Strike Four for Sinclair
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/4/2005 10:24:00 AM
For the fourth time, the FCC this week will give the thumbs down to Sinclair Broadcast Group’s bid to buy five stations from Cunningham Broadcasting.
Sinclair already owns stations in the affected markets, which are too small to permit two-station “duopolies” under FCC rules. FCC commissioners are expected to vote no, again, at their monthly meeting Feb. 10. Sinclair has tried every legal maneuver its lawyers can think of to keep the issue alive.
Agency Chairman Michael Powell has been asking fellow commissioners to vote down the latest request since August, but his colleagues have struggled to craft their opinion tightly enough that it will close the door on a court appeal by the Baltimore-based station group. Powell put the item on Thursday’s agenda because he is trying to wrap up lingering proceedings before he steps down in March.
Sinclair already operates the five stations under local marketing agreements, but would have to sell them if the FCC’s outlaws LMAs. Critics say such partnerships allow TV owners to circumvent rules designed to prevent one company from dominating a local TV market.
The FCC voted to phase-out LMAs long ago, but the status of the ban is in limbo because of ongoing court fights over all broadcast ownership limits.
Sinclair wants permission to buy WGRT-TV Dayton, Ohio; WVAH-TV Charleston, W.Va.; WTAT-TV Charleston, S.C.; WTTE(TV), Columbus, Ohio; and WNUV(TV) Baltimore.
Sinclair's bid to acquire the stations is the latest in a convoluted half-decade effort to acquire stations once run by LMA business partner Edwin L. Edwards.
The stations are currently owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, a company 7.2% owned by Carolyn Smith, mother of Sinclair Chief Executive David Smith.
Prior to 2002, Cunningham was named Glencairn Ltd. Edwards stepped down from the helm of Glencairn that year.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition has been a longtime critic of the proposed deal.
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