Sinclair Shows No Sign of Slowing Down

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker queried how much more Sinclair could grow, given that it now reaches about 34% of U.S. television households and the Federal Communications Commission caps coverage by a single station group at 39%.

"How much more can you do in M&A?" Ryvicker asked. "We think we can do a lot more," David Smith, Sinclair president-CEO, responded. Smith noted that while the company's press release on the sale puts Sinclair's coverage of television households at roughly 34%, the actual number is less than 20%. The difference comes from the FCC counting UHF stations as having effectively half the coverage of VHF stations. UHF stations comprise much of Sinclair's holdings. Thus the lower actual coverage number, according to Smith. "We could double and still not be at 39 percent," he said.