The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday approved an application by Sinclair, Inc. to acquire four local television stations that it already operates through shared services agreements.
The application involves the transfer of local TV station broadcast licenses from partner companies like Deerfield Media, Cunningham Broadcasting and Howard Stirk Holdings.
The four TV stations at the center of the request are in three regional markets where Sinclair already owns another TV station, so the application does not circumvent the FCC’s currently-debated media ownership rules.
In Michigan, Sinclair will acquire WEYI (Channel 25), which is currently affiliated with Sinclair-owned multicast network Roar. The station served as the Flint market’s NBC affiliate until last year, with the NBC affiliation moving to a digital sub-channel of Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate WSMH (Channel 66) shortly after the FCC application was filed.
In another part of the state, Sinclair will also acquire WGTU (Channel 29) and WGTQ (Channel 8), which operate as the Cadillac market’s ABC affiliates. The stations provide ABC programming to different parts of the market due to geography and terrain. Sinclair currently owns WPBN (Channel 7) and WTOM (Channel 4), each offering NBC programming in the same area.
In New York, Sinclair is acquiring WHAM (Channel 13), the ABC affiliate in Rochester. WHAM has shared news programming and sales opportunities with WUHF (Channel 31, Fox) for several years through a shared services agreement with Sinclair.
The applications were initially challenged by DIRECTV, who complained that allowing Sinclair to acquire the licenses of the stations outright would lead to higher programming-related fees charged to DIRECTV for distribution of those signals.
Sinclair, like other broadcasters, has steadily increased distribution-related fees for cable and satellite companies that carry its local TV stations, a tactic meant to offset lower advertising revenue. Those distribution fees are passed on to cable and satellite customers in their bills, which has led to higher costs for pay TV subscribers over the past decade.
But the FCC’s Media Bureau said DIRECTV’s complaint was rendered moot by a federal circuit court decision last year, which found the agency’s rules prohibiting the ownership of two or more top-four stations in a single market went beyond its statutory authority.
Earlier this month, the Media Bureau approved the transfer of five local TV stations to Sinclair from its partner broadcasters based on the same legal premise, as first reported by The Desk.
