May 2017
Public Knowledge Responds to Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Plan to Acquire Tribune Media
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This report describes the challenges facing community-based organizations and other key stakeholders in using outcomes-based evaluation to measure the success of their digital inclusion programs and offers recommendations toward addressing these shared barriers.
Op-ed
Op-ed
Sinclair to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt
Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to buy Tribune Media in a cash and stock deal valued at $3.9 billion. Sinclair will acquire Chicago (IL)-based Tribune Media's 42 television stations and other assets, making the largest station owner in the country even bigger, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission and federal antitrust regulators. Under the terms of the deal, Baltimore (MD)-based Sinclair will pay $43.50 a share for Tribune Media and will assume approximately $2.7 billion in net debt.
The combined company will become a TV broadcasting behemoth, owning and operating 233 television stations in 108 markets, pending any required divestitures by the FCC. Sinclair owns and operates stations in 81 markets, including Washington (DC), Seattle (WA), St. Louis (MO), Minneapolis (MN), Pittsburgh (PA), and Milwaukee (WI). Its holdings include 54 Fox affiliates, the most of any station group owner. A Chicago broadcasting pioneer, Tribune Media owns WGN-Ch.9 in Chicago, KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and WPIX-TV in New York, a portfolio that was bolstered by the December 2013 acquisition of Local TV's 19-station group for $2.73 billion.
John Oliver urges Internet users to save net neutrality: 'We need all of you'
HBO’s John Oliver isn’t about to let the tough network neutrality rules he helped get enacted be erased without a fight. Three years ago, a 20-minute net neutrality segment on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” went viral. It helped spur an outpouring of public comments that led the Federal Communications Commission to enact tough regulations protecting the free flow of online content. Now, with current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai moving to dismantle the tough legal oversight behind those rules, Oliver took to the airwaves again urging Internet users to tell the agency to leave net neutrality alone. As further encouragement, Oliver’s team created a quicker way to navigate in the FCC website. Rather than searching for the specific page that solicits public comment on this topic, people can go to gofccyourself.com and click the “express” link on the right side to express their views.
Net neutrality protestors leave messages on doors in FCC chairman's neighborhood
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled his plans to reverse network neutrality in April, and the proposal is expected to face an initial vote on May 18th. On May 7, protesters from the Protect Our Internet campaign went around Chairman Pai’s neighborhood in Arlington (VA) and distributed door hangers at nearby homes, prompting people to be aware of their neighbor’s efforts to limit internet freedom.
The flyers feature a black-and-white photo of Pai, along with a short description of the chairman’s background and how his proposal would roll back open internet rules. According to a blog post by the activists, hundreds of signs were circulated and the crew received “friendly support from the neighbors they spoke to.”