Right-wing competition for Fox News? Sinclair Broadcasting announces purchase of 42 TV stations

Most Americans have likely never heard of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, even though it is the largest operator of local television news stations in the country.

With Fox News Channel continuing to be mired in legal and financial fallout resulting from the tenure of its controversial founder Roger Ailes, Sinclair’s expansion strategy couldn’t be better timed as the market for right-leaning media is in a crucial state of flux.

According to Reuters and several other news organizations, Sinclair has almost completed negotiations for an approximately $4 billion bid to acquire Tribune Media, a smaller television company that owns or operates 42 local stations along with several cable channels, including WGN. Sinclair now owns 173 stations in 81 markets.

While the local station acquisitions would certainly expand the reach and revenue of Sinclair, the WGN purchase may be the most significant part of the deal for the company. Sinclair has long been aiming to launch its own cable news channel to directly compete with Fox News Channel for right-leaning news viewers.

Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune might not go off completely without a hitch. While the FCC, under its new head, Ajit Pai, announced in April that it was going to increase some limits on station ownership, the combined Sinclair-Tribune behemoth may still exceed the restriction that a firm cannot reach more than 39% of U.S. households.

At: http://www.salon.com/2017/05/08/competition-for-fox-news-sinclair-broadcasting-announces-purchase-of-42-local-tv-stations/