Statement On Order Conditionally Granting The Sinclair Allbritton Transaction

The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau adopted an Order approving the $985 million Sinclair/Allbritton transaction after the parties agreed to amend the proposal in three markets to comply with our ownership rules:

• Consistent with Department of Justice review, Sinclair will divest the station in the Harrisburg market.
• To comply with our local TV ownership rule, Sinclair will deliver the programming of stations in the Birmingham and Charleston markets via digital multicasting. This means that Sinclair will put the full programming of the stations on the digital signal of the stations it already owns. The licenses of the Allbritton stations that previously broadcast that programming will therefore be returned to the FCC. Most importantly, consumers will lose no programming currently available to them.
• The originally proposed sidecar arrangements with Howard Stirk Holdings and Deerfield will not be included in the transaction.
• To comply with our local TV ownership rule, Sinclair will terminate an improper sharing arrangement in the Charleston, South Carolina market.

[Lake is Chief of the FCC Media Bureau]