The message includes a disclaimer that donations are voluntary, and that employees will not be punished for not donating. Locast exploited a . [68] WCIV, WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV were ultimately sold to Howard Stirk Holdings. [37] That same day, Sinclair purchased Tampa station WTTA for $40million (equivalent to $47.2million in 2021). While in at least one case (Columbus) the move was done due to the transition to ATSC 3.0, there are no explanations for the other stations. NewsON is the nations largest aggregator of local news content. 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, through the purchases of groups such as Act III Broadcasting (in 1995) and River City Broadcasting (in 1996). Data for the current election cycle was released by the Federal Election Commission on In 1985, the Chesapeake Television Corporation changed its name to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. [29] Four Points Media Group was purchased on September 8, 2011, for $200million (equivalent to $241million in 2021); Sinclair assumed managerial control of the stations from Nexstar Broadcasting Group; Four Points owner Cerberus Capital Management paid Nexstar cash compensation for the prematurely terminated time brokerage agreements. Copyright 2023 Surperformance. [214] On January 30, 2007, Senators Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Ranking Member Ted Stevens signed a letter addressed to FCC chairman Kevin Martin. [176] As this controversy made the news, with a number of Sinclair advertisers pulling their ads and Sinclair stock dropping 17% in eleven days,[177] Sinclair announced that it had never intended to air Stolen Honor in an hour slot in the first place, indicating that it might instead show clips of the video in a discussion panel format. [M]uch of the reporting about Sinclair in recent months has been irresponsible and much of it is just plain false, Livingston wrote in the memo. 03/01/23 2:02 PM EST, Article [170], In April 2004, ABC broadcast a special episode of Nightline where host Ted Koppel listed the names of soldiers killed in the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. Opening Day again will be simulcast on Sinclair's WKRC-TV (Channel 12) at 4:10 p.m., says Jon Lawhead, a Sinclair Broadcast Group regional manager and WKRC-TV general manager. Most of the television stations run by Sinclair are owned by the company outright; however, the company operates many others through either a local marketing agreements or shared services agreements. Sinclair Broadcast Group is asking top executives, including news directors, to make donations to its political action committee, an unusual move that is raising concerns among media. On May 8, Sinclair announced its plan to buy Tribune Media Company and its 42 television stations for $3.9 billion a merger made possible by the Trump administration relaxing regulations on broadcast ownership." The plan is to keep the US politically divided. Fuck Sinclair, their blatant propaganda and their take over of the public airwaves. In 1994, Sinclair signed a deal with Paramount and its UPN network, bringing five affiliates WPTT-TV in Pittsburgh, WNUV-TV in Baltimore, WCGV-TV in Milwaukee, WSTR-TV in Cincinnati and KSMO-TV in Kansas City to the network. (a)Includes $24 million, $109 million, and $98 million for the years ended That has included its refusal to broadcast an episode of Nightline devoted to reciting the names of every member of the military killed in action in Iraq in 2004, and air[ing] parts of a documentary critical of the anti-Vietnam War activities of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry. Chesapeake Engineering Placement Service changed its name to Chesapeake Television Corporation, and launched its founding television station property, WBFF in Baltimore, on April 11, 1971. they actually represent two-year periods. Previously, in 2007, nine Sinclair stations aired public affairs shows without disclosing that host Armstrong Williams had been paid by an affiliate of the Education Department to make favorable comments about the Bush administrations No Child Left Behind policy. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission fined Sinclair $36,000 for violating rules against payola punditry. From the September 16, 2014, article: Theres a new owner and a new approach to the news at WJLA-TV, Washingtons ABC affiliate. Teams with Deloitte to Launch New Virtual Community in th.. Sinclair Broadcast Group And The Nat : Mental Health Support + Hope. DC Tribune Media CEO Peter Kern stated that the sale "cannot be completed in an acceptable timeframe, if ever"; the suit cited Sinclair's "belligerent and unnecessarily protracted negations" with the Department of Justice and FCC over regulatory negotiations in order to maintain control of stations that it was advised to divest, as well as violations of the sale agreement requiring divestitures of stations to not result in any threats of regulatory scrutiny. They did 10 more with Trumps running mate, Mike Pence, from August through October, as well as 10 with Trump surrogates, primarily Ben Carson. In addition, Sinclair offered no stories about Clintons views about 9/11, about what role Chelsea Clinton might play in her mothers administration or about Bill Clintons campaign role. Sinclair is asking its employees to donate to their Super PAC. Financing, Capital Allocation, and Shareholder Returns. "[5][6] A 2021 study found that viewers in areas with a Sinclair TV station had lower approval of President Barack Obama and were less likely to vote for Democratic presidential nominees.[149]. (B) More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories stories that just arent true, without checking facts first. This opening segment, featuring then-anchorman Kevin Evans, appeared briefly (and was audible) in the movie Flashdance during a scene where Jennifer Beals' character returns home and turns on the television. Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever. The beginning of the 2010s saw Sinclair's acquisition strategy intensify. [213] The two sides discussed the dispute in front of Iowa lawmakers on January 23. On June 1, 2017, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals issued a seven-day administrative stay to the UHF discount rulemaking, in order to allow review of an emergency stay motion filed by The Institute for Public Representation (a coalition of public interest groups comprising Free Press, the United Church of Christ, Media Mobilizing Project, the Prometheus Radio Project, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and Common Cause) on May 15. A story earlier this month in the New York Times said that Sinclair requires its stations to run stories that lean right. During one of the Carson interviews, Sinclair managers provided questions for local- station reporters to ask, such as Dr. [142] The show, titled The National Desk, launched on January 18, 2021, and airs on Sinclair's CW and MyNetworkTV-affiliated stations along with its Fox-affiliated stations that do not have their own local morning news shows. [47] This deal also returned Sinclair to radio ownership since the divestment of their radio portfolio between 1999 and 2000. A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization, 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 20005. [94] Sinclair had two rounds of executive promotions announced in November 2016 and effective January 1, 2017, with chair and CEO David D. Smith moving up to executive chairman while CFO Christopher Ripley becoming president and CEO. [204][205][206][207][208][209], In the summer of 2006, Charter Communications streamlined its operations, which included selling off portions of the cable system's service franchises that it considered to be "geographically non-strategic". All three stations originally were independents, though WBFF and WTTE became charter affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company at its launch in 1986. Then, just days before the election, Sinclair aired parts of a documentary critical of the anti-Vietnam War activities of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee. [104], The concerns about Sinclair potentially creating an oligarchy in the broadcast television industry alongside Nexstar Media Group, which has a station portfolio of similar size led public interest groups to attempt to block the purchase by preventing the UHF discount from being reinstated. Sinclair Broadcast Groups Long Form Sales Division is designed to provide a one-stop solution to paid programming across all Sinclair television stations. Prior to joining The White House, Mr. Epshteyn served as Communications Director for the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee. Sinclair also supplied alternative programming feeds to fill airtime on some of the affected stations due to varying difficulties in transmitting and receiving certain syndicated program feeds or to occupy timeslots normally filled by newscasts (mainly from company-owned multicast networks like Stadium and TBD, or via a feed of its syndicated newscast The National Desk). [126] In August 2020, Sinclair reached a $25million settlement agreement for its shareholders related to three lawsuits. In addition, every . Washington, December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, of intercompany expense related June 11, 2022 . [221], In November 2010, Sinclair announced that it would pull 33 of its stations in 21 cities from Time Warner Cable on January 1, 2011, if the two parties did not come to an agreement. The numbers on this page are based on contributions of $200 or more from PACs and individuals to federal candidates [55] Prior to the deal, a seventh station, KDBC-TV in El Paso, Texas, to Cunningham,[56] fueling speculation KDBC-TV would be consolidated with Sinclair-owned KFOX-TV. including interest estimated on our variable rate debt calculated at an [43] The former Cox and Barrington stations are operated through subsidiary Chesapeake Television, focusing on smaller markets and with management separate from Sinclair proper. For us, this was how the roadmap looked: a far-right organization that's been under investigation for racial bias and illegal political campaign activity writes a smear piece abou From the May 25 New York magazine article: Last night, Montana residents who tuned into their NBC affiliate, KECI, would not have heard the now infamous audio of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs being roughed up by GOP congressional candidate Greg Gianforte. Overlapping stations in Seattle, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Norfolk, Virginia, and Des Moines, Iowa will be sold off to unaffiliated third parties. Wash. Post: Sinclairs Stations Have Been Used To Attack Democrats Or To Boost Republicans. The Washington Post reported in 2014 that after Sinclair purchased Washingtons ABC affiliate WJLA-TV, the channel took a subtle but noticeable turn to the right. The Post added that Sinclairs stations have been used to attack Democratic candidates or to boost Republicans, and on the eve of 2012 presidential elections, Sinclair stations in several battlegrounds states aired a corporate-produced half-hour news special that criticized then-President Barack Obama and his policies. [219] Both sides reached a one-year retransmission agreement on January 7, one day before the interim agreement was set to expire. Commission. Ad-Free Sign up Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. [124] The transaction was completed on September 17, 2020. [75] ASN was created as part of the company's foray into original, non-news content creation beyond Ring of Honor Wrestling and school sports. The Original Programming division chief operating officer was announced as Arthur Hasson, general manager of Sinclair stations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Iveta Koczkov. The coalition argued that Glencairn passed itself off as a minority-owned company (Edwards is African American) which, since the Smith family controlled most of the company's stock, was technically a Sinclair arm that planned to use the LMA with KOKH to gain control of the station and create an illegal duopoly with KOCB. CONDITI.. Sinclair Broadcast Group Names Logan Argo Vice President and General Manager of KVII in.. Sinclair Broadcast Group Teams With Deloitte to Launch New Virtual Community in the Met.. Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. Among the stations affected were KBTV-TV in Port Arthur, Texas (merged onto KFDM), WRGT-TV in Dayton, Ohio (merged onto WKEF, though WRGT-TV did maintain a primary MyNetworkTV affiliation), WVAH-TV in Charleston, West Virginia (merged onto WCHS-TV), KFXA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (merged onto KGAN), and original Sinclair signee WTTE in Columbus, Ohio merging onto WSYX. We mistakenly tweeted a photo of @deray with an unrelated story link about a bank robbery. [41][44] Two Barrington stations, along with the lease for a third, were initially set to be transferred to Cunningham Broadcasting,[43] but were ultimately sold to an affiliate of Northwest Broadcasting owner Brian Brady. Employee : but you don't pay me much, and the stuff that SuperPAC is pushing would not be good for me or my family. For the 2016 election cycle, Sinclair's PAC made $82,375 in donations to federal candidates. Expect to start hearing a lot more about them in the coming months. The story claims that two alleged robbers arrived to find the doors of the bank locked. Sinclair intends to integrate the properties with Tennis Channel. The outlet also noted that Epshteyn reliably parrots the White House's point of view on most issues in his segments, such as claiming former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Capitol Hill was more damaging to Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch than to the president. From the July 10 article: Even while under fire for requiring its outlets to run conservative content, Sinclair Broadcast Group is increasing the must-run segments across its affiliates featuring former Trump White House official Boris Epshteyn to nine times a week, the company confirmed on Monday. Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets. It should also be noted that if a part of a paycheck is being removed to the PAC and person request for it not to continue and is then let go would qualify for a lawsuits. [132], On October 17, 2021, Sinclair was struck by a ransomware attack affecting the internal servers and workstations of its television stations, after the alleged hackers breached the stations' internal broadcasting systems via an Active Directory domain that interconnected the company's corporate and local IT networks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. was founded in 1986, went public in 1995 and is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol SBGI. [242], Keyser Capital sold on March 7, 2017, Alarm Funding Associates, LLC to Riverside Partners' RPAFA Investors, LLC for $200 million netting pre-tax $70 million.[244]. 03/01/23 3:36 PM EST, Video & Audio Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. [161] The practice has been criticized by some of Sinclair's stations' news staff due to the viewpoints they propagate; in 1996, after CEO David Smith was arrested in a prostitution sting, he ordered Sinclair's Baltimore station WBFF to produce reports on a local drug counseling program as part of his community service sentence. Delayed Nasdaq and TBD Grow 30% in Prime Time, Sinclair Broadcast Group and The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Sinclair Broadcast Groups Sinclair Cares: Summer Hunger Relief, Sinclair Declares $0.25 Per Share Quarterly Cash Dividend, Sinclair Reports Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Results, Sinclair Broadcast Group Names Susan Connor Vice President and General Manager, COMET, CHARGE! Representatives for Sinclair noted that they "have been negotiating for quite some time in an effort to reach a new agreement, at this time it does not appear that these efforts will be successful. 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