Sinclair: Our Critics are Exaggerating
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Sinclair defended its plans to divest stations as a way to secure approval for its merger with Tribune Media, dismissing critics as resorting to “speculation, exaggeration, and outright misstatement to conjure alleged harm.”
Variety reports that Sinclair is still trying to get its deal to buy the Tribune stations approved and if that happens Sinclair would be the largest owner of stations with a reach of almost 59% of the country. Under the plan, Sinclair would ultimately own 215 stations in 102 markets.
Sinclair still has to shed a number of other stations to comply with media ownership rules, including one that limits broadcast holdings to no more than 39% of the country. In April, it outlined a list of 23 outlets it plans to sell, but critics said the company would continue to have influence over a number of the divested stations.
Newsmax raised questions about Sinclair’s plans to sell stations to Cunningham Broadcasting as well as to an LLC set up to buy one of the biggest Tribune properties, WGN-TV in Chicago.
Cunningham Broadcasting, Newsmax noted, was until very recently owned by the estate of Carolyn Smith, the mother of Sinclair’s controlling shareholders, including her son, executive chairman David Smith, while non-voting stock is set up in trusts for the children of those shareholders. Newsmax also noted that Sinclair continues to have other ties to Cunningham, including guaranteeing almost $54 million in debt, according to its latest 10-Q filing.
Sinclair called Newsmax’s claims “erroneous and misleading,” and that the company “does not control or hold any attributable interest in Cunningham, nor do the Smith brothers own any stock, voting or non-voting, in Cunningham.” Its CEO Michael E. Anderson holds 100% of the voting shares, Sinclair said.
Sinclair has pushed back on a number of other claims including the sweetheart deal they are giving Armstrong Williams for WGN. Which Sinclair will still run and control after the sale.
About all the push back to the Tribune deal, Sinclair says the FCC has a “long history” of approving transactions, even while some of its relevant regulations were facing court challenges. “There is no basis for departing from that precedent here,” the company said.
Final public responses to Sinclair’s plans are due this week.
