Allbritton to Sell TV Stations, Including WJLA in DC Metro Area, to Sinclair

by Mary Ann Barton

Metro Washington's WJLA-TV, Channel 7 and NewsChannel 8, WJLA's cable channel that covers local news is about to have a new owner. WJLA and NewsChannel 8 are located in Arlington.

The current owner of the DC area stations, Allbritton, is selling its TV stations for $985 million to Sinclair Broadcast Group.
"We are thrilled to add the Allbritton properties to our growing portfolio and national footprint," commented David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair, in a news release. 

"To buy a full-blown news operation in our nation's capital and an infrastructure that allows us to be connected to our branches of government and be at the pulse of national issues is a once-in-a lifetime event," Smith said. 

"We are especially excited to acquire the NewsChannel 8 local news channel, not only for the content it can provide our existing news stations, but moreover because their regional cable presence provides the perfect platform should we decide to expand it into other markets, especially given the amount of local news we produce across our entire portfolio."

Politico is not part of the deal and will still be owned by Arlington-based Allbritton. The company made it clear in May that Politico would not be a part of any sale.

Sinclair has a history of leaning conservative according to this story in the The Seattle Times, including:

• The company ordered its stations to air a documentary critical of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry right before the 2004 election.

• The same year, Sinclair blocked the broadcast of a “Nightline” episode about soldiers killed in the Iraq war. “‘Nightline’ is not reporting news; it is doing nothing more than making a political statement,” Sinclair wrote in a letter explaining the decision. It replaced the broadcast with what it said was a more balanced report.