Sinclair Broadcast Group
Encyclopedia
The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) is an American
telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television station
s in the United States
. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland
, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of which are located in the South
and Midwest
. Broadcasts by SBG stations can be received by 24 percent of American households. SBG is also the owner of the Ring of Honor
(ROH) professional wrestling
promotion, which is considered to be the third most prominent national wrestling company behind World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
(TNA).
(channel 45) in Baltimore. A subsidiary of Chesapeake Television Corp., the Commercial Radio Institute, later founded WPTT (channel 22, now WPMY
) in Pittsburgh
, in 1978; and WTTE
(channel 28) in Columbus, Ohio
, in 1984. All three stations originally were independents
, though WBFF and WTTE became charter affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company
at its launch in 1986.
Smith's son David D. Smith began taking a more active role in the 1980s. In 1985, the Chesapeake Television Corporation changed its name to Sinclair Broadcast Group. In 1990, David Smith and his three brothers bought their parents' remaining stock and went on a buying spree that eventually made it one of the largest station owners in the country.
Though Sinclair became a public company in 1995 and is currently traded on NASDAQ
under the symbol SBGI, the Smith family still retains a majority financial interest, and all four Smith brothers serve as executives or directors.
On May 21, 2011 it was announced that Sinclair Broadcasting Group had purchased the Ring of Honor
professional wrestling company (ROH). It was announced that as part of the purchace, Sinclair would produce a weekly, hour-long program for ROH to air on SBG stations, with the intent to eventually syndicate the show to non-SBG stations across the country.
Four months later on September 8, 2011, Sinclair announced that it will purchase the seven stations owned by Four Points Media Group
from Cerberus Capital Management
for $200 million. Prior to the FCC's approval of the purchase which is expected in early 2012, Sinclair will manage the stations under local marketing agreements (replacing Nexstar Broadcasting Group
as Four Points' LMA partner) following antitrust approval of the sale by the Federal Trade Commission
, Sinclair will also supply working capital to the stations in consideration of service fees and performance incentives through the LMAs. Sinclair then announced on November 2, 2011 that it would acquire the entire television division of Freedom Communications
. It also announced that it was in talks to purchase Columbus, Ohio
CW affiliate WWHO
from LIN TV
(Sinclair already owns ABC affiliate WSYX
and manages Fox affiliate WTTE
, a possible sale of WWHO to Sinclair could result in the company controlling three stations in the Columbus market, similar to the arrangement it has with WZTV
, WNAB
and WUXP in Nashville).
Many stations are owned outright by the company, but many others are affiliated through local marketing agreements (LMA)
. Sinclair pioneered the LMA concept in 1991.
The stations are affiliates of various television network
s: ABC
, CBS
, NBC
and Fox. Sinclair also owned or managed several affiliates of the WB and UPN
networks, which both launched in January 1995. In September 2006, the WB and UPN merged their operations into a new network, the CW
. Eight of Sinclair's WB stations, along with independent KFBT (now KVCW
) in Las Vegas
, became affiliates of the new network. At the same time, Sinclair aligned 17 of its stations (ten former WB affiliates, six former UPN stations, and independent WFGX
) with MyNetworkTV
, a new programming service owned by Fox's parent News Corporation
. Sinclair's relationship with Fox/News Corporation was also strengthened after Sinclair agreed to a six-year affiliation renewal for its 19 Fox-affiliated stations. The deal also includes flagship WBFF in Baltimore, despite Fox owning a station, MyNetworkTV affiliate WUTB
, in the same market.
On December 22, 2006, WTWC-TV
in Tallahassee, Florida
, renewed its affiliation agreement with NBC, keeping the station affiliated with the network through the end of 2016.
Sinclair had experimented with using a centralized news organization called News Central
that provided prepackaged news segments for distribution to several of the group's stations. These segments were integrated into programming during local news broadcasts. Mark E. Hyman
, a high-ranking executive at Sinclair, also created conservative editorial
segments called "The Point" that were broadcast on all of the group's stations with news departments. In addition, most of the stations that aired News Central emulated the prepackaged news studio appearance for local stories. This model was ultimately unsuccessful, and on March 31, 2006, News Central ended its national news broadcasts (although the "Point" commentaries lasted until November 30, 2006). Most stations running the News Central format ended up cancelling their news coverage altogether, although some stations that did so have subsequently contracted with competing stations in their markets to produce their newscasts.
Sinclair still produces a one-minute national news briefing for its stations, entitled Washington Newsroom. Starting in 2007, Sinclair launched a new newscast on some of its stations, completely separate from local news operations, called American Crossroads. Like News Central and "The Point", the program, hosted by Jeff Barnd (a news anchor at WBFF) covers national news stories and offers a conservative editorial segment.
and WSMH
in Flint, Michigan
ended analog transmission on June 12 instead due to the FCC denying early shut-down to some of them in order to keep one commercial analog signal on in a market until the new transition.
As of November 5, 2010, all Sinclair owned and/or operated stations (except for WLOS
) are broadcasting on the UHF band, as many of them found their post-transition VHF assignments unacceptable to cover their full markets.
However, Carolyn Smith, wife of Sinclair founder Julian Smith and mother of current Sinclair CEO David Smith, supplied Glencairn's initial capital and controlled 70 percent of Glencairn's stock. In December 2001, after complaints from Jesse Jackson
and several other media companies, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) fined Sinclair $40,000 for illegally controlling Glencairn. Sinclair tried to merge outright with Glencairn in 2001 and purchase Edwards' Pittsburgh station. However, the FCC only allowed four of the stations to come directly under the Sinclair banner. Glencairn kept the other six stations and changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting
. Nearly all of Cunningham's stock (90 percent) is owned by trusts in the name of four members of the Smith family, and all six Cunningham stations have LMAs with Sinclair stations. Based on these arrangements, Glencairn/Cunningham has served merely as a shell corporation with the sole purpose of evading FCC ownership rules.
In three markets, Cunningham owns the fourth-highest rated station while Sinclair owns one of the three highest-rated stations. The FCC's duopoly rules do not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. In Cunningham's three other markets, there are too few stations or unique station owners to permit a Sinclair duopoly. The FCC requires a market to have eight unique station owners once a duopoly is formed.
and subsequent occupation of Iraq.
The group issued a statement that said in part, "The action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq." ABC responded, saying that the program was meant to be "an expression of respect which seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."
For differing reasons, the decision to not air the episode attracted criticism both from supporters and opponents of the Iraq war. Affected stations were in the following markets:
WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida
, formerly owned by Media Venture Management but, at that time, operated by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement, decided to air the program. In some of the affected areas, such as Pensacola, other broadcasters stepped into the breach to air the broadcast.
On an unrelated note, three other Sinclair-owned stations which are now ABC affiliates -- WKEF
in Dayton, Ohio
, WICS
in Springfield, Illinois
and WICD in Champaign, Illinois
-- also did not air the controversial episode of Nightline because they were affiliated with NBC at the time. The non-Sinclair stations in those two markets that were affiliated with ABC at the time, WDTN
and WAND
, aired the Nightline episode in question.
programming to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal
, a documentary critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
's anti-Vietnam War
activism, just two weeks before the November 2 election. The film was produced by Carlton Sherwood
, a former associate of Tom Ridge
, and accuses John Kerry of prolonging the Vietnam War because of his anti-war
activism
. The organization Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry organization whose name become well known in the 2004 election year, was cross-promoting the film as part of a $1.4 million advertising campaign.
In response, the Democratic National Committee
filed a legal motion with the Federal Election Commission
stating that it is inappropriate for the media organization to air "partisan propaganda" in the last 10 days of an election campaign.
Sinclair fired its Washington bureau chief Jon Lieberman
, stating he revealed company business when he publicly discussed the documentary in an interview published October 18, 2004, in the Baltimore Sun.
Sinclair later aired an edited version of the documentary.
SBGI stock took a dive during and leading up to this time period as stockholders who threatened lawsuits and portions of the general public became enraged. The stock did not fully recover until late 2006.
critical of President Barack Obama
, Breaking Point: 25 Minutes that will Change America, which was sponsored by the National Republican Trust Political Action Group
. The infomercial painted Obama as an extremist, in which, during the 2008 presidential campaign, claimed he received some campaign money from the Hamas
terrorist group, and claimed to have said in a speech, "You want freedom? You’re gonna have to kill some crackers! You gonna have to kill some of those babies." The special also discusses Obama advisers Van Jones
and John Holdren
, as well as Obama staff Anita Dunn, Kevin Jennings
, Carol Browner, and Cass Sunstein
-- all in an unflattering light; in one case, the special claimed that Holdren said that trees should be permitted to sue humans in court.
The infomercial aired at various times during the weekend of October 30 on WMSN-TV
Madison, Wisconsin
; KBSI
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
; WDKY-TV
Lexington, Kentucky
; WPGH-TV
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
; KDSM-TV
Des Moines, Iowa
and WXLV-TV
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
-- all in swing state
s vital to the 2010 elections
.
streamlined its operations, which included selling off portions of its cable system which were "geographically non-strategic". Charter accounts in the Huntington
-Charleston, West Virginia
market area were purchased by Suddenlink Communications
. Sinclair requested a $40 million one-time fee, and a one-dollar-per subscription per month fee from Suddenlink for retransmission rights of both WCHS-TV
and WVAH-TV
on the Suddenlink cable system. This led to a protracted media battle and smear campaign between the two companies, and Sinclair pulled the two stations off the air on cable systems covering the neighboring Beckley, West Virginia
market.
After several weeks of negotiations, the two companies reached an agreement which allowed WCHS-TV and WVAH-TV to continue transmission over the Suddenlink cable system. The terms of the agreement were not released to the public.
filed an antitrust
lawsuit against Sinclair on October 2006, claiming that Sinclair insisted on blanket carriage of 22 SBGI stations at all Mediacom cable companies where SBGI operates a TV station regardless of market differences. The District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
denied Mediacom's injunction motion on October 24; Mediacom appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
, but they dropped the appeal on December 13.
Sinclair's retransmission agreement with Mediacom was originally set to expire on December 1, 2006, but Sinclair later extended the deadline to January 5, 2007. Despite the extension, the two sides remained at an impasse
over how much money Mediacom should pay Sinclair for carriage of its stations. On January 4, the Federal Communications Commission
's Media Bureau denied Mediacom's complaint stating that Sinclair failed to negotiate with Mediacom in good faith. 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. Despite a plea from Iowa's Congressional
delegation urging the two sides to submit to binding arbitration, Sinclair rejected the plea on January 11. The two sides discussed the dispute in front of Iowa lawmakers on January 23. On January 30, 2007, Senators Daniel Inouye
, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
and Ranking Member Ted Stevens
signed a letter addressed to Kevin Martin
, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
, directing him to resolve the issue. The impasse ended on February 2 when Mediacom announced that it had reached a retransmission agreement with Sinclair for undisclosed terms. All 22 stations were restored to Mediacom systems shortly after the agreement was announced. Mediacom lost 14,000 subscribers during the last quarter of 2006 and an additional 18,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2007.
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 deal was not reached by midnight on December 31. The impasse had threatened coverage of the January 5 Orange Bowl
in Iowa, where the Hawkeyes
played, and the January 7 2010 BCS National Championship Game
in Alabama
, where the Crimson Tide
won the national championship. Mediacom and lawmakers from Iowa and Alabama asked the FCC to intervene in this dispute. On December 31, Mediacom and Sinclair agreed to an eight-day extension of the retransmission agreement that permitted Sinclair's stations to remain on Mediacom until January 8. Both sides reached a one-year retransmission agreement on January 7, one day before the interim agreement was set to expire.
at the same time as the Mediacom dispute in 2006 and 2007, but the two sides reached an agreement on January 19, 2007.
In November 2010, Sinclair announced that it would pull 33 of its stations in 21 cities on January 1, 2011, if the two parties don't come to an agreement. The deadline for these discussions has been since extended to January 14, 2011. Regardless of the outcome, Time Warner Cable would continue to carry Fox Network programming on its systems, due to a deal reached with Fox earlier in 2010; however, syndicated and local programs on Sinclair's Fox affiliates would still not be seen.
On January 15, 2011, Time Warner Cable and Sinclair reached a settlement, shortly after the deadline was extended again 24 hours.
reported on January 5, 2007 that Sinclair may pull 30 stations from Comcast
systems after its retransmission agreement was slated to expire on February 5.
Comcast was granted an extension so the retransmission rights were extended to March 1, and again to March 10. Comcast has stated that they will not pay cash for retransmission rights, but is willing to barter such as giving free commercials for SBGI stations on Comcast cable channels.
On March 9, Comcast and Sinclair jointly announced a four-year deal for retransmission rights which expire on March 1, 2011. The two came to a new agreement for continued carriage on March 3, 2011; this agreement was negotiated without any public statements or announcements.
.
Note: Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station built and signed on by Sinclair.
Notes:
from Cerberus Capital Management
for $200 million. The Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) gave its antitrust approval of the deal in late September; as a result, at some point that October, Sinclair took over the management of the stations from the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
through time brokerage agreements
(Cerberus would then pay Nexstar a portion of Sinclair's purchase price to terminate the outsourcing agreement, which is set to expire in March 2012, five months early). The group deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2012 after final approval from the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC).
Prior to 2008, these stations were owned by CBS Television Stations
.
The following is a list of stations that are currently owned by Cerberus/Four Points:
in a move for Freedom to eliminate its debt; the sale is pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) approval.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland
Hunt Valley, Maryland
Hunt Valley is an affluent unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along Highway 145 off Interstate 83. Loch Raven Reservoir...
, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of which are located in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. Broadcasts by SBG stations can be received by 24 percent of American households. SBG is also the owner of the Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...
(ROH) professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
promotion, which is considered to be the third most prominent national wrestling company behind World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
(TNA).
History
The company, founded by Julian Sinclair Smith, originated in 1971 as the Chesapeake Television Corporation with the launch of WBFFWBFF
WBFF, channel 45, is a Fox-affiliated television station located in Baltimore, Maryland. WBFF is the flagship station of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Baltimore's CW affiliate, WNUV-TV , through a local marketing agreement...
(channel 45) in Baltimore. A subsidiary of Chesapeake Television Corp., the Commercial Radio Institute, later founded WPTT (channel 22, now WPMY
WPMY
WPMY is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter located in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, WPMY is the sister station of...
) in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, in 1978; and WTTE
WTTE
WTTE is the Fox-affiliated television station for Columbus, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight, Time Warner, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight...
(channel 28) in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, in 1984. All three stations originally were independents
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
, though WBFF and WTTE became charter affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
at its launch in 1986.
Smith's son David D. Smith began taking a more active role in the 1980s. In 1985, the Chesapeake Television Corporation changed its name to Sinclair Broadcast Group. In 1990, David Smith and his three brothers bought their parents' remaining stock and went on a buying spree that eventually made it one of the largest station owners in the country.
Though Sinclair became a public company in 1995 and is currently traded on NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
under the symbol SBGI, the Smith family still retains a majority financial interest, and all four Smith brothers serve as executives or directors.
On May 21, 2011 it was announced that Sinclair Broadcasting Group had purchased the Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...
professional wrestling company (ROH). It was announced that as part of the purchace, Sinclair would produce a weekly, hour-long program for ROH to air on SBG stations, with the intent to eventually syndicate the show to non-SBG stations across the country.
Four months later on September 8, 2011, Sinclair announced that it will purchase the seven stations owned by Four Points Media Group
Four Points Media Group
Four Points Media Group LLC is a television station holding company founded by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in 2007 with its purchase of seven television stations previously owned by CBS Television Stations, a subsidiary of CBS Corporation.Four Points Media Group took over...
from Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S...
for $200 million. Prior to the FCC's approval of the purchase which is expected in early 2012, Sinclair will manage the stations under local marketing agreements (replacing Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
as Four Points' LMA partner) following antitrust approval of the sale by the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
, Sinclair will also supply working capital to the stations in consideration of service fees and performance incentives through the LMAs. Sinclair then announced on November 2, 2011 that it would acquire the entire television division of Freedom Communications
Freedom Communications
Freedom Communications, Inc. is a media conglomerate in the United States. It owns approximately 100 daily and weekly newspapers in the US, with a combined daily circulation of nearly one million subscribers, and also operates over seventy local news websites...
. It also announced that it was in talks to purchase Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
CW affiliate WWHO
WWHO
WWHO is the Columbus, Ohio television affiliate for The CW Television Network. The station is licensed to Chillicothe, though it operates out of a facility in Columbus with its transmitter located in Williamsport, halfway between Columbus and Chillicothe...
from LIN TV
LIN TV
LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...
(Sinclair already owns ABC affiliate WSYX
WSYX
WSYX, channel 6, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Columbus, Ohio. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Fox affiliate WTTE through a local marketing agreement...
and manages Fox affiliate WTTE
WTTE
WTTE is the Fox-affiliated television station for Columbus, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight, Time Warner, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight...
, a possible sale of WWHO to Sinclair could result in the company controlling three stations in the Columbus market, similar to the arrangement it has with WZTV
WZTV
WZTV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter on Knob Road north of downtown along I-24...
, WNAB
WNAB
WNAB, virtual channel 58 is the CW-affiliated television station in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Tennessee Broadcasting, although operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group under an outsourcing agreement. It currently serves as a sister station to WZTV and WUXP-TV. It is currently branded as...
and WUXP in Nashville).
Background
| Network | # Stations |
|---|---|
| Fox | 19 |
| MyNetworkTV (MNTV) | 16 (plus 2 subchannels) |
| ABC | 9 |
| CW | 9 |
| CBS | 2 |
| NBC | 1 |
| This TV This TV This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies.... |
5 |
Many stations are owned outright by the company, but many others are affiliated through local marketing agreements (LMA)
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
. Sinclair pioneered the LMA concept in 1991.
The stations are affiliates of various television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
s: ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and Fox. Sinclair also owned or managed several affiliates of the WB and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
networks, which both launched in January 1995. In September 2006, the WB and UPN merged their operations into a new network, the CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
. Eight of Sinclair's WB stations, along with independent KFBT (now KVCW
KVCW
KVCW, branded as The CW Las Vegas, is the CW-affiliated television station for Las Vegas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in Henderson, Nevada southwest of I-515/U.S. 93/U.S. 95...
) in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, became affiliates of the new network. At the same time, Sinclair aligned 17 of its stations (ten former WB affiliates, six former UPN stations, and independent WFGX
WFGX
WFGX is a television station serving the Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida areas. The station is licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and broadcasts on digital channel 50...
) with MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
, a new programming service owned by Fox's parent News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. Sinclair's relationship with Fox/News Corporation was also strengthened after Sinclair agreed to a six-year affiliation renewal for its 19 Fox-affiliated stations. The deal also includes flagship WBFF in Baltimore, despite Fox owning a station, MyNetworkTV affiliate WUTB
WUTB
WUTB, digital channel 41, is the MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated television station for Baltimore, Maryland. Its transmitter is located near Gilson Park in Catonsville. The station has studios on Seton Drive in Baltimore near the city and county line...
, in the same market.
On December 22, 2006, WTWC-TV
WTWC-TV
WTWC-TV is the NBC affiliate television station for Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.-History:The station was started on April 21, 1983 by Guy Gannett Communications. This made Tallahassee one of the last markets in the country with full service from all three networks...
in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, renewed its affiliation agreement with NBC, keeping the station affiliated with the network through the end of 2016.
Sinclair had experimented with using a centralized news organization called News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
that provided prepackaged news segments for distribution to several of the group's stations. These segments were integrated into programming during local news broadcasts. Mark E. Hyman
Mark E. Hyman
Mark E. Hyman is the Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired The Point from late 2001...
, a high-ranking executive at Sinclair, also created conservative editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
segments called "The Point" that were broadcast on all of the group's stations with news departments. In addition, most of the stations that aired News Central emulated the prepackaged news studio appearance for local stories. This model was ultimately unsuccessful, and on March 31, 2006, News Central ended its national news broadcasts (although the "Point" commentaries lasted until November 30, 2006). Most stations running the News Central format ended up cancelling their news coverage altogether, although some stations that did so have subsequently contracted with competing stations in their markets to produce their newscasts.
Sinclair still produces a one-minute national news briefing for its stations, entitled Washington Newsroom. Starting in 2007, Sinclair launched a new newscast on some of its stations, completely separate from local news operations, called American Crossroads. Like News Central and "The Point", the program, hosted by Jeff Barnd (a news anchor at WBFF) covers national news stories and offers a conservative editorial segment.
Digital television
In February 2009 Sinclair announced that many stations will adhere to the original DTV transition date of February 17, 2009. Sinclair stations' analog transmitters will be turned off then. Several stations, like WMSN in Madison, WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
and WSMH
WSMH
WSMH is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market that is licensed to Flint. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a 245 kilowatt, high transmitter on Aman Rd near St. Charles, Michigan...
in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
ended analog transmission on June 12 instead due to the FCC denying early shut-down to some of them in order to keep one commercial analog signal on in a market until the new transition.
As of November 5, 2010, all Sinclair owned and/or operated stations (except for WLOS
WLOS
WLOS is the ABC-affiliated television station for Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina licensed to Asheville, North Carolina. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Mount Pisgah in North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Charter...
) are broadcasting on the UHF band, as many of them found their post-transition VHF assignments unacceptable to cover their full markets.
Relationship to Glencairn/Cunningham
Between 1994 and 1997, nine stations owned by Glencairn Ltd. entered LMAs with Sinclair-owned stations in the same cities. Glencairn was owned by Edwin Edwards, a former Sinclair executive, who also personally owned WPTT in Pittsburgh. It held itself out as a minority-owned broadcaster.However, Carolyn Smith, wife of Sinclair founder Julian Smith and mother of current Sinclair CEO David Smith, supplied Glencairn's initial capital and controlled 70 percent of Glencairn's stock. In December 2001, after complaints from Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
and several other media companies, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) fined Sinclair $40,000 for illegally controlling Glencairn. Sinclair tried to merge outright with Glencairn in 2001 and purchase Edwards' Pittsburgh station. However, the FCC only allowed four of the stations to come directly under the Sinclair banner. Glencairn kept the other six stations and changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of television stations in the United States. The company currently owns six stations—four affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company , one affiliated with MyNetworkTV and one affiliated with The CW Television Network.Cunningham has very close ties to...
. Nearly all of Cunningham's stock (90 percent) is owned by trusts in the name of four members of the Smith family, and all six Cunningham stations have LMAs with Sinclair stations. Based on these arrangements, Glencairn/Cunningham has served merely as a shell corporation with the sole purpose of evading FCC ownership rules.
In three markets, Cunningham owns the fourth-highest rated station while Sinclair owns one of the three highest-rated stations. The FCC's duopoly rules do not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. In Cunningham's three other markets, there are too few stations or unique station owners to permit a Sinclair duopoly. The FCC requires a market to have eight unique station owners once a duopoly is formed.
Possible bankruptcy
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 14, 2009, Sinclair stated that if they cannot refinance its $1.33 billion debt or if Cunningham becomes insolvent due to nonpayment on a loan worth $33.5 million, then Sinclair may be forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.Nightline controversy
In 2004, Sinclair attracted controversy when it decided that seven of its ABC-affiliated stations would not broadcast an April 30 airing of Nightline, which was a tribute to the soldiers killed in the 2003 invasion2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and subsequent occupation of Iraq.
The group issued a statement that said in part, "The action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq." ABC responded, saying that the program was meant to be "an expression of respect which seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."
For differing reasons, the decision to not air the episode attracted criticism both from supporters and opponents of the Iraq war. Affected stations were in the following markets:
- St. LouisSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
- Columbus, OhioColumbus, OhioColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
- Asheville, North CarolinaAsheville, North CarolinaAsheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
- Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
- Charleston, West VirginiaCharleston, West VirginiaCharleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
- Pensacola, FloridaPensacola, FloridaPensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
- Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, formerly owned by Media Venture Management but, at that time, operated by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement, decided to air the program. In some of the affected areas, such as Pensacola, other broadcasters stepped into the breach to air the broadcast.
On an unrelated note, three other Sinclair-owned stations which are now ABC affiliates -- WKEF
WKEF
WKEF, virtual channel 22, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Miami Valley area of Ohio, which is licensed to Dayton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter at their Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city...
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, WICS
WICS
WICS is the ABC-affiliated television station for Springfield and Decatur, Illinois. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter south of Dawson and I-72/US 36. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 2 and Suddenlink channel 10...
in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
and WICD in Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
-- also did not air the controversial episode of Nightline because they were affiliated with NBC at the time. The non-Sinclair stations in those two markets that were affiliated with ABC at the time, WDTN
WDTN
WDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...
and WAND
WAND
WAND, virtual channel 17, is an NBC-affiliated television station serving the Decatur–Springfield–Champaign area. It is owned by Block Communications...
, aired the Nightline episode in question.
Kerry film controversy
In October 2004, it was reported that Sinclair would order all 62 of its affiliate stations to preempt prime timePrime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
programming to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal
Stolen Honor
Stolen Honor is a 45-minute video documentary that was released in September 2004. It features interviews with a number of American men who were prisoners of war in North Vietnam, who contend they suffered increased maltreatment while prisoners as a direct result of John Kerry's Fulbright Hearing...
, a documentary critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's anti-Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
activism, just two weeks before the November 2 election. The film was produced by Carlton Sherwood
Carlton Sherwood
Carlton Sherwood is an American journalist who produced the anti-John Kerry film Stolen Honor. Sherwood served on two news teams which were responsible for the award of the Pulitzer Prize and the Peabody Award to their organizations....
, a former associate of Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
, and accuses John Kerry of prolonging the Vietnam War because of his anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
. The organization Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry organization whose name become well known in the 2004 election year, was cross-promoting the film as part of a $1.4 million advertising campaign.
In response, the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
filed a legal motion with the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
stating that it is inappropriate for the media organization to air "partisan propaganda" in the last 10 days of an election campaign.
Sinclair fired its Washington bureau chief Jon Lieberman
Jon Lieberman
Jon Leiberman has been a correspondent and producer of America's Most Wanted. He has been a reporter for WBFF in Baltimore and the newsman at WIYY 98 Rock radio in Baltimore. He has also worked as a reporter in New Mexico and Kansas...
, stating he revealed company business when he publicly discussed the documentary in an interview published October 18, 2004, in the Baltimore Sun.
Sinclair later aired an edited version of the documentary.
SBGI stock took a dive during and leading up to this time period as stockholders who threatened lawsuits and portions of the general public became enraged. The stock did not fully recover until late 2006.
Obama infomercial controversy
In November 2010, it was reported that five Fox affiliates and one ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair broadcast an infomercialInfomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
critical of President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Breaking Point: 25 Minutes that will Change America, which was sponsored by the National Republican Trust Political Action Group
National Republican Trust Political Action Group
The National Republican Trust Political Action Group is a third organization that supports Republican candidates for United States federal government positions through advertising...
. The infomercial painted Obama as an extremist, in which, during the 2008 presidential campaign, claimed he received some campaign money from the Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
terrorist group, and claimed to have said in a speech, "You want freedom? You’re gonna have to kill some crackers! You gonna have to kill some of those babies." The special also discusses Obama advisers Van Jones
Van Jones
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones is an American environmental advocate, civil rights activist, and attorney. Jones is a co-founder of three non-profit organizations. In 1996, he founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a California non-governmental organization working for alternatives to violence...
and John Holdren
John Holdren
John Paul Holdren is advisor to President Barack Obama for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology...
, as well as Obama staff Anita Dunn, Kevin Jennings
Kevin Jennings
Kevin Brett Jennings is an American educator, author, and administrator. He was the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education from 2009-11...
, Carol Browner, and Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein
Cass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics, who currently is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration...
-- all in an unflattering light; in one case, the special claimed that Holdren said that trees should be permitted to sue humans in court.
The infomercial aired at various times during the weekend of October 30 on WMSN-TV
WMSN-TV
WMSN-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southern Wisconsin's Eastern Ridges and Lowlands licensed to Madison. It broadcasts a high definition signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter in Madison's Middleton Junction section. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 8 and in...
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
; KBSI
KBSI
KBSI is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Missouri Bootheel, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase. Licensed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in rural Cape Girardeau County north of the...
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is located approximately southeast of St. Louis and north of Memphis. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 37,941. A college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri...
; WDKY-TV
WDKY-TV
WDKY-TV, channel 56, is the Fox-affiliated television station for Lexington, Kentucky that is licensed to nearby Danville. Its transmitter is located southeast of the city. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Euclid Avenue in downtown Lexington.-History:WDKY began...
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
; WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7...
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
; KDSM-TV
KDSM-TV
KDSM-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Iowa licensed to Des Moines. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter in Alleman. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 817. Owned by the...
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
and WXLV-TV
WXLV-TV
WXLV-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Winston-Salem. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in Randleman along I-73/U.S. 220...
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
-- all in swing state
Swing state
In United States presidential politics, a swing state is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's electoral college votes...
s vital to the 2010 elections
United States elections, 2010
The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were contested in this election along with 38 state and territorial...
.
Suddenlink
In the summer of 2006, Charter CommunicationsCharter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
streamlined its operations, which included selling off portions of its cable system which were "geographically non-strategic". Charter accounts in the Huntington
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
-Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
market area were purchased by Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections, is a top-10 cable broadband services provider in the United States with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. Suddenlink operates in 18 states in primarily medium-sized communities. With its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO,...
. Sinclair requested a $40 million one-time fee, and a one-dollar-per subscription per month fee from Suddenlink for retransmission rights of both WCHS-TV
WCHS-TV
WCHS-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia. This area is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River and consists of 61 counties in Central West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern Ohio...
and WVAH-TV
WVAH-TV
WVAH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia which is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter south of Scott Depot along the Putnam...
on the Suddenlink cable system. This led to a protracted media battle and smear campaign between the two companies, and Sinclair pulled the two stations off the air on cable systems covering the neighboring Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley is a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2008 population was estimated to be 16,832 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Early in its history, the town was known as Beckleyville and Raleigh Court House...
market.
After several weeks of negotiations, the two companies reached an agreement which allowed WCHS-TV and WVAH-TV to continue transmission over the Suddenlink cable system. The terms of the agreement were not released to the public.
Mediacom
Cable TV company MediacomMediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
filed an antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
lawsuit against Sinclair on October 2006, claiming that Sinclair insisted on blanket carriage of 22 SBGI stations at all Mediacom cable companies where SBGI operates a TV station regardless of market differences. The District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
denied Mediacom's injunction motion on October 24; Mediacom appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...
, but they dropped the appeal on December 13.
Sinclair's retransmission agreement with Mediacom was originally set to expire on December 1, 2006, but Sinclair later extended the deadline to January 5, 2007. Despite the extension, the two sides remained at an impasse
Impasse
A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a strike in employment negotiation or sanctions/military...
over how much money Mediacom should pay Sinclair for carriage of its stations. On January 4, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
's Media Bureau denied Mediacom's complaint stating that Sinclair failed to negotiate with Mediacom in good faith. After failing to respond to Mediacom's offer to take the dispute to binding arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
before the deadline, Sinclair pulled all 22 stations from Mediacom's lineups shortly after midnight on January 6. Despite a plea from Iowa's Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
delegation urging the two sides to submit to binding arbitration, Sinclair rejected the plea on January 11. The two sides discussed the dispute in front of Iowa lawmakers on January 23. On January 30, 2007, Senators Daniel Inouye
Daniel Inouye
Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye is the senior United States Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in American history. Inouye is the chairman of the United States Senate...
, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate in charge of all senate matters related to the following subjects:* Coast Guard* Coastal zone management* Communications...
and Ranking Member Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
signed a letter addressed to Kevin Martin
Kevin Martin (FCC)
Kevin Jeffrey Martin was the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was nominated to be a commissioner by President George W. Bush on April 30, 2001, and was confirmed on May 25, 2001. On March 16, 2005, President Bush designated him as FCC chairman, to replace Michael K. Powell...
, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, directing him to resolve the issue. The impasse ended on February 2 when Mediacom announced that it had reached a retransmission agreement with Sinclair for undisclosed terms. All 22 stations were restored to Mediacom systems shortly after the agreement was announced. Mediacom lost 14,000 subscribers during the last quarter of 2006 and an additional 18,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2007.
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 deal was not reached by midnight on December 31. The impasse had threatened coverage of the January 5 Orange Bowl
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935 and celebrated its 75th playing on January 1, 2009...
in Iowa, where the Hawkeyes
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
played, and the January 7 2010 BCS National Championship Game
2010 BCS National Championship Game
The 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game was the finale of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was played between the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was hosted by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California,...
in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, where the Crimson Tide
Alabama Crimson Tide football
|TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...
won the national championship. Mediacom and lawmakers from Iowa and Alabama asked the FCC to intervene in this dispute. On December 31, Mediacom and Sinclair agreed to an eight-day extension of the retransmission agreement that permitted Sinclair's stations to remain on Mediacom until January 8. Both sides reached a one-year retransmission agreement on January 7, one day before the interim agreement was set to expire.
Time Warner Cable
Sinclair was also involved with retransmission negotiations with Time Warner CableTime Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
at the same time as the Mediacom dispute in 2006 and 2007, but the two sides reached an agreement on January 19, 2007.
In November 2010, Sinclair announced that it would pull 33 of its stations in 21 cities on January 1, 2011, if the two parties don't come to an agreement. The deadline for these discussions has been since extended to January 14, 2011. Regardless of the outcome, Time Warner Cable would continue to carry Fox Network programming on its systems, due to a deal reached with Fox earlier in 2010; however, syndicated and local programs on Sinclair's Fox affiliates would still not be seen.
On January 15, 2011, Time Warner Cable and Sinclair reached a settlement, shortly after the deadline was extended again 24 hours.
Comcast
Broadcasting & CableBroadcasting & Cable
Broadcasting & Cable magazine is a television industry trade magazine published by NewBay Media. Previous names included Broadcasting/Telecasting, Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising, and Broadcasting...
reported on January 5, 2007 that Sinclair may pull 30 stations from Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
systems after its retransmission agreement was slated to expire on February 5.
Comcast was granted an extension so the retransmission rights were extended to March 1, and again to March 10. Comcast has stated that they will not pay cash for retransmission rights, but is willing to barter such as giving free commercials for SBGI stations on Comcast cable channels.
On March 9, Comcast and Sinclair jointly announced a four-year deal for retransmission rights which expire on March 1, 2011. The two came to a new agreement for continued carriage on March 3, 2011; this agreement was negotiated without any public statements or announcements.
Sinclair-owned stations
Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of licenseCity of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
.
Note: Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station built and signed on by Sinclair.
| City of license City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... / Market Media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content... |
Station | Channel TV Virtual channel In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels.... (RF Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals... ) |
Owned since | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S... - Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010... |
WTTO WTTO WTTO is a CW affiliate for the Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa, Alabama market. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 28, however through the use of PSIP technology, digital television receivers display WTTO's virtual channel as 21. It is licensed to Homewood, a Birmingham suburb... |
21 (28) | 1995 | The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... |
| WABM WABM WABM, channel 68, is the My Network TV affiliate for the Birmingham/Anniston/Gadsden/Tuscaloosa, Alabama television market. WABM is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which also owns the market's CW affiliate, WTTO. WABM broadcast in ATSC digital format on channel 36... |
68 (36) | 2001 | MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation... |
|
| WDBB (satellite of WTTO) |
17 (18) | 1995 | The CW | |
| Pensacola, FL - Mobile, AL | WEAR-TV WEAR-TV WEAR is the ABC affiliated television station for the Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida viewing area. It is licensed to Pensacola and is one of two major commercial stations in the market that is licensed on the Florida side of the market, the other being sister station WFGX, a MyNetworkTV affiliate... |
3 (17) | 1997 | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
| WFGX WFGX WFGX is a television station serving the Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida areas. The station is licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and broadcasts on digital channel 50... 1 |
35 (50) | 2001 | MyNetworkTV | |
| St. Petersburg - Tampa | WTTA WTTA WTTA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tampa Bay Area of Florida that is licensed to St. Petersburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Riverview. Owned by Bay Television, the station is operated by the Sinclair Broadcast... 1 |
38 (38) | 1999(?) | MyNetworkTV |
| Tallahassee, FL Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by... - Thomasville, GA Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large... |
WTWC-TV WTWC-TV WTWC-TV is the NBC affiliate television station for Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.-History:The station was started on April 21, 1983 by Guy Gannett Communications. This made Tallahassee one of the last markets in the country with full service from all three networks... |
40 (40) | 1998 | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
| Bloomington - Peoria, IL | WYZZ-TV WYZZ-TV WYZZ-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Illinois licensed to Bloomington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 from a transmitter in Montgomery Township. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 910... 2 |
43 (28) | 1985 | Fox Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the... |
| Champaign Champaign, Illinois Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of... - Urbana Urbana, Illinois Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area.... - Decatur Decatur, Illinois Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,... - Springfield, IL Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area... |
WICS WICS WICS is the ABC-affiliated television station for Springfield and Decatur, Illinois. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter south of Dawson and I-72/US 36. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 2 and Suddenlink channel 10... |
20 (42) | 1998 | ABC |
| WICD (semi-satellite of WICS) |
15 (41) | 1998 | ABC | |
| Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city... - Waterloo Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two... - Dubuque Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653.... - Iowa City, IA Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa... |
KGAN-TV | 2 (51) | 1998 | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
| KFXA KFXA KFXA is the Fox-affiliated television station for Eastern Iowa licensed to Cedar Rapids. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter in Van Horne. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 828... 3 |
28 (27) | Fox | ||
| Des Moines | KDSM-TV KDSM-TV KDSM-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Iowa licensed to Des Moines. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter in Alleman. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 817. Owned by the... |
17 (16) | 1996 | Fox |
| Danville - Lexington, KY | WDKY-TV WDKY-TV WDKY-TV, channel 56, is the Fox-affiliated television station for Lexington, Kentucky that is licensed to nearby Danville. Its transmitter is located southeast of the city. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Euclid Avenue in downtown Lexington.-History:WDKY began... |
56 (31) | 2001 | Fox |
| Paducah, KY Paducah, Kentucky Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,... - Cape Girardeau, MO Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is located approximately southeast of St. Louis and north of Memphis. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 37,941. A college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri... - Harrisburg, IL Harrisburg, Illinois Harrisburg is a city and township in Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about southwest of Evansville, Indiana, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The 2010 population was 9,017, with a township population of 10,790. It is the county seat of Saline County... |
KBSI KBSI KBSI is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Missouri Bootheel, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase. Licensed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in rural Cape Girardeau County north of the... |
23 (22) | 1998 | Fox |
| WDKA WDKA WDKA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Jackson Purchase area of Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, and Southeastern Missouri that is licensed to Paducah, Kentucky. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in Vienna, Illinois... 1 |
49 (49) | 2006 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Portland, Maine Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000... |
WGME-TV WGME-TV WGME-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire that is licensed to Portland. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 38 from a transmitter on Brown Hill west of Raymond... |
13 (38) | 1998 | CBS |
| Baltimore | WBFF WBFF WBFF, channel 45, is a Fox-affiliated television station located in Baltimore, Maryland. WBFF is the flagship station of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Baltimore's CW affiliate, WNUV-TV , through a local marketing agreement... ** |
45 (46) | 1971 | Fox |
| WNUV WNUV WNUV, digital channel 40, is an affiliate of the CW Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WNUV is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, but is operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group through a local marketing agreement with Fox affiliate WBFF . However, WNUV is effectively owned by... 4 |
54 (40) | 1994 | The CW | |
| Flint Flint, Michigan Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the... - Saginaw Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan... - Bay City, MI Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North... |
WSMH WSMH WSMH is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market that is licensed to Flint. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a 245 kilowatt, high transmitter on Aman Rd near St. Charles, Michigan... |
66 (16) | 1996 | Fox |
| Minneapolis - St Paul | WUCW WUCW WUCW is an affiliate of The CW serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. The station is currently owned and operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.... |
23 (22) | 1998 | The CW |
| St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St... |
KDNL-TV KDNL-TV KDNL-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for St. Louis, Missouri. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 from a transmitter in Shrewsbury. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 12 and in high definition on digital channel 780. Owned by the Sinclair... |
30 (31) | 1996 | ABC |
| Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous... |
KVMY KVMY KVMY, branded as MyLVTV is a full-service television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting locally in digital on UHF channel 22 as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Founded March 8, 1982, the station is owned and operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group... |
21 (22) | 1997 | MyNetworkTV |
| KVCW KVCW KVCW, branded as The CW Las Vegas, is the CW-affiliated television station for Las Vegas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in Henderson, Nevada southwest of I-515/U.S. 93/U.S. 95... |
33 (29) | 2000 | The CW | |
| Buffalo, New York | WUTV WUTV WUTV, virtual channel 29, is the Fox-affiliated television station in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 14. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, in a duopoly with the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYO-TV... |
29 (14) | 1996 | Fox |
| WNYO-TV WNYO-TV WNYO-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station in Buffalo, New York, serving the western region of New York state. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter at Ironwood Golf Course in Bennington's Cowlesville section. The station can also be seen... |
49 (49) | 2001 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Rochester, New York | WUHF WUHF WUHF is the Fox-affiliated television station for Rochester, New York. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 from a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill on the border between Rochester and Brighton. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 7 and in high definition on... 2 |
31 (28) | 1995 | Fox |
| Syracuse, New York | WNYS-TV WNYS-TV WNYS-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central New York that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 7 and in high definition on digital... 1 |
43 (44) | MyNetworkTV | |
| WSYT WSYT WSYT is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter west of LaFayette. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station operates MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYS-TV ... |
68 (19) | 1998 | Fox | |
| Asheville - Greenville - Spartanburg | WLOS WLOS WLOS is the ABC-affiliated television station for Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina licensed to Asheville, North Carolina. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Mount Pisgah in North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Charter... |
13 (13) | 1996 | ABC |
| WMYA-TV WMYA-TV WMYA-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina licensed to Anderson, South Carolina. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 14 from a transmitter in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. The station can also be seen on... 4 |
40 (14) | 1996 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Raleigh - Durham - Fayetteville | WLFL WLFL WLFL is the CW-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Triangle licensed to Raleigh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter located in Auburn, North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in high definition... |
22 (27) | 1994 | The CW |
| WRDC | 28 (28) | 1995 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Winston-Salem - Greensboro - High Point | WXLV-TV WXLV-TV WXLV-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Winston-Salem. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in Randleman along I-73/U.S. 220... |
45 (29) | 1996 | ABC |
| WMYV WMYV WMYV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Greensboro. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in Randleman along I-73/U.S. 220... |
48 (33) | 2001 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's... |
WSTR-TV WSTR-TV WSTR-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southwestern Ohio, Southeastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. Licensed to Cincinnati, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in the College Hill section of the... |
64 (33) | 1995 | MyNetworkTV |
| Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city... |
WSYX WSYX WSYX, channel 6, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Columbus, Ohio. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Fox affiliate WTTE through a local marketing agreement... |
6 (48) | 1996 | ABC |
| WTTE WTTE WTTE is the Fox-affiliated television station for Columbus, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight, Time Warner, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight... ** 4 |
28 (36) | 1984 | Fox | |
| Dayton, Ohio | WKEF WKEF WKEF, virtual channel 22, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Miami Valley area of Ohio, which is licensed to Dayton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter at their Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city... |
22 (51) | 1998 | ABC |
| WRGT-TV WRGT-TV WRGT-TV, virtual channel 45, is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Miami Valley area of Ohio, which is licensed to Dayton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city. It can... 4 |
45 (30) | 2001 | Fox | |
| Oklahoma City Oklahoma city Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial... |
KOKH-TV KOKH-TV KOKH-TV, virtual channel 25 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma television market... |
25 (24) | 2003 | Fox |
| KOCB KOCB KOCB, virtual channel 34 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group of Maryland, LLC, in a duopoly with Fox affiliate KOKH-TV... |
34 (33) | 1996 | The CW | |
| Pittsburgh | WPGH-TV WPGH-TV WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7... |
53 (43) | 1991 | Fox |
| WPMY WPMY WPMY is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter located in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, WPMY is the sister station of... ** |
22 (42) | 2000 (previously owned from 1978-1991) |
MyNetworkTV | |
| Charleston, South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the... |
WTAT-TV WTAT-TV WTAT-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for South Carolina's Lowcountry licensed to Charleston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter in Awendaw. The station can also be seen on Comcast, Knology, and Time Warner channel 6... 4 |
24 (24) | 1995 | Fox |
| WMMP WMMP WMMP is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Lowcountry area of South Carolina licensed to Charleston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter in Awendaw. The station can also be seen on Knology, Comcast, and Time Warner channel 13... |
36 (36) | 1998 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Nashville Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home... |
WZTV WZTV WZTV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter on Knob Road north of downtown along I-24... |
17 (15) | 1994 | Fox |
| WUXP | 30 (21) | 2000 | MyNetworkTV | |
| WNAB WNAB WNAB, virtual channel 58 is the CW-affiliated television station in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Tennessee Broadcasting, although operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group under an outsourcing agreement. It currently serves as a sister station to WZTV and WUXP-TV. It is currently branded as... |
58 (23) | 5 | The CW | |
| San Antonio San Antonio, Texas San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,... |
KABB KABB KABB is the Fox Network affiliate television station in San Antonio, Texas. It is co-owned with The CW Television Network affiliate KMYS by the Sinclair Broadcast Group... |
29 (30) | 1996 | Fox |
| KMYS KMYS KMYS, channel 35, is the CW affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is licensed to the nearby city of Kerrville. Its transmitter is located near Lakehills, Texas.-Founding:... |
35 (32) | 2001 | The CW | |
| Norfolk - Portsmouth - Newport News | WTVZ | 33 (33) | 1996 | MyNetworkTV |
| Richmond, Virginia | WRLH-TV WRLH-TV WRLH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Richmond, Virginia. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter at the studios of PBS affiliates WCVE-TV/WCVW in Bon Air. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Verizon FiOS channel 11. There is a high... |
35 (26) | 1998 | Fox |
| Charleston - Huntington, WV | WCHS-TV WCHS-TV WCHS-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia. This area is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River and consists of 61 counties in Central West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern Ohio... |
8 (41) | 1997 | ABC |
| WVAH-TV WVAH-TV WVAH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia which is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter south of Scott Depot along the Putnam... 4 |
11 (19) | 1994 | Fox | |
| Madison, Wisconsin | WMSN-TV WMSN-TV WMSN-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southern Wisconsin's Eastern Ridges and Lowlands licensed to Madison. It broadcasts a high definition signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter in Madison's Middleton Junction section. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 8 and in... |
47 (49) | 2002 | Fox |
| Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the... |
WVTV WVTV WVTV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and serves as Southeast Wisconsin's The CW Television Network affiliate. The station broadcasts from the Milwaukee Public Television tower on Milwaukee's northeast side with WMVS/WMVT, along with WCGV , WVTV's sister station... |
18 (18) | 2000 | The CW |
| WCGV-TV WCGV-TV WCGV-TV, digital channel 25 , is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, affiliated with MyNetworkTV Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including the cities of Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha... |
24 (25) | 1995 | MyNetworkTV | |
Notes:
- 1 Via local marketing agreements, Sinclair operates these stations, which are owned by local independent or private companies. The lone exception among this group is WTTA, in which Sinclair CEO David Smith is the station's majority owner.
- 2 These stations are owned by Sinclair, but operated by Nexstar Broadcasting GroupNexstar Broadcasting GroupNexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
under local marketing agreements. - 3 KFXA is owned by Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd. and managed by Sinclair. Sinclair is expected to seek a "failing station" waiver to acquire the station's license assets.
- 4 These stations are nominally owned by Cunningham BroadcastingCunningham BroadcastingCunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of television stations in the United States. The company currently owns six stations—four affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company , one affiliated with MyNetworkTV and one affiliated with The CW Television Network.Cunningham has very close ties to...
and operated by Sinclair under local marketing agreementLocal marketing agreementIn U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
s. However, Cunningham Broadcasting's stock is almost completely controlled by trusts in the names of members of Sinclair's founding Smith family. - 5 WNAB is owned by Tennessee Broadcasting, LP, an affiliate company of Beverly Hills-based Lambert Broadcasting, but its operations are managed by Sinclair under an outsourcing agreement. Sinclair is looking to acquire the station outright under an FCC "failing station" waiver.
Planned purchase of Four Points Media Group
On September 8, 2011, Sinclair entered into an agreement to purchase all of the assets of Four Points Media GroupFour Points Media Group
Four Points Media Group LLC is a television station holding company founded by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in 2007 with its purchase of seven television stations previously owned by CBS Television Stations, a subsidiary of CBS Corporation.Four Points Media Group took over...
from Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S...
for $200 million. The Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
(FTC) gave its antitrust approval of the deal in late September; as a result, at some point that October, Sinclair took over the management of the stations from the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
through time brokerage agreements
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(Cerberus would then pay Nexstar a portion of Sinclair's purchase price to terminate the outsourcing agreement, which is set to expire in March 2012, five months early). The group deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2012 after final approval from the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC).
Prior to 2008, these stations were owned by CBS Television Stations
CBS Television Stations
The CBS Television Stations are a group of television stations owned by CBS Corporation. As of 2009, CBS Corporation owns 28 stations, broken down as follows: 14 are the key stations of the CBS Television Network ; nine are aligned with the CW Television Network, which is co-owned by CBS with Time...
.
The following is a list of stations that are currently owned by Cerberus/Four Points:
| City of license/Market | Station | Channel TV (DT) |
Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Pierce Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce, also spelled Ft. Pierce, is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, USA. It is known as The Sunrise City. The population was 37,959 at the 2004 census. As of 2008, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 41,000. It is the county seat of St. Lucie County.Fort Pierce is part... - West Palm Beach, FL West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida... |
WTVX WTVX WTVX is the CW-affiliated television station for West Palm Beach, Florida that is licensed to Fort Pierce. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter southwest of Palm City and I-95 in Martin County... |
34 (34) | The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation... |
| WTCN-CA WTCN-CA WTCN-CA is the Class A MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for West Palm Beach, Florida. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter south of Port Saint Lucie and I-95 in Martin County... |
50 (34.3) | MyNetworkTV | |
| WWHB-CA WWHB-CA WWHB-CA is an Azteca América affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, but actually licensed to Stuart. Owned by the Four Points Media Group and operated under a local service agreement by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, WWHB is sister station to CW and RTN affiliate WTVX and MyNetworkTV affiliate... 48 |
48 (34.2) | Azteca América Azteca América Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by... |
|
| New Bedford, MA New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts... - Providence, R.I. Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region... |
WLWC WLWC WLWC is the CW-affiliated television station licensed to New Bedford but which operates out of Providence and acts largely as a Rhode Island station despite its licensing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in the Ashley Heights section of East... |
28 (22) | The CW |
| Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197... |
KUTV | 2 (34) | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
| St. George, Utah St. George, Utah St. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles ... |
KMYU | 12 (9) | MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation... |
| Austin, Texas Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in... |
KEYE-TV KEYE-TV KEYE-TV, digital channel 43 , is the CBS affiliate in Austin, Texas. It is owned by the Four Points Media Group, LLC Sinclair Broadcasting Group has announced a purchase of the the Four Points stations, and has begun operating KEYE-TV through a local service agreement in anticipation of FCC... |
42 (43) | CBS Telemundo Telemundo Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision.... (on DT2) |
Planned purchase of Freedom Communications station group
On November 2, 2011, it was announced that Sinclair would purchase all eight television stations owned by Freedom CommunicationsFreedom Communications
Freedom Communications, Inc. is a media conglomerate in the United States. It owns approximately 100 daily and weekly newspapers in the US, with a combined daily circulation of nearly one million subscribers, and also operates over seventy local news websites...
in a move for Freedom to eliminate its debt; the sale is pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) approval.
| City of License/Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Palm Beach West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida... |
WPEC WPEC WPEC is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Gold and Treasure Coasts of South Florida. Licensed to West Palm Beach, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter in Lake Worth along U.S. 441/SR 7. The station is the flagship of Freedom Communications... |
12 (13) | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
| Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo, Michigan The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to... |
WWMT WWMT WWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also... |
3 (8) | CBS The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... (on DT2) |
| Lansing, Michigan Lansing, Michigan Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan... |
WLAJ WLAJ WLAJ is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Michigan that is licensed to Lansing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter northeast of Tompkins Township on the Jackson and Ingham County line. Owned by Freedom Communications, the station has... |
53 (51) | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... The CW (on DT2) |
| Schenectady Schenectady, New York Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135... - Albany Albany, New York Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River... - Troy, N.Y. Troy, New York Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital... |
WRGB WRGB WRGB, channel 6, is a television station located in Schenectady, New York, USA. WRGB is owned by Freedom Communications, and is the CBS affiliate for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy television market... |
6 (6) | CBS |
| WCWN WCWN WCWN is the CW-affiliated television station for New York State's Capital District and Western New England. Licensed to Schenectady, New York, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter southwest of New Scotland's Voorheesville section... |
45 (43) | The CW | |
| Medford, Oregon Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon... |
KTVL KTVL KTVL, channel 10 is a CBS television affiliate based in Medford, Oregon and broadcasts from a transmitter high atop Mount Ashland, 15 miles south of the city. The station covers eight counties in southern Oregon and northern California. The studios are located on Rossanley Drive in northwest... |
10 (10) | CBS The CW (on DT2) |
| Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County... |
WTVC WTVC WTVC is the ABC television affiliate in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on Signal Mountain in the community of Walden... |
9 (9) | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
| Beaumont, Texas Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the... |
KFDM | 6 (21) | CBS The CW (on DT2) |
Former Sinclair-owned stations
| City of license City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... /Market |
Station | Channel TV Virtual channel In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels.... (DT Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals... ) |
Years owned | Current affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockton - Sacramento, CA | KOVR KOVR KOVR, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated station of the CBS Television Network located in Sacramento, California and licensed to Stockton. KOVR-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KMAX-TV in West Sacramento, California, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove,... |
13 (25) | 1996–2005 | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... owned-and-operated (O&O) |
| Bloomington - Indianapolis, IN | WTTV WTTV WTTV is a CW-affiliated television station licensed to Bloomington, Indiana, serving the Indianapolis television market. WTTV is owned by the Tribune Company, and is one-half of a duopoly with WXIN , the market's Fox affiliate. The two stations share a studio at 6910 Network Place on the northwest... |
4 (48) | 1996–2002 | The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... affiliate owned by Tribune Company Tribune Company The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida... |
| Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States, Indiana's 13th largest city. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard and Tipton counties.... |
WTTK (satellite of WTTV) |
29 (29) | 1996–2002 | The CW affiliate owned by Tribune Company |
| Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census.... |
WIIB (now WIPX-TV) |
36 (27) | 1988–1997 | ION Television owned-and-operated (O&O) |
| Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties... |
KSMO-TV KSMO-TV KSMO-TV, virtual channel 62, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area licensed to the Missouri side. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in Independence, Missouri... |
62 (47) | 1994–2005 | MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation... affiliate owned by Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:... |
| Greenville, Tennessee (Tri-Cities, TN-VA Tri-Cities, Tennessee In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia... ) |
WEMT WEMT WEMT is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Tri-Cities area of Northeastern Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia licensed to Greeneville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 38 from a transmitter at Rye Patch Knob on Holston Mountain... |
39 (38) | 2000–2006 | Fox affiliate owned by Esteem Broadcasting, LLC (operated via LMA by BlueStone Television Bluestone Television Bonten Media Group, LLC is a New York City-based owner of television broadcast stations in the United States. It was formed by Randall D. Bongarten and Diamond Castle Holdings in November 2006. Its first acquisition was group of 14 stations from Bluestone Television on May 31, 2007. Bluestone had... ) |
| Plattsburgh, N.Y. - Burlington, VT Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal.... |
WPTZ WPTZ WPTZ, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. WPTZ is owned by Hearst Television, and has its studios in Plattsburgh and transmitter located on Mount Mansfield in Vermont.... |
5 (14) | 1997–1998 | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Hartford, VT Hartford, Vermont Hartford is a town in Windsor County in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is located on the New Hampshire border, at the intersection of Interstates 89 and 91. It is the site of the confluence of the White River and the Connecticut River; the Ottauquechee River also flows through the town... - Hanover, N.H. Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007.... |
WNNE WNNE WNNE is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Connecticut River Valley area of eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire that is licensed to Hartford, Vermont. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 25 from a transmitter on Mount Ascutney in Windsor County, Vermont... (semi-satellite of WPTZ) |
31 (25) | 1997–1998 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Tallahassee, FL Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by... - Thomasville, GA Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large... |
WTXL-TV WTXL-TV WTXL-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Tallahassee, Florida. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter northwest of Monticello, Florida along the state line with Georgia. It can also be seen on Charter channel 3 as well as Mediacom and Comcast... |
27 (27) | 2001–20061 | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... affiliate owned by Calkins Media Calkins Media Calkins Media is a media company based in Levittown, Pennsylvania, which owns 8 newspapers and 3 television stations, all of them are ABC affiliates. It was established in 1937 as Calkins Newspapers, Inc... |
| Jacksonville Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,868 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Cherokee County and part of the larger Tyler-Jacksonville Combined Statistical... - Tyler Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau... - Longview, TX Longview, Texas Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 80,455. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part extends into the western part of neighboring Harrison County. It is... |
KETK-TV KETK-TV KETK-TV, virtual channel 56, is the NBC television affiliate serving the East Texas viewing area. It is owned by Communications Corporation of America, under licensee of "ComCorp of Tyler", which also operates Fox network affiliates KFXK and KFXL-LP, and MyNetworkTV affiliate KLPN-LP through a... |
56 (22) | 1998–2004 | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... affiliate owned by Communications Corporation of America Communications Corporation of America Communications Corporation of America is a broadcasting company in the United States that owns television stations in smaller markets. The company is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana... |
| Springfield - Holyoke, MA | WGGB-TV WGGB-TV WGGB-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on Mount Tom in Holyoke. The station can also be seen on Charter and Comcast channel 4... |
40 (40) | 1998–2007 | ABC affiliate owned by Gormally Broadcasting LLC |
- 1Operated by WTWC-TVWTWC-TVWTWC-TV is the NBC affiliate television station for Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.-History:The station was started on April 21, 1983 by Guy Gannett Communications. This made Tallahassee one of the last markets in the country with full service from all three networks...
under a shared services agreement (license was held by a third party)
Sinclair
- Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. official site
- SBG - station list
- CJR Who Owns What: Sinclair Broadcast Group
- Baltimore This TV affiliate
Anti-Sinclair activism
News/comment
- "Not Necessarily the News" By Wil S. Hyton GQ December 2005.
- David Smith denies political agenda, Oct 2004
- Sinclair Broadcast: The Puppetmasters, AlterNetAlterNetAlterNet, a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal activist news service. Launched in 1998, AlterNet now claims a readership of over 3 million visitors per month .AlterNet publishes original content as well as journalism from a wide variety of other sources...
, February 17, 2005. - "Sinclair's Disgrace" by Eric Boehlert, SalonSalon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Oct. 14, 2004 - Business Week article on the controversies of David Smith and the Sinclair Broadcast Group