Tribune Ends Deal With Sinclair, Dashing Plan for Conservative TV Behemoth -- NYT

Another incentive to explore cable cord-cutting... Also see The local TV consolidation race is here (Axios)

"Tribune must now revisit its plans for selling itself, although the company may not have much trouble seeking new buyers. Local television businesses have gotten a lift from political advertising spending in the run-up to the hotly contested midterm elections. Tribune’s second-quarter earnings report showed that the company had more than doubled its revenue from political advertising to $24 million compared with the same period in 2014, the last midterm election cycle.

The boom in political ad spending, coupled with the rule that allows one company to reach a much larger swath of the television audience, could jump-start more mergers.

After Mr. Murdoch completes his deal to sell most of the assets of his 21st Century Fox to the Walt Disney Company, he will be left with the Fox News cable network and 28 Fox broadcast stations. In a bid to expand his broadcast business, he could restart talks with Tribune to buy the seven stations whose sale was previously agreed to, or possibly more."

Tribune Ends Deal With Sinclair, Dashing Plan for Conservative TV Behemoth -- NYT