KUTV-Ch. 2's owner is buying KSTU-Ch. 13's owner. But FCC regulations prohibit one company from owning both stations, so that's that, right?
Maybe.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is buying Tribune Broadcasting, has close ties to the Trump administration. As a corporate entity, it leans far right.
In 2010, some Sinclair stations aired an anti-Obama infomercial accusing the then-president of extremism and accepting money from terrorists. In 2012, Sinclair stations in swing states aired an anti-Obama "news" special.
In 2016, Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said the Trump campaign "struck a deal" with Sinclair for better media coverage. Sinclair insisted Hillary Clinton declined the same deal, but its interviews with Trump were fawning. A question from a Sinclair reporter at a Trump news conference was such a softball even Fox News criticized it.
And Sinclair hired former Trump senior adviser Boris Epshteyn as its political analyst.
(To be clear, I have not seen KUTV exhibit the sort of political bias that's drawn criticism at other Sinclair stations. And, yes, The Salt Lake Tribune and KUTV share some newsgathering. Exactly what that means, I had to ask one of my bosses.)
But Sinclair's history raises the spectre that the Trump administration will approve its acquisition of all of Tribune's 42 stations, even though FCC regulations prohibit one company from owning two of the top four stations in any TV market — and KUTV and KSTU are No. 1 and No. 2 in Utah.
If it follows the rules, the FCC will force Sinclair to sell or trade a station — presumably KSTU. And yet Sinclair president and CEO Christopher S. Ripley seemed very confident when he said, "We don't think we need to sell any of [Tribune's stations]. When you take a look at all the overlaps, they really have no impact on overall competition."
That's patently untrue in Utah, where Sinclair already owns KUTV, KJZZ and KMYU.
Maybe Ripley was just posturing so that, when he has to sell or trade a few stations, it will look like the FCC hasn't given Sinclair everything it wants. Or maybe he has some reason to think he'll get everything he wants.
He did mention Salt Lake as one of three places Sinclair could be forced to divest a station.
It becomes more believable that the FCC would grant a waiver or change a rule to benefit Sinclair when you realize its regulations prohibit one company from owning TV stations that reach more than 39 percent of American viewers — and by some estimates, the combined Sinclair-Tribune group will reach 69 percent.
If I owned KTVX-Ch. 4 or KSL-Ch. 5, I'd be livid if Sinclair could keep KSTU. It would put the group at an unfair disadvantage.
And all Utahns should be unhappy that a local editorial voice could disappear — even Utahns who agree with Sinclair's right-wing corporate agenda.
Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.
