The Sinclair/Tribune Nightmare
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The FCC came out yesterday and did exactly what they said they would do the second Donald Trump was elected President.
They announced that they were going to relax TV station ownership rules.
This clears the way for Trump's good friends at Sinclair can now buy up the Tribune stations and run them straight into the ground.
With the proposed merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Broadcasting, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) have written the FCC chairman Ajit Pai, urging the FCC to not restore the "UHF Discount", claiming it isn't in the best interest for consumers.
There are also concerns regarding conflict markets (like Seattle-Tacoma, St. Louis, Greensboro-High Point, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Des Moines, Salt Lake City, Harrisburg-Lancaster, Oklahoma City, etc.), where both Sinclair and Tribune own and/or operate stations that rank top 4 in terms of audience share, as well as concerns about legacy Tribune stations WPIX, KTLA, and WGN being turned into something that viewers would likely no longer recognize, and so on.
Other possibilities, if Tribune is looking to sellout, and should the proposed merger with Sinclair not go through, many would prefer a merger with Meredith Corporation, Cox Media Group, Hubbard Broadcasting, or Graham Media Group, as they're seen as more viable options, and wouldn't resort to what Sinclair, as well as Nexstar Media Group are known for.
No word if Sinclair would be hubbing WGN's morning newscast out of South Bend, Indiana, but it would not surprise us.
