ICYMI: Is a Bannon-Sinclair Partnership on the Horizon?
Vanity Fair uncovers details about ousted White House Advisor Steve Bannon’s potential plans to use Sinclair Broadcasting to Rival Fox News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Gabriel Sherman reported for Vanity Fair that a partnership between Steve Bannon’s Breitbart and Sinclair Broadcast Group may be in the works. According to Sherman’s sources, a Breitbart-Sinclair partnership could help Bannon settle scores with his enemies within Trump’s inner circle and build a platform that could challenge Fox News from the right.
Earlier this year, Sinclair announced plans to acquire Tribune Media, which would give Sinclair control of news stations reaching 72 percent of U.S. households, creating the largest local news monopoly in U.S. history. The controversial deal is being opposed by a diverse group of stakeholders from across the political spectrum and is currently under review by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division and the FCC.
Below please find key excerpts from Sherman’s story:
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[Fox News Chairman Rupert] Murdoch is worried about the rise of Sinclair Broadcasting as a competitor to Fox, and blames Bannon for Trump’s decision so far not to block the Sinclair’s $3.9 billion takeover of Tribune Media in May.
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Bannon has media ambitions to compete with Fox News from the right. Last week in New York, he huddled with his billionaire benefactor, Robert Mercer, and discussed ways to expand Breitbart into TV, sources said. “Television is definitely on the table,” a Bannon adviser told me. A partnership with Sinclair remains a possibility. In recent days, Sinclair’s chief political analyst Boris Epshteyn has spoken with Breitbart editors about ways to form an alliance, one Breitbart staffer said. “All the Sinclair guys are super tight with Breitbart. Imagine if we got together Hannity and O’Reilly and started something?”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL VANITY FAIR STORY
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