As RBR+TVBR reported late Tuesday (3/6), Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media have agreed to “resubmit or amend” their applications filed with the FCC in connection with MB Docket No. 17-179 — the formal name given to the review of Sinclair’s planned merger with Tribune.
A look at the FCC’s database today suggests that it is abandoning its plan to own two of the top four stations in the Harrisburg, Pa., DMA.
Six other Form 314 filings were also made on Wednesday, only increasing the speculation as to what Sinclair’s plans are to get the FCC to say yes to its marriage with Tribune.
Among the filings made Wednesday (3/7) by Sinclair licensee WPMT LLC is one for Tribune-owned FOX affiliate WPMT-43 in York, Pa., a part of the Harrisburg market.
This was done after the previous Form 314 filing was dismissed by the FCC.
Subtle differences exist between the new filing and the previous one. First, the legal counsel handling the transaction is no longer Miles Mason of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Now, it is Mace Rosenstein of Covington & Burling LLP.
That is because the assignor is no longer Sinclair Vice Chairman David Amy.
Instead, Tribune Media President Larry Wert is the assignor.
This suggests that Sinclair will not retain WPMT-43, and will keep its CBS affiliated WHP-21 in Harrisburg-York-Lancaster.
Although both WHP-21 and WPMT-43 are still going to the Sinclair Divestiture Trust, overseen by Richard A. Foreman and his RAFAMEDIA LLC, this is being done “to retain flexibility, based on the outcome of negotiations with prospective purchasers, to
determine the precise station to be placed in the Trust,” Sinclair says.
Foreman had not yet seen a revised filing stating that the Harrisburg DMA will no longer be an “overlap” market when contacted by RBR+TVBR.
Also seeing their initial Form 314 applications dismissed and refiled on Wednesday are the following stations:
- Tribune’s WHO-TV in Des Moines
- Tribune’s WTVR-TV in Richmond
- Tribune’s WXMI-TV in Grand Rapids
- Tribune’s KSTU-13 in Salt Lake City
- Tribune’s KSWB-5 in San Diego
- Tribune’s WPIX-11 in New York
In each instance, Wert replaces Amy as the assignor, with Rosenstein now the legal counsel charged with sending these six stations to the trust.
What this means for WPIX-11’s future is somewhat unclear. This station, in a separate Form 314 filing made March 1, indicates that close Sinclair partner Cunningham Broadcasting will be picking up The CW Network O&O serving the nation’s biggest DMA for a bargain price of $15 million.
However, that filing shows Mason, of Pillsbury Law, handling the transfer. Now, Rosenstein is putting WPIX in the Sinclair Divestiture Trust. Should Cunningham still be the buyer, it will now be buying the station from the trust, rather than directly from Sinclair.
The sale of KSWB and WPIX are being done “in order to facilitate the Sinclair-Tribune merger’s compliance” with the FCC’s 39% national ownership reach cap.
So, what are Sinclair’s plans in Des Moines, Richmond, Salt Lake City and Grand Rapids?
The Des Moines Business Record reports that Meredith Corp. Executive Chairman Steve Lacy has asked the company’s board of directors for their blessing on a planned bid for several stations heading to the RAFAMEDIA-administered trust. He made the comments Monday (3/5) at the Deutsche Bank 2018 Media, Telecom and Business Services Conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Des Moines Register suggests Meredith could add a property in its home market; WHO-13 is among the stations seeing an amended filing with the Commission, leading to speculation that Meredith will made a bid for this station.
Could Richmond, Grand Rapids, Salt Lake City or San Diego be of interest?
Meredith has no assets in Virginia or Utah, but it does own and operate the CBS and MyNetwork TV stations in the Saginaw-Bay City, Mich., market, not far from Grand Rapids.
Adding KSWB-5 in San Diego could be of interest, given its ownership of unaffiliated KTVK-3 and CBS affiliated KPHO-5 in nearby Phoenix.
