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WASHINGTON – President Trump has criticized the controversial acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group, calling the FCC's refusal to endorse the agreement "sad and unfair".
"Sad and unfair that the FCC does not approve of the Merger Sinclair Fusion with Tribune," Trump wrote on Twitter. "That would have been a terrific and necessary conservative voice for and of the people.Faux NBC and Comcast Liberal News gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair.Happy!"
Last week, FCC President Ajit Pai said he had "serious concerns" about the deal of $ 3.9 billion and proposed to send the merger. to an administrative law judge for review. The other three commissioners of the FCC also agreed to take such a step. The FCC stated that there were "significant questions" on whether Sinclair Broadcast Group was engaging in "a potential element of misrepresentation or lack of candor" in its efforts to obtain the Government approval.
Add (at least) months of extra delay to complete the transaction, and Wall Street analysts are now wondering if it will be scuttled completely.
Trump appointed Pai to serve as president of the FCC, and then appointed him for another term. The commission now has a Republican majority.
In Relationship
The merger, proposed for the first time in May 2017, would combine two of the largest groups of stations in the country. It sparked an outcry from public interest groups and cable associations, as well as a careful review of Trump's potential influence on the review process. because he is friends with Sinclair's executive president, David Smith. But the president is also friends with Chris Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, who was among the most vocal opponents of the merger.
But he also raised criticism among some critics on the left, who point to Sinclair's mandates to run conservative comments through his outlets as a sign that the company will move his local newscasts in a partisan direction. One of Trump's former spokesmen, Boris Epshteyn, is senior political analyst at Sinclair
Sinclair has rebuffed critics that such warrants threaten localism, but Trump's tweet will certainly add to speculation The group's ambitions
Trump's reference to Comcast was for its merger with NBC Universal, which the FCC approved in 2011, when the commission had a Democratic majority.
Sinclair denies having distorted the details of the merger. The FCC has, among other things, focused on Smith's commercial relationship with businessman Steven Fader as part of WGN-TV Chicago's Tribune sales project to a new entity. controlled by Fader for $ 60 million. This plan sparked the concerns of the merging opponents because the purchase price was so much lower than the fair market value of a Chicago television station. Fader is the Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Automotive Group, a company in which Smith holds a stake and also sits on the board of directors. The board's order stated that Fader had no prior experience with television broadcasting and that the transaction was structured to allow Sinclair to dominate the station's operations.
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