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Exclusive: Sinclair approaches Tribune Media about possible deal - sources

^ That, and the markets with three or more stations.

Milwaukee: Sinclair just auctioned away WCGV's spectrum, and WVTV expects to incorporate that station into a subchannel.
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre: WPMT is the only station that Tribune owns outright. WNEP is owned by Dreamcatcher, while New Age Media owns the two Sinclair stations.
Hampton Roads: Sinclair owns WTVZ, but Tribune does not own either station (those are again Dreamcatcher stations).

Therefore, the stations in the Piedmont Triad, Portland, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and St. Louis are on the chopping block.
 
thomwim said:
^ That, and the markets with three or more stations.

Milwaukee: Sinclair just auctioned away WCGV's spectrum, and WVTV expects to incorporate that station into a subchannel.
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre: WPMT is the only station that Tribune owns outright. WNEP is owned by Dreamcatcher, while New Age Media owns the two Sinclair stations.
Hampton Roads: Sinclair owns WTVZ, but Tribune does not own either station (those are again Dreamcatcher stations).

Therefore, the stations in the Piedmont Triad, Portland, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and St. Louis are on the chopping block.
Click to expand...

WPMT is Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York and has a conflict with WHP.
 
http://www.fiercecable.com/broadcasting/winners-and-losers-3-9b-sinclair-tribune-deal

Update

Winners

Companies looking to buy TV stations: By bringing Tribune’s TV assets into its already massive stable of stations, Sinclair would take control of a mind-boggling 215 stations. Factor in other outstanding transactions like the recent Bonten Media deal, and Sinclair will hold 233 stations in about 108 markets, according to Moody’s.

Of course, even Sinclair has admitted that amount could push it past the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules limiting national audience reach to 39%. Therefore, the broadcaster has said it might divest stations, particularly in markets where Sinclair and Tribune have overlap.

Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said that Sinclair and Tribune have stations overlapping in 14 markets and, if the companies need to divest any of those stations to push through the acquisition, those stations would be a hot commodity for other broadcasters. In particular, those pieces could be enticing to broadcast groups like Meredith and Gray, both of which lately have been snapping up stations.

ATSC 3.0: Sinclair has been front and center as the biggest industry cheerleader for ATSC 3.0, the next-generation TV standard promising improved picture, better sound, mobile access and a handful of other features. With Tribune’s stations merged into Sinclair’s already impressive TV footprint, Sinclair will have even more scale to help push ATSC 3.0 out to the masses.

As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, Sinclair’s added scale and ATSC 3.0’s deeper access to targeted viewership data means that Sinclair could emerge as a titan of addressable advertising in the broadcast industry.

“Tribune’s stations allow Sinclair to strengthen our commitment to serving local communities and to advance the Next Generation Broadcast Platform. This acquisition will be a turning point for Sinclair, allowing us to better serve our viewers and advertisers while creating value for our shareholders," said Sinclair Executive Chairman David Smith in a statement (PDF).
Losers

Pay TV operators: Even if Sinclair has to divest stations to make its Tribune Media acquisition happen, it will still be a behemoth with a local broadcast network scale similar to major players like Fox Television.

“This is a about a play to get bigger because the world requires scale,” MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson told the New York Times.

That sheer size will give Sinclair a lot of leverage in retransmission consent negotiations with pay-TV operators and virtual MVPDs. Broadcasters’ retransmission revenues are already projected to rise and broadcasters have made no bones about retrans being a vital and significant part of their financial performance in the future.

Net retransmission revenue for broadcasters is on track to reach $13.5 billion by 2021, according to Wells Fargo analysts. If pay-TV operators have to contend with a colossus like Sinclair, which will be able to use its massive scale to tip retrans negotiations in its favor, then those figures may need to be revised.

21st Century Fox: There are conflicting reports about whether Fox may attempt to outbid Sinclair for Tribune. Fox was said to be partnering with Blackstone to help finance a bid for Tribune, but publications like the New York Times indicated that the race for Tribune really came down to just Sinclair and Nexstar Media—and Nexstar Media CEO Perry Sook said his company appraised Tribune but that the asking price exceeded Nexstar’s “walkaway threshold.”

Regardless of whether Fox truly intends to make a play for Tribune, Sinclair’s added scale after locking down the deal means Fox could soon be facing much tougher competition in the conservative-leaning news outlet department. Sinclair has been tied to President Donald Trump in reports suggesting the broadcaster offered him favorable coverage. Sinclair also recently hired former Trump campaign spokesman Boris Epshteyn as its chief political analyst.

As Michael Wolff pointed out, the Tribune deal will give Sinclair a “network-size broadcast presence” and a wider audience for its conservative programming like “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.” As the once-venerable Fox News suffers through the loss of its major network stars and the ouster of its key executives, its vulnerable state makes it reasonable to picture Sinclair posing a significant challenge in the conservative news market.
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Also, like I said, keep an eye on St. Louis, becuase the rumored "affiliation switch" of KPLR and KDNL may potentially be true, but only if Sinclair sells KTVI.
 
http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/5/12/sinclairtribunes-conflicted-markets

Here is an update on the Sinclair/Tribune deal


Here is a look at the 12 conflict markets, where both groups have owned and/or operated stations.

Seattle-Tacoma, WA: Sinclair has ABC affiliate KOMO and Univision affiliate KUNS, while Tribune has Fox affiliate KCPQ and My-Network-TV affiliate KZJO.
Portland, OR: Sinclair has ABC affiliate KATU and Univision affiliate KUNP, whileTribune has CW affliate KRCW.
St. Louis, MO: Sinclair has ABC affiliate KDNL, while Tribune has Fox affiliate KTVI and CW affliate KPLR.
Des Moines, IA: Sinclair has Fox affiliate KFSM, while Tribune has NBC affiliate WHO.
Salt Lake City, UT: Sinclair has CBS affiliate KUTV, while Tribune has Fox affiliate KSTU.
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI: Sinclair has CBS affiliate WWMT, while Tribune has Fox affiliate WXMI.
Richmond, VA: Sinclair has Fox affiliate WRLH, while Tribune has CBS affiliate WTVR.
Norfolk, VA: Sinclair has My-Network-TV affiliate WTVZ, while Tribune has CBS affiliate WTKR and CW affliate WGNT.
Greensboro-High Point, NC: Sinclair has ABC affiliate WXLV, while Tribune has Fox affiliate WGHP.
Oklahoma City, OK: Sinclair has Fox affiliate KOKH and CW affliate KOCB, while Tribune has NBC affiliate KFOR and independent station KAUT.
Harrisburg-Lancaster, PA: Sinclair had CBS affiliate WHP, while Tribune had Fox affiliate WPMT.
Scranton-Wilkes Barre, PA: Sinclair has Fox affiliate WOLF, CW affliate WSWB, and My-Network-TV affiliate WQMY, while Tribune has ABC affiliate WNEP.

So, where could those stations he headed next with ownership?

Possible buyers... we could see such groups, including E.W. Scripps Company, Raycom Media, Meredith Corporation, Cox Media Group, Hearst Television, Hubbard Broadcasting, TEGNA, and Graham Media Group, to name a few. Cox and Hearst would likely pursue ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates with rich histories and rich legacies, as those groups take pride in broadcasting/journalism excellence and setting the gold standard.

Scripps is reportedly interested in buying up more stations. Meredith could see an opportunity to get a Des Moines station, its home market. Fox could see an opportunity to get its much desired Seattle-Tacoma O&O, and the Seahawks being a competitive NFC franchise. TEGNA could see an opportunity to form a duopoly in Portland, where they own NBC affiliate KGW.
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I wonder what Sinclair will do with the sports contracts. WGN has many Chicago Sports Contracts. And in NYC WPIX is the OTA Flagship of Both The Yankees and The Mets. (I don't know the exact number, but with the Yankees and The Mets on WPIX, I believe they air around 60 games a year. I know the Yankees are around 20-25 per year).

I also don't follow Tribune (or Sinclair for that matter) outside of these markets so I don't know if others are sports flagship stations. (WPIX sends The Mets to sister station WCCT in Hartford, CT with a couple WPIX games on WTIC-TV in Hartford. The Yankees in Hartford/New Haven have been on Channel 59 in New Haven on and off since Channel 59 signed on back in 95).
 
O'Reilly is going to be back on the air at some point. He'll make less, perhaps significantly so, than he did at Fox, but of those I suspect who are pursuing him, Sinclair likely represents the best fit, especially with this acquisition of Tribune, assuming it clears shareholder and regulatory approvals.

He'd likely have the widest clearance on the larger Sinclair and could return to prime time cable on WGN. Newsmax doesn't have the clearance to match that, neither does America One. I think he wants to stick it to Fox, and returning to Prime Time on cable would be the best way to do that.
 
I agree that Antenna TV continues. Sinclair may drop one of their DTV upstarts and use those open slots to clear Antenna TV in either more markets or on better signals. Another hope, although this isn't likely, is that the combined entity has Weigel again produce a morning business program and plays it on WGN or syndicate it to all its markets. Weigel discontinued the long running 'First Business' at the end of 2014. Sinclair is serious about news though. I'm aware many in the industry dislike how it has centralized production, but in my view, this is because they are trying to improve the economics so they can continue to offer news at a return attractive to their shareholders. If they use WGN to start a morning news product and to bring O'Reilly back, a short 30 minute business show would be a great lead in. Produce the thing in South Bend if it saves money.
 
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