Justice Department Investigates TV Station Owners Over Advertising Sales

Apparently, the Justice Department is investigating whether television station owners violated antitrust law in ways that inflated local television advertising prices. The probe has examined whether Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Media Co,  and other independent TV station owners coordinated efforts when their ad sales teams communicated with each other about their performance, potentially leading to higher rates for TV commercials. Companies like Sinclair and Tribune own dozens of local TV stations that carry programming from national broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. “It is our policy not to comment on a potential investigation,” said a Sinclair spokesman. “It is our understanding that this is not specific to Sinclair but focuses on the larger broadcast industry.” Government officials stumbled across the alleged ad sales practice during their review of Sinclair’s $3.9 billion proposed acquisition of Tribune.