21st Century Fox Inc. is in talks to operate local television stations across the U.S. with Ion Media Networks Inc., potentially paving the way for Fox to dump Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. as an affiliate partner, a person familiar with the situation said. (Bloomberg)
Ion, formerly Paxson Communications, owns or operates 60 TV stations across the country, including in some of the biggest markets like New York City (WPXN), Chicago (WCPX) and Philadelphia (WPPX). (TVSpy)
21st Century Fox and Ion would create a joint venture that would combine their respective local television station holdings. (WSJ)
If the deal comes to fruition, Fox would switch its network affiliation from five Sinclair stations to Ion ones this year. In addition, Fox would flip affiliation at 14 Tribune Media stations once Sinclair completes its $3.9 billion deal to buy the broadcast company. (Deadline)