Durbin Announces Opposition to Sinclair Trib Media Merger
Two weeks ago we queried Senator Durbin’s office as to the Senator’s position on the sale of Chicago-based Trib Media to Sinclair Broadcasting. This Monday we and all the readers of Crain’s Chicago Business got an answer with a letter from Durbin. In a short six paragraph statement, Durbin proffered his opposition to the merger based on the size of the merged company “undermines competition and threatens local broadcasting.”
Senator Durbin’s opposition then, market hegemony, is in the same vein as the very earliest opponents of the merger, the small cable operators, who feared they would be squeezed out of cable bundles by Sinclair. As most of these small rural based cable companies are out in Trump territory, it is doubtful that is really Durbin’s concern. Durbin’s real fear is that if Sinclair merges with Trib Media there will “be permanent damage to the American tradition of local broadcasting and will take a wrecking ball to the pillars of objectivism (sic) and diversity in local broadcasting.”
A liberal can not make a short statement without evoking “diversity”in some fashion. In Chicago, there is no diversity in local news broadcasting. They are formulaic and non-controversial. There is no commentary and little investigative journalism. Any local scandal or major controversy has usually been brought to the public by a newspaper or magazine and in Chicago they are slowing atrophying. Local news broadcasts here and across the country are pretty lame and perhaps there is the fear that Sinclair might change that status quo. There is some evidence that they will. The PBS News Hour recently showed how Sinclair is interpolating reports in local news broadcasts that appear locally based but actually come from Sinclair’s East Coast studio. It is a deceitful practice but a threat to diversity? Senator Dick Durbin’s position seems to be just another manifestation of liberal angst that someone may believe differently than they. If only we could get rid of Fox and Sinclair, we could make television a “quiet place” like our university system.
Then what should Durbin consider with this merger proposal? How about how it affects Chicago in economic terms. What would Sinclair’s capital budget or its operating budget be for Chicago compared to Trib Media’s? It is not like Trib Media has done much for Chicago. If Sinclair would do more, why not support the merger? If it won’t, then we need no further rationale than simple self-interest to oppose the merger and it would be clear to all others desiring to purchase a Chicago-based media company what our demands will be for approval. The merger or purchase must benefit Chicago in a demonstrative manner regardless of what the owner’s political orientation happens to be.
To learn more about Chicago’s history of ignoring its television program production industry read Chicago’s Radio & Television Industry History available on Amazon or our bookstore.
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Sorry no, We currently do not use video. What we have is a letter from Senator Durbin which mirrors his original public statement. His concern is the size of the merger. Currently a single company is limited to 39 percent of the national market while the merger would give Sinclair 79 percent. Our point is the loss of WGN means 100 percent of Chicago VHF stations are external owned (excluding WTTW) which should be both our Senator’s main concern not whether Sinclair is a friend of Trump’s.
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Yes, the source was Senator Durbin’s office and it was congruent with his statements given in video to local television outlets
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