership rules, Sinclair and other broadcasters would still be blocked from owning two network affiliates in many cases by Justice Department antitrust regulators who have a cap of their own. It limits a broadcaster to controlling no more than 40% of the market’s broadcast TV revenue. So, Sinclair is waging a campaign to increase that percentage by changing the way regulators define the local market.

Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media, recently spelled out all the reasons he’s against the Sinclair-Tribune merger now before the FCC, except the real one. He’s way off base on almost every single claim. Here’s my point-by-point rebuttal.

In a letter to Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley, Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas asked tough questions about the Sinclair-Tribune merger.

Company executives say it’s got a full plate with the Tribune merger, moving to implement ATSC 3.0, signing deals with vMVPDs and a new audience measurement regimen. Also, CEO Christopher Ripley says the company has no interest in hiring Bill O’Reilly.

The decrease to $624 million is put on lower political that wasn’t offset by 55% higher digital revenue.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is urging the FCC to block the proposed acquisition of Tribune Media Co. by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns WICS-TV in Springfield. He also said it appears that the commission is “going out of (its) way to clear barriers to the deal by rolling back any rule that may pose a problem to it,” and that the acquisition would “threaten diversity and localism in broadcasting, ignore the unique concerns and interests of local audiences, and harm competition.”

Bill O’Reilly, the former Fox News anchor, has been negotiating for a position with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation’s largest television-station owner, according to two sources familiar with the talks.

Speaking at Wednesday’s oversight hearing before the House Communications Subcommittee, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel says she’s suspicious of recent FCC actions that seem designed to benefit Sinclair Broadcast Group. “I think it is something that merits investigation.” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said he would be looking into FCC’s evasiveness on Sinclair and other matters.

Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy: “While President Trump has been condemning “fake news,” his very own FCC is pursuing policies that will lead to the greatest concentration of television media power in history.”

The fiery editorials of Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. chief political analyst Boris Epshteyn will be beamed into seven in 10 American living rooms if the company is allowed to complete a merger that would transform it into a nationwide conservative TV juggernaut. But Sinclair’s proposed $3.9 billion purchase of Tribune Media Co. is encountering opposition from unlikely foes: media stalwarts of the right.

At a special meeting held today, the stockholders of Tribune Media Co. voted overwhelmingly to approve the previously announced acquisition of the company by Sinclair Broadcast Group. “Today’s vote is an important milestone in the merger process and confirms that Tribune stockholders strongly support this transaction and the value it delivers,” said Peter Kern, Tribune Media’s CEO. “We look forward to continuing our work with Sinclair toward the closing of this deal.”

The FCC is pausing its review of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s proposed merger with Tribune Media to allow more time for the filing of public comments. The FCC is more than halfway through its 180-day timeline for review of the merger, which would create a broadcasting giant with 223 TV stations serving 108 markets. The FCC’s Media Bureau said it is pausing the review for 15 days until Nov. 2.

Sinclair Broadcast Group received bids for as many as 10 television stations that could fetch up to $1 billion as it takes steps to win approval of its proposed merger with Tribune Media, people familiar with the matter say. Preliminary bids for the stations were submitted last week, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the process wasn’t public. Sinclair may sell some or all of the outlets, all in different markets, the people said.

I worry that as we focus on Russian bots on Twitter influencing elections, we’re ignoring a bigger threat to democracy and the political process right here at home: the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group with Tribune Media Co. Imagine what could happen to politics if Sinclair becomes the dominant local news gatekeeper.

Does it matter who owns the TV station that delivers your local news? Polls show that many Americans trust local news more than other sources. The largest owner of local stations in the country, Sinclair Broadcasting, planning a merger that would make them even bigger. It is a move that is raising concerns because of Sinclair’s policy of combining news with partisan political opinion.

And maybe for Chicago and Los Angeles, the mega-station group says, but only if the FCC approves its merger with Tribune. Sinclair also says that post-merger it will distribute a Tribune morning show (Morning Dose) on some Sinclair stations and a weekly Sinclair news magazine (Full Measure) on all Tribune stations.

In response to the FCC’s Sept. 14 request for “specific plans” on how it intends to comply with ownership limits, Sinclair said in a late filing today it would be “premature” to set forth any plans given the DOJs concurrent review of the deal and the possibility the FCC may relax the limits.

Sinclair’s sidecar partner is paying London Broadcasting $9.5 million for independent KTXD, according to an FCC filing. The deal would give Sinclair a duopoly in Dallas, assuming that its purchase of Tribune also passes FCC muster. Tribune owns CW affil KDAF there.

The Sinclair subsidiary says that the carrier’s suggestion that broadcasters want an FCC mandate requiring cellphone makers to put ATSC 3.0 tuners in their phones is a “red herring.” “Nothing mandates that T-Mobile incorporate Next Gen TV capabilities in devices designed for T-Mobile’s customers,” it says. However, it also says, contrary to T-Mobile’s claims, tuners could be installed in phones.