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US: Sinclair Broadcast on board with DOJ to close Tribune Media deal

By  |  November 30, 2017

Justice Department (DOJ) to sell some television stations as a condition of approval for its US$3.9 billion Tribune Media acquisition.

According to The New York Post, the DOJ is asking Sinclair to sell off 13 Tribune stations as part of the deal. Sinclair is reportedly working on getting that number down to 10. The report also said that Sinclair has already received offers for the stations from Nexstar Media and Tegna, the two largest television broadcast groups in the US besides Sinclair and Tribune. Meredith has also reportedly submitted bids for the stations.

Sinclair will be buying Tribune’s 42 television stations in 33 markets, cable network WGN America, digital multicast network Antenna TV and a minority stake in Food Network.

Sinclair believes its biggest regulatory hurdle in buying Tribune Media is at the DOJ and not the Federal Communications Commission, sources said.

“Sinclair has sale books out and has bids in for Tribune stations” it might need to sell, a source said, “and is just waiting for government direction.”

Full Content: New York Post

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