A Trump-Friendly Media Company Is About To Get Even Bigger

[PatrickforO]

Source: Huffington Post

In the wake of the 2016 election, Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and now a top White House adviser, reportedly told a gathering of business executives that Sinclair Broadcast Group’s local TV stations in Ohio reached more potential voters than CNN, the validation of a late-campaign strategy to turn to news anchors in swing states and sympathetic hosts on Fox News. “It’s math,” Kushner said.

The math is about to get a lot better for the Trump administration as Sinclair, a largely under-the-radar, conservative-leaning broadcasting company, plans to add 42 more stations through a $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media. Sinclair, which already owns 173 stations around the country, including local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates, would now reach over 70 percent of American households.

While polls indicate increasing distrust in the media, the public has said it trusts local news more than national outlets. The Trump White House, perhaps seizing on elevated levels of trust in local news and amid its public fight with the national media, has increased outreach to major players in local news, such as Hearst, Nexstar and Sinclair.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sinclair-tribune-media-donald-trump_us_5910a93de4b0e7021e99cfec?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

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This is a really big deal because it makes corporate-sponsored right wing propaganda even more ubiquitous than it already is. 70% of US television viewers is A LOT and we cannot allow this merger to take place. It needs to be opposed and stopped by the Federal Trade Commission as an unlawful merger.

In addition, it is clearly an effort by the Trump administration and family to subvert the First Amendment.

I'm going to be calling my Senators and Representative once a day on this beginning tomorrow. This is as far reaching as attacks on net neutrality, and every bit as insidious.

[not fooled]

1. Goebbels approves

[DK504]

2. This alone makes every single one of those chumps get thrown out on their asses.

Immediately.

[secondwind]

3. I read about something like this coming up, and was wondering when we would hear about it.. and now

IT IS HERE...

[mwooldri]

4. Not just national limits.

I've posted elsewhere but for brevity:

Sinclair owns a bunch of stations where Tribune also have stations.
The 600 Mhz Reverse Auction means we now have fewer broadcast TV stations.
In the Greensboro/Winston-Salem market, Sinclair will own 3 out of the 6 commercial licenses.
FCC rules allow you to have at most two stations.

Uppn further reading: My understanding is that Tribune's greatest asset was its large number of Fox affiliated stations - to the point that 21st Century Fox was looking at buying Tribune. I believe this is the same reason why Sinclair Broadcast Group was interested in Tribune - to get Fox affiliates. Also the FCC reinstating the UHF discount (what? UHF is prime ground these days, not VHF) means Sinclair can keep more of the Tribune stations.