Sinclair puts spin on newly-acquired Providence TV station

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SBG / Sinclair Broadcast GroupThe acquisition of $200M worth of Four Points Media television stations by Sinclair only just made it to the finish line, and already one of them is on its way to a new owner. OTA Broadcasting has stepped up to buy WLWC-TV New Bedford MA in the Providence-New Bedford DMA.


The station is on digital channel 22 and virtual channel 28 and is an affiliate of CW.

The price will be $13.75M cash.

The buyer is OTA Broadcasting, headed by Todd Lawyer and William Tolpegin. It is a fairly recent entrant into the television business, with full power stations in the Seattle and San Francisco areas and a Class A in Manhattan. The acquisition of another Class A in Houston is pending.

Neither OTA nor Sinclair has any other interests in the Providence DMA.

The other stations acquired by Sinclair in the Four Points deal included:
* KUTV (CBS 2) Salt Lake City, Utah (DMA 32)
* KMYU (MNT 9) Salt Lake City, Utah (DMA 32)
* KEYE (CBS 42) Austin, Texas (DMA 44)
* WTVX (CW 34) West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce, Florida (DMA 38)
* WTCN-CA (MNT 50) West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce, Florida (DMA 38)
* WWHB-CA (AZTECA 48) West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce, Florida (DMA 38)

RBR-TVBR observation: Sinclair is one of television’s biggest fans of local duopolies, whether comprised of O&Os or JSA/SSA partners. This deal indicates that at least part of the corporate philosophy is to either double up or double time out of town.