Sinclair Broadcast Group to Acquire Fisher Communications for $373M

By Merrill Knox 

Sinclair Broadcast Group is buying Fisher Communications for $373.3 million, the two companies announced Thursday.

Fisher owns 20 television stations in eight markets, reaching 3.9% of U.S. TV households (full list is after the jump). The transaction also includes three radio stations in Seattle. As part of the terms of the agreement, Fisher will provide “certain operating services” for three TV stations in Eugene, Ore. —  KMTR, KMCB and KTCW — after the transaction is approved by the FCC.

TVNewsCheck reports Sinclair won a bidding war with LIN Media for the station group “in a deal finalized in the wee hours of Tuesday night.”

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“Sinclair is the largest independent TV broadcaster in the country, and we believe its commitment to the industry — along with its greater scale and sizable resources — will provide our stations, team members and business partners with new opportunities to flourish,” Fisher president and CEO Colleen B. Brown said in a statement.

As part of the merger, Fisher shareholders will get $41 for each share of Fisher common stock they own.

“We are excited to acquire Fisher and expand our coverage westward, especially in the two key markets of Seattle (DMA 12) and Portland (DMA 22),” Sinclair president and CEO David Smith said. “Started in 1910, Fisher’s history of operating television and radio stations in the northwest corner of the U.S. has played an important role in its communities and in producing high-quality local news.”

The Fisher TV stations covered in the transaction are:

KOMO (Seattle)

KUNS (Seattle)

KATU (Portland, Ore.)

KUNP (Portland, Ore.)

KLEW (Spokane)

KBOI (Boise)

KYUU (Boise)

KVAL (Eugene, Ore.)

KCBY (Eugene, Ore.)

KPIC (Eugene, Ore.)

KMTR (Eugene, Ore.)

KMCB (Eugene, Ore.)

KTCW (Eugene, Ore.)

KIMA (Yakima, Wash.)

KEPR (Yakima, Wash.)

KUNW (Yakima, Wash.)

KVVK (Yakima, Wash.)

KORX (Yakima, Wash.)

KBAK (Bakersfield, Ca.)

KBFX (Bakersfield, Ca.)

KIDK (Idaho Falls)

KXPI (Idaho Falls)

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