This is How You Buy a TV Station for Peanuts

Sinclair bought WHAM in Rochester, NY for just $6 million bucks.

If the $6 million sale price for Rochester’s ABC affiliate, WHAM-TV, seems ridiculously low, that’s because the deal is more of a formality than a true change in ownership. For all practical purposes, Sinclair has been running the station for over a decade; it is now simply moving to acquire the broadcast license itself.

According to documents filed with federal regulators, Sinclair, Inc. has agreed to purchase the license for WHAM from Deerfield Media. However, this transaction merely formalizes an existing arrangement. Sinclair has been operating WHAM-TV since 2012 through a shared-services agreement.

This setup is a direct result of federal ownership rules that prohibit a single company from owning television stations that reach more than 39% of the American population. To navigate this cap, large broadcasters like Sinclair often partner with smaller companies, often called "sidecar" operators like Deerfield Media.

Make no mistake, the real money in this deal changed hands years ago. The very small price tag reflects that Sinclair is only buying the license. The significant financial transaction occurred back in 2012 when Deerfield acquired WHAM license from Newport Television. Sinclair paid $54 million for all of the station’s non-license assets, including its building, equipment, and other infrastructure. The current $6 million deal is essentially the final piece of a long-planned acquisition.