Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. agreed to pay a $48 million penalty to close a Federal Communications Commission probe into its conduct concerning its abandoned bid to acquire Tribune Media Co., and two other agency probes.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the fine is the largest civil penalty involving a broadcaster in the commission’s history.
“Today’s penalty, along with the failure of the Sinclair/Tribune transaction, should serve as a cautionary tale to other licensees seeking Commission approval of a transaction in the future,” Pai said.
Sinclair didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pai said he disagreed with calls from some Democrats for the FCC to revoke Sinclair’s broadcast licenses.
“While they don’t like what they perceive to be the broadcaster’s viewpoints, the First Amendment still applies around here,” Pai said.
The FCC was investigating Sinclair for providing misleading information about stations it planned to divest to get the FCC to allow the Tribune merger. The agency was also investigating whether Sinclair had acted in good faith in retransmission consent negotiations with pay-TV providers, and its failure to disclose the sponsor of paid programming it produced and aired.
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