Sinclair Broadcast Group bids for Scripps TV stations

Sinclair Broadcast Group has made an unsolicited bid to buy rival station owner EW Scripps just a week after it revealed it was buying shares of the company’s stock.

Sinclair filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday saying it would offer Scripps $7 per share, including $2.72 in cash and $4.28 in the joint venture’s common stock. The price is a 200% premium to the 30-day average for Scripps shares through November 6.

Sinclair announced on November 17 that it had acquired a stake in Scripps through the acquisition of publicly traded shares. Scripps, which operates 61 television stations and owns the ION network, is worth about $393 million.

Cincinnati-based Scripps said in a statement that the company’s board of directors will “carefully review and evaluate any proposals, including the unsolicited Sinclair proposal.”

The statement added that the board will “act in the best interests of the company’s business, all of its stakeholders, as well as the employees and the many communities it serves in the United States.”

The company’s stock rose about 7.5% on news of Sinclair’s offer, closing at $4.43 on Monday afternoon.

A Scripps acquisition would be culturally offensive to local newsrooms at those stations. The company was founded in 1878 with a series of newspapers that defined itself through journalistic independence. The company’s long-standing motto is “Give the light.”

Baltimore-area Sinclair is known for the conservative politics of its owners, led by David D. Smith, whose views have been spread over the years through the company’s local television news coverage.

Sinclair recently tried to flex his muscle when his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” In September, after the late-night host spoke out about the political affiliation of the man accused of killing right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

Sinclair demanded that Kimmel make a “meaningful donation” to Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, in addition to an apology. No offer was made, and a week later, Sinclair put the program back on the air with zero concessions from ABC.

Regardless of political leanings, all the major groups that own TV stations have asked the Federal Communications Commission to lift limits on how much of the country they can cover.

TV station owners are limited to reaching 39% of the country, which the companies say puts them at a competitive disadvantage against tech giants that are not similarly limited in their media efforts.

While consumer advocates believe that consolidation will reduce the diversity of voices in communities, television executives argue that it is no longer economically viable to have multiple station owners in one market, often covering the same major stories.

Consolidation will give TV station owners more power in their negotiations for the carriage fees they receive from cable and satellite providers. Such fees are vital as TV stations have struggled to maintain advertising revenue due to declining ratings and more consumers turning to streaming video platforms.

Tegna Inc. Sinclair’s attempt to buy Scripps. It comes after its failed attempt to acquire, which agreed to a $6.2 billion deal to merge with Nexstar Media Group. The deal will require regulatory approval as it will enable Nexstar stations to reach 80% of the US.

Station owners pushing for mergers hope they have an ally in Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

But social media posts suggested President Trump may be wary of the merger, saying it could give more influence to the NBC and ABC broadcast networks. The president has been highly critical of both networks’ news coverage and even threatened to pursue their television station licenses.