Sinclair Needs to Call It Quits on Tribune Deal
/First things first, I have to admit that I was wrong.
Since Sinclair first said that they were buying Tribune, I thought and said that this deal would be approved. I figured that Sinclair had sucked up hard enough to Donald Trump and the FCC that there was no way this deal wasn't going to go through.
The deal went south for one reason and that reason was (as one FTVLive reader put it) "SINCLAIROGANCE". The company was too greedy and they thought that had the right friends in high places.
But, it now appears it is dead in the water and if Sinclair was smart, they would just pack up their tent and leave when it comes to this deal.
The FCC has voted to sent this proposal to a administrative judge hearing and if Sinclair goes through with it, the costs could be huge.
The FCC is looking at these "sham" deals that Sinclair was trying to make to sell some of the stations off to friends and family and still run the station as they see fit.
The FCC has a big problem with that and if a the administrative judge starts looking into this, he/she will find that Sinclair is currently doing this same thing in a number of markets right now. In other words, if Sinclair fights the Tribune deal before the administrative judge, they might not only lose that, but also lose some current stations as well.
It is time for Sinclair to back away, leave Tribune alone and move on.
That's our opinion anyway.