Sinclair, the FCC and Things Going Wrong—But for How Long?

[Commentary] Talk about a curveball. Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai struck a potentially fatal blow to a deal that President Donald Trump favored, the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcasting and Tribune Media. If it had gone through, the deal would have had a major adverse impact on future election cycles, making Sinclair the king of the hill with unfettered capabilities to control political advertising and messages across all of its stations.

There was a lot riding on the Sinclair deal—economically and politically—and its sudden demise seems a bit too unnerving to me. It may be just as it seems. Sinclair may have just made a devastating miscalculation and Chiarman Pai simply could not let the deal go through. But there is a voice in my head that tells me to look down the road. Will the FCC change the audience cap to something higher than the present 39%--say 50%, as the media industry has strongly advocated? Will a chastened Sinclair try again? Will the inevitable forthcoming mergers use Sinclair as an object lesson on how NOT to do it, and, having learned that lesson, easily get FCC approval? I have an uneasy feeling because I don’t know if any of this will happen. But it easily could. And it will determine the fate of local television in the United States.

[Danilo Yanich is Professor of Urban Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Delaware whose research focuses on media consolidation, political ads, money, and local television news content.]