Latest in Sinclair Broadcasting

Bill O’Reilly has been holding talks to host a TV program on Sinclair Broadcast Group’s TV stations. Sinclair, the nation’s largest TV-station owner, currently owns or operates 173 stations and, in May, struck a deal  for Tribune Media, which would up that tally to 220 stations if that acquisition is approved. Many of…

Sinclair Broadcast Group is in talks with former Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko for a key position, according to a Financial Times report today. Though neither Sinclair nor Mosko would confirm, the FT attributes the news to two people with knowledge of the talks. Mosko left Sony a year ago after a…

Seeking to outdo Sinclair Broadcasting, the nation’s No. 1 owner of local TV stations, 21st Century Fox and private equity firm Blackstone Group are teaming to make a bid for Tribune Media, according to a report in the Financial Times. Citing two people familiar with the negotiations, the FT said Blackstone would…

This is the biggest of Sinclair’s recent deals to bulk up its TV station portfolio — and it’s one that also will make it a prominent player in Washington. When completed, expected by year end, Sinclair will pick up seven ABC affiliates including Washington DC’s WJLA, and DC’s NewsChannel 8 cable news service.  “To buy…

Here we go again. Sinclair Broadcast Group has begun to warn DirecTV customers that its 87 stations in 47 markets  may go dark on the No. 1 satellite broadcaster after February 28 when their carriage contract expires. “Although DirecTV and Sinclair have been negotiating for quite some time in an effort to reach a new…

UPDATE, 9:10 AM: Sinclair’s angry about Dish’s “corporate greed” charge, and has fired back to “set the record straight.” The broadcaster says that the retransmission consent payments it wants for its stations “are substantially lower than the amounts Dish is paying for other far less popular channels it carries.&#8221…

Newport is Providence Equity’s holding company for the collection of TV stations the private equity firm bought in 2007 from Clear Channel. Investors seem to like Nexstar’s $285.5M agreement today for 12 Newport stations; Nexstar shares are +5.2% at mid-day. Sinclair is more complicated: In addition to the $412.5M…

BALTIMORE, May 15, 2012 — Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI), announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) for the renewal of the affiliation agreements for 19 television stations Sinclair owns and/or programs. The new agreements go into effect January 1…

It will take years before most ad sales will hit the peaks that TV stations saw in 2007, Moody’s Investors Service analyst Carl Salas says this morning in an industry report. Local businesses have been slow to increase their spending after the economy tanked in 2008 and 2009 — and now broadcasters must compete for…

Station groups including Belo, Gray Television, LIN Media, NexStar Broadcasting, and Sinclair Broadcast face a big problem after next year’s elections when the cash from political ads evaporates: Their revenues and cash flow could plummet as they’re forced to turn as much as half of the money they collect from cable…

Shoppers spent a record $52.4B over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, up 16% from last year, the National Retail Federation says. Add that to reports that European leaders are getting serious about resolving their debt crisis, and it’s easy to see why investors are in such a good mood today. The Dow Jones U.S. Media…

Sinclair Broadcasting this morning unveiled third-quarter revenue of $180.8 million, which is down 3% from a year ago but beat Wall Street estimates, and the company used its sold earnings report to announce it has acquired eight TV stations from Freedom Communications for $385 million. The deal marks the second buy…