Sinclair Broadcast Group has acquired Tribune Media for approximately $3.9 billion, a deal that will bring more than 200 television stations across the country under one owner.
The deal has set tongues wagging in Washington as to whether Sinclair, a Maryland-based television station owner that has often pushed right-leaning programming, will try to position itself as a rival to Fox News.
“This is a transformational acquisition for Sinclair that will open up a myriad of opportunities for the company,” Sinclair President and CEO Chris Ripley said in a statement. “The Tribune stations are highly complementary to Sinclair’s existing footprint and will create a leading nationwide media platform that includes our country’s largest markets.”
The deal is the largest acquisition in the 46-year history of Sinclair, whose owners have long supported Republican causes. The Washington Post reported in December that during the 2016 campaign, news stories and features favorable to then-candidate Donald Trump or challenging Democrat Hillary Clinton were distributed to Sinclair stations on a “must-run” basis. Earlier that month, POLITICO reported that the president’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, told business executives the campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair for better media coverage, a characterization Sinclair disputed.
The group also recently hired Boris Epshteyn, a White House aide who oversaw Trump’s television surrogate operation, as chief political analyst.
Given those recent decisions, many in Washington wonder if Sinclair has its sights set on Fox News. Though Fox has continued to dominate the cable news ratings, it’s experienced a year of intense turmoil as longtime chief Roger Ailes and top primetime anchor Bill O’Reilly were ousted following sexual harassment allegations, and as the network faces federal investigations into how settlement payments to some of the accusers were handled.
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Could Sinclair launch a Fox News rival? https://t.co/zNz5mkKXnl via @Hadas_Gold pic.twitter.com/ozXVgUnzUc
— POLITICO (@politico) May 8, 2017
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