Sinclair Agrees to Buy Allbritton for $985 Million

Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to buy Allbritton TV stations for $985 million.

The stations consist of seven ABC Network affiliates, covering 4.9% of the U.S. TV households, and NewsChannel 8, a 24-hour cable news network covering the Washington metropolitan area that Sinclair may expand to other markets. Lucrative, and influential, WJLA Washington is also in the group. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. To comply with Federal Communications Commission ownership rules, Sinclair expects to sell the license and certain related assets of its stations in Birmingham, Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, and Charleston, and to provide services to each of these stations. Sinclair continues to acquire at an impressive rate, with Allbritton easily being the largest of its string of acquisitions.