Bankruptcy for WPGH, WPMY parent?
July 17, 2009
Sinclair Broadcasting Group could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection if it can’t restructure its debt, the Baltimore Sun reports.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Maryland-based owner of Pittsburgh Fox affiliate WPGH-TV (“53″/43) and MyNetwork affiliate WPMY-TV (“22″/42) says that local advertising revenue has plunged more than 18 percent, while national ad revenue dropped 31 percent.
Car dealers, movies and fast food are among the categories hardest hit, the Sun says,
Sinclair is also trying to sell “non-TV assets,” according to the newspaper.
Chapter 11 protection allows a company to continue operating while it reorganizes. Besides its two local stations, Sinclair owns or operates 56 other TV outlets in the United States, including WCHS-TV and WVAH-TV in Charleston, W.Va.
