Sinclair Amends Tribune Deal, Announces Divestiture of 23 Stations

Sinclair is filing a new amendment to its application to purchase Tribune and Tuesday announced plans to divest 23 stations in 18 markets to Standard Media, Howard Stirk Holdings, Meredith Corp. and Cunningham Broadcasting, along with “another party to be announced.” Sinclair would hold on to WPIX-TV New York but will divest additional stations in Denver, Sacramento, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston and Miami, said a memo sent to employees Tuesday by Tribune CEO Peter Kern. The amendments weren't yet available on the FCC database. “While we continue to believe that we had a strong and supportable rationale for not having to divest stations, we are happy to announce this significant step forward in our plan,” said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley in its release. “The actions outlined in today’s filing are designed to bring our proposed merger into compliance with the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules and pave the way for regulatory approval,” Kern said. Although opponents have faulted Sinclair for failure to specify divestiture plans, Tuesday’s release lays out specific buyers for most of the divested stations. Standard Media will purchase nine, Howard Stirk the three that will be run by Sinclair through joint sales agreements, Meredith and WGN-TV will purchase one each, and Cunningham two. Standard is purchasing its nine stations for $441 million, said an emailed release, while Meredith said it was purchasing KPLR-TV St. Louis for $65 million. Sinclair identifies seven stations as being sold to sellers that haven’t been determined. Broadcast attorneys speculate Sinclair might seek to close its deal quickly after oral argument in FCC defense of the restoration of the UHF discount appeared to go against the agency (see 1804240072). It’s expected that if the FCC approves of Sinclair’s modifications, the amended application will be issued for comment, industry officials told us. Sinclair and the FCC declined to comment.