‘Sinclair’s conduct during its attempt to merge with Tribune was completely unacceptable,’ said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, seen testifying in March on Capitol Hill.
Photo: Stefani Reynolds/CNP/Zuma PressWASHINGTON— Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. agreed to a record $48 million civil penalty to settle federal probes relating to its failed bid to take over Tribune Media Co. and other alleged missteps.
The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday said Sinclair had agreed to pay the penalty and abide by a strict compliance plan in order to close the investigations launched by the agency in 2018. The agency didn’t offer any details on the plan.
The highest-profile of the probes involved alleged misstatements to the FCC by the conservative-leaning media company as it sought the agency’s approval for its purchase of Tribune’s network of local TV stations.
“Sinclair’s conduct during its attempt to merge with Tribune was completely unacceptable,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “Today’s penalty, along with the failure of the Sinclair-Tribune transaction, should serve as a cautionary tale to other licensees seeking commission approval of a transaction in the future.”
Mr. Pai moved to block the planned Sinclair-Tribune deal, saying evidence suggested that Sinclair’s proposed station divestitures to meet FCC media-ownership limits would have left the company in practical control of those stations “in violation of the law.”
The FCC vote on the case was 3-2.
The FCC said Wednesday that the civil penalty is the highest ever imposed on a broadcaster, and twice the prior record of $24 million paid by Univision in 2007.
“Sinclair is pleased with the resolution announced today by the FCC and to be moving forward,” CEO Chris Ripley said in a statement posted to the company’s Twitter account Wednesday. “Sinclair is committed to continue to interact constructively with all of its regulators to ensure full compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.”
A person familiar with the matter said the consent decree doesn’t make any finding of wrongdoing on Sinclair’s part related to the Tribune deal, which at the time was valued at $3.9 billion.
The stunning collapse of Sinclair’s bid for Tribune in 2018 came as the FCC was under criticism from some Democrats on Capitol Hill and elsewhere for loosening media-ownership rules in ways that could have eased the way for the Tribune deal. The FCC decision to block the Sinclair-Tribune deal had the effect of quieting those criticisms.
After the FCC raised its concerns over Sinclair’s bid, Tribune pulled the plug on the deal and sued Sinclair, alleging it failed to make sufficient efforts to get the deal approved by regulators.
Earlier
Nexstar Media Group Inc. later stepped in and acquired Tribune, creating the largest broadcast station owner in the U.S.
Earlier this year, Sinclair and Nexstar resolved the Tribune lawsuit concerning the terminated deal, with neither company admitting wrongdoing.
Sinclair agreed to sell a Kentucky TV station and other non-license assets and pay $60 million to Nexstar.
Sinclair’s agreement with the FCC also closes two other investigations, the agency said. One involved whether the company has met its obligations to negotiate retransmission agreements with pay-TV carriers in good faith. Another focused on its alleged failure to identify the sponsor of content it produced and supplied to both Sinclair and non-Sinclair television stations.
—Lillian Rizzo contributed to this article.
Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
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