Sinclair has proposed separating its Ventures business—which houses nontraditional broadcast media assets including the Tennis Channel and investments—and merging its remaining broadcast TV business with Tegna, in a deal that would value Tegna shares at around $25 to $30 apiece, the people said.

On Tuesday, TV broadcaster Nexstar Media (NXST.O) agreed to acquire rival Tegna (TGNA.N) for $6.2 billion.

"This (acquisition) means contraction and consolidation because the business is just in a horrible place," Benfield said.