Sinclair Conference Call

The FCC rules used to say that one broadcaster could not reach more than 39% of U.S. TV households. If the Sinclair/Tribune deal goes through, Sinclair reach will go to almost 80%. 

That my friends is damn near a monopoly. 

Today, Sinclair held a conference call and said that their buying of the Tribune stations will cost almost $6 billion dollars. That includes $3.9 billion for the stations and another $2 billion in real estate that the stations sit on. 

On the call Sinclair thinks they will only have trouble in 3 markets when it comes to ownership. Which means that they will likely sell off a few stations to get this deal to go through. 

The three markets that Sinclair pointed to in their call were Wilkes Barre, Salt Lake City and St. Louis.

These are markets where both Sinclair and Tribune currently have a station and one of the station might need to be dumped. 

Which means, if you work for a Tribune or Sinclair station in one of these markets, you could see your station sold for the second time very quickly.

If I were you, I'd just update the old resume and stand by. 

It's going to be a long hot Summer.