Sinclair Acquires Fisher Communications

Sinclair Broadcast Group wants to acquire Fisher Communications in a deal worth about $375M.

Fisher owns 20 TV stations and three radio stations in Oregon (Portland, Eugene), Washington (Seattle, Spokane) and Idaho (Boise). Their combined reach is nearly four percent of U.S. TV households.

Colleen Brown, Fisher CEO, said the merger with the biggest independent TV owner will give her company "greater scale and sizable resources” and “provide our stations, team members and business partners with new opportunities to flourish."

The transaction is subject to Federal Communications Commission approval and the vote of two-thirds of Fisher stockholders.

Baltimore-based Sinclair owns/operates provides sales services to 134 stations that cover 34 percent of the U.S. market.

Disney Cuts 150 Staffers

Walt Disney Co. is laying off about 150 people due to "redundancies" that resulted from the acquisitions of Marvel Entertainment in 2009 and Lucusfilm this year.

"As part of an ongoing review to ensure that the studios’ operational structure and economics align with the demands of the current marketplace, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our staffing levels in several divisions of the studio," said a statement from Disney.

Earlier this month, Disney announced the shutdown of its video game production unit, LucasArts, in San Francisco.

Disney employs 165K people. It stock is trading at $60.39, just off its $60.67 52-week high.

Bordeleau to Edit ProJo

Karen Bordeleau will become the first woman editor of the Providence Journal when she takes the helm on April 29.

As senior VP and executive editor, she officially succeeds Tom Heslin, who is stepping down after a 32-year stint at the 183-year-old newspaper.

Currently, Bordeleau is deputy editor. She led the newsroom for the past two years, subbing for Heslin, who was on medical leave for much of that span.

She joined the Journal in 1996 as copy editor and special sections reporter.

Earlier, she worked at the Kent County Daily Times (West Warwick) and The Call (Woonsocket).