It says it “expects to work with the FCC to explore ways to address the concerns identified,” adding that “until we have reviewed the order it is difficult to explain the potential issues it might create for the transaction.”
How Sinclair Lost Trump’s FCC
“Sinclair’s style in Washington is exhibit A of how to squander the most favorable regulatory environment in decades,” said one industry official.
The company said it has been completely transparent in dealings with the commission over its proposed Tribune merger. Even worse, Reuters reported that it had seen a draft of the hearing order that suggested that the Sinclair merger proposal may “involve deception” and that is a violation that could not only scuttle the Tribune deal, but also could result in the loss of all its station licenses.
A draft FCC order seen by Reuters on Monday said that Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s application for approval to purchase Tribune Media may “involve deception.” The order said that “Sinclair’s actions here potentially involve deception” and noted possible “misconduct.”
Comments opposing the Sinclair-Tribune deal were piling up in the FCC’s docket Thursday (July 12), the deadline for replies to comments on Sinclair’s fifth version of the deal. Many appeared to be form comments generated by a call to arms (headlined “Stop Trump TV!”) by activist group Democratic Underground. More than half of the 25 comments on the first page of the electronic docket had the same first paragraph beginning with, “I urge the FCC to deny the merger petition ….”
Sinclair Broadcast Group is planning to launch a streaming TV service this year that could create a new competitor for Fox News. The free streaming app, called STIRR, would house a 24/7 TV channel featuring local news and national programming, according to sources familiar with the project and a trademark application. It would also offer a variety of other live and on-demand programming, from TV shows to movies to sports.
Exclusives
Rebecca Hanson will be responsible for the legal and regulatory operations of HC2’s growing portfolio of mostly low-power TV stations, including the transition to the new ATSC 3.0 standard and related broadcast innovations.
Sinclair was vigorously defending its proposal to buy Tribune’s stations against all comers on July 5, responding to critics by telling the FCC that it is being asked to make decisions based on subjective disagreements over Sinclair content or views of a marketplace that no longer exists. In its reply to various petitions to deny the deal at the FCC, Sinclair said that critics seemed to think it was still a world with seven TV channels and phones are just phones rather than video access devices.
Sinclair Broadcast Group’s bid to become a broadcasting powerhouse by purchasing Tribune Media Co. hinges on spinning off TV stations to comply with U.S. limits on broadcast ownership. Yet its proposals to sell stations from Pennsylvania to California are drawing fresh scrutiny, as critics including business rivals say some of the transactions are designed to evade the ownership rules.
A new Morning Consult/Politico poll finds a 41% plurality trust local news more than national news, but many rely more on national news to stay informed.
A dozen senators called on the FCC to investigate Sinclair Broadcast Group for distorting the news, and to pause its review of the pending acquisition of Tribune Media. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai immediately shot down the request, saying it would conflict with his commitment to the First Amendment and freedom of the press.
A dozen senators wrote to the FCC today to urge the agency to investigate Sinclair Broadcast Group and pause its proposed merger with Tribune Media.
Sinclair’ EVP Steve Pruett used an NAB panel on Wednesday to lay out a loosely defined vision for a nationally distributed Sinclair news platform.
On Tuesday, a link to a four-minute video specifically attacking CNN was posted atop the web sites of Sinclair’s stations. The video calls the network reprehensible for reporting on its directives, and said the “fake news” message was similar to warnings that CNN and its media reporter, Brian Stelter, have been giving for years. The video shows clips of Stelter’s reports. “Is it really news that fake news is a concern in 2018, or is this an attack on Sinclair?” the company said in Tuesday’s video.
Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley apologized to employees Tuesday for having to endure what he called “politically motivated attacks” over the right-leaning media company’s recent promos, which drew widespread criticism for echoing President Trump’s attacks on the “fake” news media.
The controversy over Sinclair Broadcast Group’s media-bashing promo has quieted down. But the headache isn’t going away.
Sinclair Broadcast Group today issued a second response to the uproar generated by its requiring anchors at its stations to read a promotional announcement that decried the “troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.”
Several of the top journalism schools in the country sent a letter to the Sinclair Broadcast Group Friday objecting to the company’s forcing dozens of its anchors to read a centrally-scripted message for a promotional video on “fake” news.
KSNV’s ND Defends Sinclair’s Promo
Mark Neerman: “If you look at the words, there is nothing wrong with it…. It was only a promo.” However, he added: “When we do it again next time, we will probably give local stations more freedom to come up with the messaging.”
Sinclair’s Mark Aitken: “Our goal is that the platform will provide a framework for Sinclair to run its own ATSC 3.0 developed applications as well as integrate with other partners’ apps to create a common user experience and a platform to unlock vast new business opportunities for broadcasters to drive richness, interactivity and synchronicity of content across consumer devices.”
Viral Video Makes Sinclair Look A Bit Sick
Deadspin’s spot-on video exposed Sinclair’s top-down right-wing news agenda for all to see. But Sinclair’s problem is not that it has a point a view, but that it is pressing its news pros to join in promulgating it. You don’t create a great news organization by pitting your anchors, reporters and producers against their own ethics. Or, by opening them up to ridicule. This fiasco did both.
A corporately-mandated promotional announcement is causing tensions inside of many of the newsrooms of Sinclair’s TV stations, where anchors and correspondents for years have long been required to present prepackaged reports that reflect the conservative views of the Maryland-based company’s owners.
Both an ATSC 3.0 single-frequency network (SFN) launch in Dallas and a “model market” test in Phoenix have equipment ready to go and are simply awaiting legal approval to turn on, which could come as early as tomorrow.
David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, says the media is getting his company all wrong. His remarks came in response to renewed scrutiny of Sinclair after a video spread rapidly showing anchors at dozens of its stations across the country reciting the same speech about media bias.
The journalism organization does not directly address the Sinclair flap, saying only that “many questions about been raised recently about the degree to which the news … is truly local and truly independent.”
KHGI Producer Quits Over Sinclair Mandates
Justin Simmons, a morning TV producer at a Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate in Nebraska, has resigned in protest of what he calls the company’s “obvious bias.”
SAG-AFTRA, which represents thousands of TV journalists, has come out swinging against the Sinclair Broadcast Group’s “fake news” warning that dozens of its local broadcasters around the country were required to read on the air.
After Sinclair Broadcast Group drew widespread criticism for having anchors read a statement taking aim at the integrity of other U.S. media outlets, many wondered why some of the company’s journalists didn’t just quit. The short answer is the cost may be too steep. Noncompetes, forced arbitration and a liquidated damages clause can equal 40% of annual salary.
David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.” He said that print — as in newspapers and magazines — is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has “no credibility” and no relevance. (TVNewsCheck photo)
Critics are calling Sinclair’s promos pro-Trump propaganda. Now the company is defending the initiative, and calling it something much more mundane: A “corporate news journalistic responsibility promotional campaign.”
So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2018
The president tweeted Monday that it was funny to watch “Fake News Networks” criticizing Sinclair for being biased. The president singled out CNN and NBC.
Following reports from CNN’s Brian Stelter in early March that Sinclair Broadcast Group would be requiring local news anchors on its more than 170 TV stations nationwide to record a promo addressing the “troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country,” Deadspin published a transcription of the script and a video montage of anchors across the U.S. reading the script.
Local News Is Turning Into Trump TV
Americans prefer unbiased local news. But media consolidation makes it profitable for stations to broadcast biased national news, anyway.
The broadcaster moves him up from the same position at Sinclair’s Tennis Channel.
OKing Sinclair-Tribune Would Be Indefensible
Los Angeles Times: “The real issue is whether any company should be able to amass control over so much of the public airwaves.”
According to most pure-play station groups, this recent sluggishness by auto dealers has been replicated in their automotive advertising sales, which typically account for around a quarter of their spot revenue. However, some group execs see things improving as the year progresses.
At the 2018 Devoncroft Summit: The Business of Media Technology, industry thought leaders will debate strategic drivers of media technology spending, including cloud technology, virtualization, transition to IP, 4K/UHD, artificial intelligence/machine learning and media supply chain restructuring.
The cable group is concerned that Sinclair could use “after-acquired clauses” in Indianapolis and Greensboro, N.C., to raise retrans rates.
Station GM and television sales executive Larry Strumwasser moves from Sinclair’s Milwaukee stations to lead its Vegas duo of KSNV and KVCW.
Free Press and other groups challenge what they call the FCC’s dramatic reversal of media-ownership limits that pave way for media mergers, including Sinclair-Tribune.
