WZTV
On December 6, 2017, it was reported that Sinclair and Fox were working on a deal that would see its Fox affiliates renew their affiliation agreement in exchange for Sinclair selling some of its Fox affiliates directly to Fox Television Stations. The deal would have seen between six and ten Fox affiliates owned by Sinclair and Tribune (all in markets with an NFL team) become Fox owned-and-operated stations. It was not known if WZTV will be one of the stations sold, although the stations being sold to Fox were expected to be from Tribune Media (notably KCPQ in Seattle, where Sinclair already owns KOMO-TV), many of which were previously owned by Fox. On May 9, 2018, Sinclair announced that seven Fox affiliates would be sold to FTS, but WZTV was not included and an affiliation renewal was announced for that station instead, keeping WZTV with Sinclair.
NBCUniversal
On November 16, 2017, NBCUniversal (through Comcast) approached 21st Century Fox to acquire Fox's filmed entertainment, cable entertainment, and international assets, ten days after The Walt Disney Company was reported to be negotiating with Fox for the same assets. The deal contained key assets, including the 20th Century Fox film and TV divisions, 30% stake in Hulu, television assets FX Networks, National Geographic Channel, and Fox Sports Networks, and international television operations such as Star India and Sky UK, while excluding the Fox Broadcasting Company, the Fox News Channel, Fox Television Stations, Fox Business Network, and Fox Sports, all which will spin-off into a new independent company run by the Murdoch family; a notable purchase from the deal was to include the animated TV series "The Simpsons", which NBCUniversal's subsidiary Universal Parks & Resorts in Hollywood and Florida have themed areas based on.