Tribune Seeks $1 Billion in Damages

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Tribune Media said in court filings that its merger path over the past 12 months with Sinclair Broadcast Group was bloodied not by regulatory pressure but by its partner's hubris, and is seeking $1 billion in damages to help heal its wounds. Tribune said Sinclair repeatedly failed to disclose key information to tribune and regulators, a practice which helped torpedo the deal. According to the suit, the deal would have likely been approved months ago if Sinclair had only agreed to divest of stations in 10 overlap markets earmarked by the Department of Justice and presented clean station sales to the Federal Communications Commission to adhere to the federal broadcast ownership cap. Instead Sinclair, according to Tribune, focused on deals that would greatly benefit Sinclair and only added to the deal’s regulatory onus.

“Although staff members at DOJ and the FCC laid out a clear path for clearance of the Merger, Sinclair ignored their repeated statements of what was required for approval,” Tribune said in the filing. “Instead, Sinclair defiantly (and unsuccessfully) attempted to obtain clearance on better terms for itself, regardless of how long that took or whether it risked failing to obtain approval of the Merger.” Sinclair never informed Tribune or the government that the proposed buyer of three stations – Cunningham Communications – was owned by a car dealer Steven Fader who’s biggest shareholder was Sinclair chairman David Smith. Nor did the broadcaster disclose that a controlling interest in Cunningham’s had been sold at a “suspiciously low price” to a Sinclair associate with re-purchase options held by Smith’s family members.


Tribune Seeks $1 Billion in Damages