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The parent company of KECI, a local television station in Missoula, has been purchased by conservative local news operator Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Sinclair announced Friday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the stock of Bonten Media Group Holdings, Inc. for $240 million.

Bonten owns 14 television stations in eight markets, which reach approximately 1 percent of U.S. TV households. In Montana, Bonten owns KECI in Missoula, KTVM in Butte and Bozeman and KCFW in Kalispell, which are all NBC affiliates.

Sinclair Broadcasting has earned a reputation as a conservative-leaning news operator. Last week, the company announced that President Donald Trump's ex-spokesman Boris Epshteyn would be its new chief political analyst. It was announced that in that role, he would be appearing across 173 stations that Sinclair owns or operates across the country.

According to a report from Politico, in 2016, Sinclair struck a deal to broadcast Trump interviews without commentary in exchange for more access to the candidate. Sinclair later asserted that the Politico report was inaccurate and that it doesn't give preferential treatment to candidates from either party.