The Beast Continues to Grow
Sinclair announced yesterday that they bought up some more mostly small market stations.
Sinclair is continuing their months long buying spree of TV stations. The company say they are shelling out $90 million to buy eight television stations from Wilkes Barre, Pa.-based New Age Media.
The stations, located in Wilkes Barre-Scranton; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Gainesville, Fla., collectively reach about 0.8 percent of the U.S. market. Wilkes Barre-Scranton is the nation’s 54th largest TV market. Tallahassee and Gainesville rank 106th and 163rd, respectively.
The deal is one of a string of purchases by Hunt Valley-based Sinclair (NASDAQ: SBGI), which has been expanding its roster of stations in small- and medium-size TV markets. The company is already the nation’s largest owner of TV stations.
The deal with New Age is expected to close in either late fourth quarter 2013 or early first quarter 2014, subject to antitrust clearance and approval from the Federal Communication Commission. Sinclair said it will fund the purchase with cash on hand and by drawing on a bank credit agreement.
Sinclair won’t hold onto all eight stations it will pick up from New Age to comply with rules limiting the number of stations a broadcaster can own in a given market.
Sinclair said it will sell three stations — WSWB, the CW affiliate in Wilkes Barre-Scranton; WTLH, the Fox affiliate in Tallahassee; and WNBW, the NBC affiliate in Gainesville — to Cunningham Broadcast Corp. Sinclair will also sell WTLF, the CW affiliate in Tallahassee, to Deerfield Media Inc. The purchase price for those deals was not disclosed.
The eight stations Sinclair is buying from New Age Media:
- WOLF in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.
- WQMY in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.
- WSWB in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.
- WTLH in Tallahassee, Fla.
- WTLF in Tallahassee, Fla.
- WGFL in Gainesville, Fla.
- WNBW in Gainesville, Fla., and
- WMYG-LP in Gainesville, Fla.