The paperwork has been posted at the FCC, giving us the full portrait of the three-party deal in Rochester NY between Sinclair, Newport and Deerfield that will result in a de facto duopoly between WUHF and WHAM.
We knew that Sinclair was essentially paying $54M for WHAM and assigning the right to acquire the license to frequent SSA/JSA partner Deerfield.
WHAM is the local ABC affiliate, while WUHF carries Fox.
The station is WHAM-TV, the ABC affiliate serving Rochester NY.
Sinclair already owns WUHF there, the local Fox outlet.
Deerfield will pay Sinclair $6M for the license assets of WHAM, and will collect $10K from Sinclair for a purchase option that will allow Sinclair to buy the station back for the same $6M should the regulatory climate ever allow such a thing.
The JSA will be along the lines of what is clearly becoming the industry standard: As licensee Deerfield will receive 70% of all advertising proceeds, and Sinclair will get to keep 30%.
Under terms of the SSA, Deerfield will pay Sinclair $10.4M annually, and that payment will increase by a factor of 5% each year.
