From AT&T and Time Warner to the hot pursuit of 21st Century Fox and Sky, media mergers are in full swing. Why now? WSJ's Amol Sharma answers all your questions about the forces driving media deals.
President Donald Trump came to the defense of Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed merger with Tribune Media, days after the Federal Communications Commission raised "serious concerns" about the deal and began legal proceedings to challenge it on grounds the companies had misled regulators. In a tweet, Trump said Tuesday it was "so sad and unfair" that the FCC, an independent agency, did not approve the merger, a $3.9 billion transaction that would create a conservative television giant that originally hoped to reach roughly 70 percent of U.S. households.
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In April, America's journalistic class sounded the alarm at the alleged totalitarian menace of a local TV news syndicate, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, beaming out the same fake-news-is-bad-for-democracy promotional message to all its markets. Many of the sentiments in that advertorial were indistinguishable from recent campaigns by The Washington Post and The New Yorker , but the Sinclair journos reading the script did appear less than thrilled with the assignment.
A Deadspin composite video shows Sinclair Broadcast Group stations reading a scripted statement warning against "biased and false news." A reader applauds this effort.
Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government - Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told special counsel Robert Mueller in a classified August 2, 2017, memo that he should investigate allegations that President Donald Trump's former Justice official authorized Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign chair colluded with Russia Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was authorized by a top Justice Department official to investigate whether Paul Manafort, the onetime chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign Jeff Sessions Quietly Appointed a Prosecutor to Probe Trump's Foes. That Could Be an Unprecedented Disaster.
Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government - Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told special counsel Robert Mueller in a classified August 2, 2017, memo that he should investigate allegations that President Donald Trump's former Justice official authorized Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign chair colluded with Russia Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was authorized by a top Justice Department official to investigate whether Paul Manafort, the onetime chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign Jeff Sessions Quietly Appointed a Prosecutor to Probe Trump's Foes. That Could Be an Unprecedented Disaster.
President Trump is jumping to the defense of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is under fire following the rapid spread of a video showing anchors at its stations across the country reading a script criticizing "fake" news stories. Trump tweeted Monday, April 2, 2018, that it was funny to watch "Fake News Networks" criticizing Sinclair for being biased.
The proposed AT&T-Time Warner deal is hanging in the balance, but another major media merger appears poised for approval -- though not necessarily on schedule. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of local television stations in the country, is bidding to become even bigger with a $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.
Approved by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949, this rule insisted that because the airwaves belong to all of us, every TV and radio broadcast licensee must "devote a reasonable portion of broadcast time to the discussion and consideration of controversial issues of public importance," and allow "the expression of contrasting viewpoints." Translation: When you present points of view from the right on your station, it behooves you to also present views from the left - and others - so that everyone's opinion gets a fair shake.
After newly reinstated Breitbart.com chief Stephen Bannon was fired from his role as a senior adviser in the Trump administration on Friday, he returned to the website he aimed to establish as a " platform for the 'alt-right .' " Rumors have it that Bannon will now seek to expand Breitbart's reach -- a goal that would be complicated by a number of factors, including a massive, ongoing advertiser boycott that makes the Breitbart brand toxic for potential collaborators.
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DSL Reports: The Federal Communications Commission on Friday quietly approved the transfer of seven major television station licenses owned by Bluestone Television/Bonten Media to Sinclair Broadcast Group -- without informing the agency's sole Democratic commissioner, Mignon Clyburn. ... [FCC chairman Ajit] Pai has long opposed media ownership and consolidation limits, and unsurprisingly has made letting these companies grow immensely larger his top agency priority.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denies he threatened to quit his post amid the firing of FBI Director James Comey and does not plan to resign. After a meeting with Senate intelligence committee leaders on Capitol Hill Thursday, Rosenstein was asked by a Sinclair Broadcast Group reporter whether he threatened to quit.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. today joined leaders in the unmanned aerial vehicle, or "drone," industry at a Capitol Hill science and technology fair aimed to educate Members of Congress and their staffs on the uses of this innovative advancement in aeronautics. The fair capped off a day of meetings with lawmakers, including members of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, organized by AUVSI, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.