Sinclair pursues a deal with Scripps to spark more TV station consolidation

Television station owner Sinclair Inc. has taken an equity stake in fellow broadcaster, E.W. Scripps, signaling its intent to become a behemoth in the shrinking field.

Sinclair disclosed its interest in Scripps, which owns stations in Fresno, Bakersfield, Buffalo, N.Y., and Billings, Mont., in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday. Baltimore-based Sinclair, known for its conservative political bent, said it has acquired about 8% of Scripps’ equity by buying some of its publicly traded shares.

Sinclair disclosed that it has had “constructive discussions with [Scripps] for several months regarding a potential combination of the two companies.”

No deal has been reached.

Cincinnati-based Scripps, in a statement, suggested that it wasn’t interested in a tie-up with Sinclair, saying the Scripps board and management instead were “focused on driving value for all of the company’s shareholders through the continued execution of its strategic plan.”

Read more: Nexstar and Sinclair TV stations will not run ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after return to ABC

“The board and management are aligned on doing only what is in the best interest of all of the company’s shareholders as well as its employees and the many communities and audiences it serves across the United States,” Scripps said.

Sinclair appears to be putting pressure on Scripps by making the stock purchases and the public disclosure. Scripps stock jumped more than 34% to around $4 a share mid-day Monday. The company is valued at about $363 million.

Sinclair shares also got a bounce, gaining about 6.5% to just above $17. The company’s market value is $1.2 billion.

Television station owners are hoping that President Trump and his appointments to the Federal Communications Commission will lift the government-imposed cap on broadcast ownership. Currently, stations are restricted from owning outlets that reach more than 39% of the U.S. population.

Sinclair currently owns or operates 185 television stations in 85 markets, according to its website.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has signaled a willingness to undertake a massive deregulation. The anticipated push has prompted a flurry of deals among broadcasters, who have seen their advertisers scatter and audiences decline as more consumers get their news through social media.

Sinclair, in its filing, made a nod to the changing political winds in Washington.

“Recent industry consolidation and intensifying competition reinforce [Sinclair’s] view that further scale in the broadcast television industry is essential to address secular headwinds and compete effectively with larger-scale big-tech and big-media players, as well as major broadcast groups,” Sinclair wrote.

In September, Sinclair prodded the Walt Disney Co. to punish late night host Jimmy Kimmel after the host made ill-timed comments about the alleged gunman who was later arrested and charged with the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah. Sinclair owns several ABC affiliate stations and dropped “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for more than a week.

Sinclair demanded that Kimmel make a “meaningful personal donation” to Kirk’s political organization, Turning Point USA.

But Sinclair’s campaign crumbled after Disney’s brass returned Kimmel to his late night perch — without making concessions that Sinclair had demanded.

Read more: FCC slaps Sinclair Broadcast with a record $48-million fine for ‘unacceptable’ conduct

Critics have pointed to the alleged harms of TV station consolidation, including fewer on-the-ground workers and journalists reporting on the communities where the stations are based.

Sinclair’s filing contradicted such arguments, writing that “greater scale will also strengthen broadcasters’ ability to sustain their vital public service role in producing local news.”

The filing said consolidating Scripps could produce “more than $300 million in expected annual synergies.”

“The proposed combination would be structured to require no external financing as the combined company would maintain each company’s respective debt and preferred capital structures,” Sinclair wrote in the filing. “The transaction would avoid significant refinancing costs while meaningfully reducing leverage through the realization of synergies and lowering future refinancing risk.”

Read more: Sinclair Broadcast Group is fined $13 million by FCC for failing to identify sponsored programming

In its 2024 annual report, Sinclair said its dozens of stations produced “more than 2,400 hours of live news coverage per week across its station footprint, in addition to our various digital, social and audio platforms.”

Sinclair said in Monday’s filing that it was “committed to constructive engagement with [Scripps] toward reaching a definitive transaction agreement,” Sinclair would like to consolidate its fellow broadcaster “within nine to 12 months.”

Scripps took a defensive stance in response to Sinclair’s overture, saying in a statement that “the board will take all steps appropriate to protect the company and the company’s shareholders from the opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else.”

Elsewhere in the local TV business, Texas-based Nexstar, the nation’s largest TV broadcaster, is seeking government approval for its $6-billion dollar deal to buy rival broadcaster, Tegna.

Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.