Circa News, an online outlet bought by Sinclair in 2015, has become a favorite of Sean Hannity among other Fox News personalities, along with far-right troll Mike Cernovich and Donald Trump Jr., with what critics claim is a stealthy emphasis on right-leaning, Trump-friendly content, according to The Daily Beast. Many scheduled NFL game telecasts on the 17th were disrupted on its NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates (replaced by a different game feed or by alternative programming). [163][154][164] However, in March 2018, KOMO aired a must-run segment during prime time about some Americans' belief in the existence of a deep state in the federal government, a concept Trump has blamed for undermining his presidency. But Sinclair is not a fairly standard media company. (d)Marquee was launched in late February 2020, therefore is a driver of the [123], On January 27, 2020, Sinclair announced that it would sell WDKY-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, and the non-license assets of KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas, to Nexstar Media Group for $60 million, as part of a settlement between the two companies over Sinclair's failed acquisition of Tribune Media, which was ultimately acquired by Nexstar. [The New York Times, 5/3/17]. They have been involved in various controversies surrounding politically motivated programming decisions,[145][146] such as news coverage and specials during the lead-ups to elections that were in support of the Republican Party. Of the $25million, $20.5million will be paid into a settlement fund. A Trump spokesman said the deal included the interviews running across every affiliate but that no money was exchanged between the network and the campaign. [38] Two of Sinclair's existing stations in markets affected by the Newport deal, WSTR-TV and KMYS, were sold to Deerfield Media. Mr. Epshteyn most recently served as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations for the Executive Office of President Trump. Media Bias Fact Check offers a number of sustaining Ad-Free membership plans to fit your budget! Saying that Mr. Obamas supporters had sent 93,000 e-mails to the Sinclair broadcasting company for carrying the advertisement, Tommy, a campaign spokesman, said, Other stations that follow Sinclairs lead should expect a similar response from people who dont want the political discourse cheapened with these false, negative attacks. [The New York Times, 8/27/08], Sinclair Gave Conservative Conspiracy Theorist Sharyl Attkisson Her Own Show. Screenshot this, because you have a defamation lawsuit on your hands advised one user, while countless others did just that and snapped screenshots of the misleading photo. The Fox affiliation in Pittsburgh went to higher-rated WPGH-TV, which would later be purchased by Sinclair in 1990. zabezpeuje zsobovanie radu, upratovanie, registratru, evidenciu hmotnho a nehmotnho majetku. [223] Regardless of the outcome, Time Warner Cable was obligated to carry Fox network programming on its systems due to a deal reached with the network earlier in 2010; however, the agreement did not extend to syndicated and locally produced programs on Sinclair's Fox affiliates. [199], In addition to above, Sinclair has also supported Israel describing it as a "true democracy of the Middle East". and from PAC, individual and soft money donors to political parties, as reported to the Federal Election Commission. For example: Sinclair-owned stations and its Washington bureau scored 15 exclusive interviews with Trump over the past year, including 11 during the final three months of the campaign in critical states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. With Tennis Channel and its related properties, Sinclair is the leader in courtside coverage and the ONLY multiplatform 24/7 destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennislifestyle. After failing to respond to Mediacom's offer to take the dispute to binding arbitration before the deadline, Sinclair pulled all 22 stations from Mediacom's lineups shortly after midnight on January 6. and amortization of definite-lived intangible assets and other assets. Sinclair Broadcast Group Supports Local Charities in TV Stations' Holiday Donation Drives 12.23.2021 Donations include 140,000 toys and truckloads of food and clothing for local communities BALTIMORE - FCC "must-carry" rules only apply to a station's primary digital stream. For more information about our business, reportable segments, and our operating [119] On March 9, 2019, Sinclair purchased a minority stake in YES Network. [92] It began broadcasting on February 13, 2017. SPX had intended to close down all of Dielectric's operations by the end of July, in turn threatening a FCC-proposed incentive auction and subsequent repacking of television broadcast spectrum. Marquee Sports Network brings together one of the most iconic sports franchises in the country with one of the largest television broadcasting companies to deliver unparalleled Cubs coverage. [142] The show, titled The National Desk, launched on January 18, 2021, and airs on Sinclair's CW and MyNetworkTV-affiliated stations along with its Fox-affiliated stations that do not have their own local morning news shows. Dielectric is a designer and manufacturer of broadcast systems including all components from transmitteroutput to antenna. 2022, 2021, and 2020 (in millions): $ 357 $ 1,819 According to the source, Weindel said that they werent covering the story, though it was featured in outlets across the country at the time, explaining, The person that tweeted [Jacobs] and was allegedly body slammed is a reporter for a politically biased publication. Weindel then added, You are on your own for this., A report in HuffPost reveals that the station was acquired, last month, by the conservative media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcasting. NY Times: Sinclair Has Advanced A Mostly Right-Leaning Agenda Since George W. Bushs Presidency. February 2023, we declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. This is extremely dangerous to our democracy We understand Truth is neither politically 'left or right.' [91] In December 2016, SBG announced TBD, a new digital subchannel network aimed towards millennials, with a focus on digital content. 3. Boss : you should donate to our SuperPAC. In 2015, Sinclair gave discredited former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson her own show to air on Sinclairs stations. In particular, the Center for Public Integrity showed concern that the Republican slant of Sinclair's news programming, along with Mark Hyman's history of government lobbying (such as for the FCC to loosen rules regarding concentration of media ownershipa factor that has assisted in the company's growth),[151] made its stations provide "anything but fair and balanced news programming." [88], On January 27, 2016, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tennis Channel for $350 million. [50] Shortly after the announcement, a lawsuit was filed by a Fisher shareholder;[51] the suit was settled in July 2013[52] and the merger approved shortly thereafter. In the past, Sinclair hasnt shied from using its TV stations to deliver clear political messages. Yes it's legal for them to ask, but they can't force you to contribute. is an action and adventure broadcast networkfeaturing CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, CHiPs, Knight Rider and Magnum PI. The coalition argued that Glencairn passed itself off as a minority-owned company (Edwards is African American) which, since the Smith family controlled most of the company's stock, was technically a Sinclair arm that planned to use the LMA with KOKH to gain control of the station and create an illegal duopoly with KOCB. Read our profile on the United States government and media. They will grab for every ounce of power and control they can no matter what. [217], In December 2009, Sinclair announced that it would pull all of its stations from Mediacom systems for the second time in three years if a new carriage agreement was not reached by midnight on December 31. The companies include, in addition to those mentioned in some detail below: In 2021, Sinclair began to consolidate the major network affiliations on the DT1 channels held by Deerfield, HSH, Mercury and Cunningham stations to sister stations directly owned by Sinclair onto their DT2 or DT3 subchannels, effectively leaving many of these stations to carry only subchannel networks and be wholly uncompetitive in their markets. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland,[3] the company is the second-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations (after Nexstar Media Group), owning or operating a total of 193 stations across the country in over 100 markets (covering 40% of American households), many of which are located in the South and Midwest, and is the largest owner of stations affiliated with Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. February 01, 2023. Founded in 1971, the Sinclair Broadcast Group is a publicly-traded American telecommunications company controlled by the family of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Commission. Our research analyzes local news broadcasts across the country, comparing Sinclair-owned stations' coverage patterns to those of other stations in the same market and, when Sinclair acquires . "[145][174], Later in October 2004, just two weeks prior to the 2004 presidential election, it was reported that all 62 of Sinclair's stations would preempt prime time programming to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, a documentary critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activism. Most companies would catch fire from the public, but Sinclair literally controls enough to sway that line of thinking. [39] The non-license assets of ABC affiliate WHAM-TV in Rochester, New York, were sold by Newport to Sinclair, with Deerfield purchasing the station's license. However, while LMAs would become an integral part of the company's business model in subsequent years, Sinclair's plans to acquire KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City through Glencairn, which would subsequently attempt to sell five of its 11 existing LMA-operated stations to Sinclair outright in turn (with Sinclair stock included in the deal) was challenged by the Rainbow/PUSH coalition (headed by Jesse Jackson) to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1998, citing concerns over a single company controlling two broadcast licenses in the same market in violation of FCC rules. [53][54], Titan TV Broadcast Group sold four stations, along with operating agreements for two stations, to Sinclair on June 3, 2013. While Sinclairs solicitation might raise the eyebrows of journalism purists, Ryan said there appears to be nothing legally noncompliant about the email. Sinclair stations aired five such interviews with Clinton running mate Tim Kaine and two with Chelsea Clinton but none with Clinton or another top surrogate. [187] Stelter states that the script is written to sound like it's the opinion of the local anchors, despite the text being in fact a mandate from corporate management. [133][134][135] Ransomware experts later indicated that the attack was likely linked to Evil Corp., a Russia-based cybergang that was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2019 and had been accused prior to the attack of attempting to rebrand itself to evade the sanctions; the hackers are believed to have disseminated the Macaw ransomware strain (which was also linked to a similar cyberattack that hit Olympus Corporation's corporate server network on October 10) within Sinclair's servers. [210] This led to a protracted media battle and smear campaign between the two companies, and Sinclair pulled the two stations off of Charter's systems in the neighboring Beckley, West Virginia market. They are doing great work, Cernovich told The Daily Beast. [180][181], On November 5, 2012, six Sinclair stations in swing states aired a special focusing on issues surrounding the presidential election occurring the next day, such as the Libyan civil war and health care reform; the special consisted of a series of segments which were presented by the local anchors at each station. For us, this was how the roadmap looked: a far-right organization that's been under investigation for racial bias and illegal political campaign activity writes a smear piece abou Common Cause is part of a coalition of groups that oppose Sinclairs pending acquisition of Tribune Media, which has been made possible by regulatory easing. Seriously. The plan is to keep the US politically divided. Sinclair is based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and has developed a reputation for jamming its leadership's conservative views through the not-exactly-perfect delivery system of local televisiona medium perhaps better suited for informing people about weather, traffic, and local crime than for covering the US's frenzied national politics. [212], Despite a plea from Iowa's Congressional delegation urging the two sides to submit to binding arbitration, Sinclair rejected the plea on January 11. [76] On August 20, 2014, Sinclair announced that it would swap WTTA in Tampa and KXRM-TV and KXTU-LD in Colorado Springs to Media General in exchange for WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, WLUK-TV and WCWF in Green Bay and WTGS in Savannah, Georgia. For the 2016 election cycle, Sinclair's PAC made $82,375 in donations to federal candidates. After media reports regarding the interview emerged, Sinclair received substantial criticism, resulting in Sinclair cancelling televised broadcast and removing the video from Sinclair-affiliated websites. The following table sets forth certain of our consolidated operating data for News stories and features favorable to Trump or that challenged Clinton were distributed to Sinclair stations on a must-run basis that is, the stations were required by managers in Washington to make room in their evening newscasts or morning programs for them. The Seattle Times has written a piece documenting Sinclairs right-wing bias. The borough also borders Raa, Vajnory, Ruinov, Lama and Zhorsk Bystrica boroughs. Contributions by Source of Funds Sinclair Broadcast Group Affiliates i Cycle: 2020 Showing 1 to 3 of 3 entries Contributions to 527s are not included in the Individuals, PACs, Soft (Indivs), or Soft (Orgs) columns, so the sum of these columns may not equal the Total column. [43] The former Cox and Barrington stations are operated through subsidiary Chesapeake Television, focusing on smaller markets and with management separate from Sinclair proper. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. [241] With the February 2013 announcement of the company's purchase of Barrington Broadcasting, Sinclair announced the formation of a subsidiary for this purpose, Chesapeake Television, to be headed by Steve Pruett (former CEO of Communications Corporation of America and the current chairman of the Fox network's affiliate board). HBO host John Oliver noted that Sinclair commentator Mark Hyman in must-run segments has pushed conservative commentary such as railing against snowflakes and claiming marriage solves domestic violence. In July, Sinclair announced it was increasing the must-run segments across its affiliates featuring former Trump White House official Boris Epshteyn to nine times a week, according to Politico. [89] Sinclair's news operations had launched six drone teams in September 2016. Sinclair Tripled Its Number Of Epshteyn Segments. Soft money donations to parties were banned after the 2002 cycle. example, the 2002 election cycle runs from January 1, 2001 to But it has also used its 173 television stations to advance a mostly right-leaning agenda since the presidency of George W. Bush. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is a diversified media company and leading provider of local news and sports. Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever. "[138][145], In 2017, all Sinclair news-producing stations began inserting a waving American flag into the right corner of its lower third news graphics. But specific instruction isnt needed. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country's largest operator of local television stations, is in the process of buyingTribune Media. [211], Mediacom filed an antitrust lawsuit against Sinclair in October 2006, claiming that the group insisted on blanket carriage of 22 Sinclair-owned/managed stations across Mediacom-operated service areas where Sinclair operates a television station regardless of market differences. You're gonna have to kill some crackers! Under the direction of its ambitious corporate parent, the stations news operations have taken a subtle but noticeable turn to the right. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 14, 2009, Sinclair stated that if the company could not refinance its $1.33 billion debt or if Cunningham Broadcasting became insolvent due to nonpayment on a loan worth $33.5 million, Sinclair may be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. TBD is the first multiscreen TV network to bring premium internet-first content to TV homes across America. Sinclair purchased the non-license assets for all eight stations and began operating them through master service agreements the next day. In June 2020, Sinclair announced it would launch "a headline news service" that would air weekday mornings (6:00 AM 9:00 AM local time) and rely on news-gathering services of Sinclair's stations as well as original content, similar in format to NewsNation produced by Nexstar Media Group for WGN America. approximate percentages of advertising revenue, excluding digital revenue, for [34] A groupwide affiliation renewal with Fox reached on May 15, 2012, included an option for Sinclair to purchase WUTB, Baltimore's MyNetworkTV station, from Fox Television Stations before March 31, 2013. Sinclair pioneered the concept of the local marketing agreement (LMA) in American television in 1991, when it sold WPTT to its general manager Eddie Edwards (founder of Glencairn, Ltd., the Sinclair-affiliated licensee that would eventually become Cunningham Broadcasting) in order to purchase fellow Pittsburgh station WPGH-TV to comply with FCC ownership rules of the time that prohibited duopolies, while agreeing to allow Sinclair to retain operational responsibilities for the station. [55] Prior to the deal, a seventh station, KDBC-TV in El Paso, Texas, to Cunningham,[56] fueling speculation KDBC-TV would be consolidated with Sinclair-owned KFOX-TV. The presentation was relatively low-budget, with the anchor simply reading copy, with no field video shots other than the weather read over a stock video shot denoting the conditions outside, and wasn't a factor in taking ratings away from then-market laggard WIIC-TV (now WPXI), much less solid runner-up WTAE-TV and then-locally owned Group W powerhouse KDKA-TV. The memo is thought to be a fairly standard solicitation sent to employees of companies that have political action committees. (B) At KOMO its our responsibility to pursue and report the truth. CHARGE! [124] The transaction was completed on September 17, 2020. The incident had disrupted some of its office and operational networks (including internal servers, email servers, corporate phone lines, and workstations and news graphics systems at the company's stations), and resulted in data being taken from its server network. 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