As Rupert Murdoch has a deal to sell 21st Century Fox to Disney, the media mogul is looking to beef up the local station group of what will be known as New Fox.
According to the Financial Times, the company is “finalising the purchase of about 10 US television stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group.”
Sinclair, FT reports, is selling the stations as part of a divestment to win FCC approval of its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.
The markets include Seattle, where Tribune owns Fox affiliate KCPQ and Sinclair owns ABC affiliate KOMO and Denver where Tribune currently owns the KDVR-KWGN duopoly. The Fox-Sinclair deal is contingent on the Sinclair-Tribune deal closing.
Other markets that will see overlap, and may be included in the deal, include St. Louis (Tribune owns Fox affiliate KTVI, while Sinclair owns ABC affiliate KDNL); Salt Lake City (Tribune owns Fox affiliate KSTU, Sinclair owns CBS affiliate KUTV); Oklahoma City (Sinclair owns Fox affiliate KOKH, and Tribune owns NBC affiliate KFOR); also stations in Greensboro, Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, Richmond, and Des Moines may be in play.