Sinclair Agrees to Pay $48 Million Civil Penalty; FCC Penalty Will Be Largest Ever Paid by a Broadcaster

The Federal Communications Commission announced the largest civil penalty involving a broadcaster in the agency’s 86-year history. Specifically, Sinclair Broadcasting Group has agreed to pay a $48 million civil penalty and abide by a strict compliance plan in order to close three open investigations. This penalty is twice the prior record for a broadcaster, which was the $24 million paid by Univision in 2007.

Specifically, the Consent Decree closes an investigation into the company’s disclosure of information relating to its proposed acquisition of stations owned by Tribune Media. The agreement also closes investigations into whether the company has met its obligations to negotiate retransmission consent agreements in good faith and its failure to identify the sponsor of content it produced and supplied to both Sinclair and non-Sinclair television stations


Sinclair Agrees to Pay $48 Million Civil Penalty; FCC Penalty Will Be Largest Ever Paid by a Broadcaster Sinclair Agrees to Pay Record $48 Million Penalty (Broadcasting&Cable) FCC fines Sinclair Broadcast record-setting $48 million (Washington Post)