UPDATE Sinclair Broadcast Group’s troubles may not be over with the collapse of the proposed merger with Tribune Media. The FCC last month alleged Sinclair misled the agency about proposed station spins related to the deal and decided to send the transaction to its Administrative Law Judge for review. Sinclair asked the agency to stop that hearing.
A year ago, the Competitive Carriers Association, T-Mobile and NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association, urged the agency to deny the merger or place severe conditions on it, saying the combined entity would have the power to delay the progress of the television channel repack, and restrain competition in the mobile broadband market. Sinclair refuted those allegations.
Now, some say the fallout from the failed transaction could make it hard for Sinclair to find other business partners. Blair Levin, a former FCC chief of staff who’s now an analyst at New Street Research, tells The Hill: “There’s going to be a wave of [media] consolidation and it’s not clear to me that Sinclair will be able to participate.”
Sinclair owns 192 TV stations. According to the Inside Towers database, the broadcaster owns close to 50 registered towers. The tallest, at about 1,499 feet AGL, was built in 2003, and is located in St. Albans, WV. The shortest, at 62 feet AGL, was built in 2002, and is located in McCleary, WA.
August 14, 2018
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