Sinclair Won't Say...
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Yesterday was the deadline for Sinclair to give additional information, requested by the FCC about their plans after acquiring the Tribune stations.
Yesterday, FTVLive showed you EXCLUSIVELY the internal memo that Sinclair sent to Tribune employees, telling them about their plans after the sale is approved.
There is no doubt that Sinclair believes that this sale is a done deal and despite the fact that many people have opposed the deal, Sinclair knows that they have greased the right hands and their friendship with Donald Trump is all they need.
The FCC asked Sinclair which stations they would plan on selling after the sale to bring them in compliance with FCC guidelines?
Sinclair would not say.
The Baltimore Sun writes that in their response, Sinclair said it has not identified specific sales. But it hired TV station broker Moelis &Company in July to help it identify potential buyers.
“Moelis has contacted a substantial number of potential buyers, consisting of both broadcasters and financial investor/management teams, many of which have signed non-disclosure agreements,” Sinclair said in its filing. “The outcomes of negotiations with potential buyers could impact the license divestitures Sinclair would make.”
Sinclair’s response Thursday also addressed the FCC’s request for more detail on how the merged company would improve service to the public. Sinclair said it would make a multimillion-dollar investment in the newly acquired Tribune stations, allowing for more hours of local news programming.
The company said it invested almost $40 million in stations it acquired from Fisher Communications Inc. and Allbritton Communications, purchasing new computers and laptops, trucks and other news vehicles, camera equipment, video-encoders, weather systems and other news studio and production equipment.
“The economies of scale Sinclair enjoys allow it to make improvements that smaller-station group owners cannot afford,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair says it also plans to produce more original content shows, share programs, add reporters to local political beats and beef up its investigative teams and online presence.
