Media company 21st Century Fox has secured a deal to acquire seven big-market Fox affiliate channels in the US.
The agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media is worth $910m (€766m) and, according to the buyer, will add “key markets that align with Fox’s sports rights”.
Sinclair was looking to offload channels in order to comply with Federal Communications Commission regulations and push through a pending $3.9bn takeover of Tribune.
The channels to be acquired by Fox include KCPQ-TV in Seattle, WSFL in Miami, KDVR in Denver, WJW in Cleveland, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento and KSTU in Salt Lake City.
As part of the deal, Fox has renewed affiliate agreements with Sinclair for a number of Fox affiliate stations. Fox has also given Sinclair the option to acquire two stations – Chicago CW affiliate WPWR and Austin, Texas’ Fox affiliate KTBC for $15m and $160m, respectively.
“With this acquisition, we will now compete in 19 of the top 20 markets and have a significantly larger presence in the west, which will enhance our already strong platform,” said Jack Abernethy, chief executive of Fox Television Stations. “This expansion will further enrich our valuable alignments with the NFL, including our new Thursday Night Football rights, MLB and college sports assets.”
The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2018, subject to closing conditions, and is expected to coincide with Sinclair’s takeover of Tribune.