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The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) is the operator of the largest number of local television station
Television station

A television station is a type of broadcast station that Broadcastings both sound and video to television receiver s in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television....
s in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 with 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 region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
 and the Midwest
Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
. Broadcasts by SBG stations can be received by 24 percent of American households. The company is based in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

company, founded by Julian Sinclair Smith, originated in 1971 as the Chesapeake Television Corporation with the launch of WBFF
WBFF

WBFF, channel 45, is a Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station located in Baltimore, Maryland. WBFF is the flagship of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Baltimore's The CW Television Network affiliate, WNUV-TV , through a local marketing agreement....
 (channel 45) in Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay....
.






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The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) is the operator of the largest number of local television station
Television station

A television station is a type of broadcast station that Broadcastings both sound and video to television receiver s in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television....
s in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 with 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 region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
 and the Midwest
Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
. Broadcasts by SBG stations can be received by 24 percent of American households. The company is based in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

History

The company, founded by Julian Sinclair Smith, originated in 1971 as the Chesapeake Television Corporation with the launch of WBFF
WBFF

WBFF, channel 45, is a Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station located in Baltimore, Maryland. WBFF is the flagship of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Baltimore's The CW Television Network affiliate, WNUV-TV , through a local marketing agreement....
 (channel 45) in Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay....
. A subsidiary of Chesapeake Television Corp., the Commercial Radio Institute, later founded WPTT (channel 22, now WPMY
WPMY

WPMY-TV is the affiliate of MyNetworkTV in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market. As My Pittsburgh TV, WPMY broadcasts on digital television channel 42 and is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group....
) in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania with a population of 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is 2,462,571....
, in 1978; and WTTE
WTTE

WTTE is the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. The station broadcasts on channel 28 and broadcasts in Multichannel television sound in the 32nd largest television market in the United States....
 (channel 28) in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....
, in 1984. All three stations originally were independents
Independent station

An independent station is 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

The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox and stylized as FOX, is an United States television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation....
 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 is an United States stock exchange. It is the largest Electronic trading screen-based Stock trading market in the United States....
 under the symbol SBGI, the Smith family still retains a majority financial interest, and all four Smith brothers serve as executives or directors.

Background



Many stations are owned outright by the company, but many others are affiliated through local marketing agreements (LMA)
Local marketing agreement

In United States and Canada broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one corporation agrees to operate a radio station or TV 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 distribution wiktionary:Network for television content whereby a central operation provides television program for many television stations....
s: ABC, CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
, NBC and Fox. Sinclair also owned or managed several affiliates of the WB and UPN
UPN

United Paramount Network was a television network that broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States and that was in production for over eleven years....
 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 2006-07 United States network television schedule....
. Eight of Sinclair's WB stations, along with independent KFBT (now KVCW
KVCW

KVCW is a full-service television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting locally in NTSC on Ultra high frequency channel 33 and in ATSC on UHF channel 29 as an affiliate of The CW Television Network ....
) in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, Nevada, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment....
, 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 the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida television market. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is a sister station to the market's American Broadcasting Company affiliate, WEAR-TV....
) with MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV

MyNetworkTV is a television network in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation. It is the lowest-rated of the six major US English-language commercial broadcast networks....
, a new programming service owned by Fox's parent News Corporation
News Corporation

News Corporation , , ) is one of the world's largest Media conglomerate conglomerates. The company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder is Rupert Murdoch and the President and Chief Operating Officer is Peter Chernin....
. 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, channel 24, is the MyNetworkTV Owned-and-operated station television station for Baltimore, Maryland. Its transmitter is located near Gilson Park in Catonsville, Maryland....
, in the same market.

On December 22, 2006, WTWC-TV
WTWC-TV

WTWC-TV is the NBC affiliate station for Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.The station was started on April 21, 1983 by Guy Gannett Communications....
 in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the Capital of the Florida, USA, and the county seat of Leon County, Florida. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida in 1824....
, 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 Prime time newscast on Sinclair Broadcast Group 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, a high-ranking executive at Sinclair, also created conservative editorial
Editorial

Editorial guidelinesEditorials are generally printed either on their own page of a newspaper or in a clearly marked-off column, and are always labeled as 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 its stations will adhere to the original DTV transition date of February 17, 2009. Sinclair stations' analog transmitters will be turned off then.

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 American civil rights activism and Baptist Minister of religion. He was a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as "shadow senator" for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997....
 and several other media companies, 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....
. 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 Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an Independent agencies of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by United States Congress statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President of the United States....
 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.

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 invasion
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
 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. Louis
    St. Louis, Missouri

    St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
  • Columbus, Ohio
    Columbus, Ohio

    Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....
  • Asheville, North Carolina
    Asheville, North Carolina

    Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States. The population was 68,889 at the United States Census, 2000....
  • Greensboro, North Carolina
    Greensboro, North Carolina

    Greensboro 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, North Carolina and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region....
  • 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 River and Kanawha River Rivers in Kanawha County, West Virginia....
  • Pensacola, Florida
    Pensacola, Florida

    Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2006, the estimated population was 53,248....
  • Springfield, Massachusetts
    Springfield, Massachusetts

    Springfield is the largest city on the Connecticut River, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States.In the United States Census, 2000, the city population was 154,082....


WTXL
WTXL

WTXL is the American Broadcasting Company affiliate station for Tallahassee, Florida, Thomasville, Georgia, and Valdosta, Georgia, broadcasting on channel 27....
 in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the Capital of the Florida, USA, and the county seat of Leon County, Florida. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida in 1824....
, 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 is a broadcast television station in Dayton, Ohio, affiliated with the American Broadcasting Company network. It broadcasts on channel 22....
 in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the United States Census, 2000....
, WICS
WICS

WICS is the American Broadcasting Company affiliate located in Springfield, Illinois. Branding itself as "ABC NewsChannel 20", it is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and broadcasts on channel 20....
 in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County, Illinois with a population of 116,482 . Over 200,000 residents live in the Springfield Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area, which includes Sangamon County and adjacent Menard County, Illinois....
 and WICD in Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois

Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago and west of Indianapolis, Indiana....
 -- also did not air the controversial episode of Nightline because they were affiliated with NBC at the time.

Kerry film controversy

In October 2004, it was reported that Sinclair would order all 62 of its affiliate stations to preempt prime time
Prime time

Prime time or primetime is the block of television program during the middle of the evening.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period, for example, from 8:00 p.m....
 programming to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal
Stolen Honor

Stolen Honor is a 45-minute video documentary film that was released in September 2004. It features interviews with a number of American men who were prisoner of war in North Vietnam, who contend they suffered increased maltreatment while prisoners as a direct result of John Kerry's Fulbright Hearing testimony in April 1971....
, a documentary critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the Junior Senator United States Senate from Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.As the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party , he was defeated by 34 electoral votes in the United States presidential election, 2004 by the Republican Party incumbent President of the United States...
's anti-Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
 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 Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President of the United States for homeland security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security ....
, and accuses John Kerry
John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the Junior Senator United States Senate from Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.As the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party , he was defeated by 34 electoral votes in the United States presidential election, 2004 by the Republican Party incumbent President of the United States...
 of prolonging the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
 because of his anti-war
Anti-war

The term anti-war usually refers to the opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing casus belli....
 activism
Activism

Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social change or politics change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversy argument....
. 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 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 of Democratic Party candidates, and not on public policy....
 filed a legal motion with the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission is an Independent agency of the United States government regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States....
 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 is 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....
, 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 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.

Retransmission disputes


Suddenlink

In the summer of 2006, Charter Communications
Charter Communications

Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 5.7 million customers in 29 states....
 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 County, West Virginia and Wayne County, West Virginia counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River....
-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 River and Kanawha River Rivers in Kanawha County, West Virginia....
 market area were purchased by Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications

Suddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections, is the 8th largest cable broadband provider in the United States with approximately 1.3 million subscribers....
. 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, channel 8, is the American Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for the Charleston, West Virginia / Huntington, West Virginia market, the second-largest market east of the Mississippi River....
 and WVAH-TV
WVAH-TV

WVAH-TV, channel 11, is the Fox Broadcasting Company network affiliate in the Huntington, West Virginia / Charleston, West Virginia television market....
 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, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2007 population was estimated to be 16,830 by the U.S....
 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 Mediacom
Mediacom

Mediacom Communications is a cable television and communications provider in the United States.Originally founded as an analog television network in 1995, Mediacom is the 7th largest cable company in the United States by number of basic video subscribers....
 filed an antitrust
Antitrust

United States antitrust law is the body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are designed to encourage competition in the marketplace....
 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

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
 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 United States federal court court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court in the following United States federal judicial district:...
, but they dropped the appeal on December 13.

Sinclair's retransmission
Must-carry

In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system....
 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....
 over how much money Mediacom should pay Sinclair for carriage of its stations. On January 4, the FCC
Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an Independent agencies of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by United States Congress statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President of the United States....
'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 law technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, wherein 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 Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 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

born September 7, 1924 is an American politician who currently serves as the senior United States Senate from Hawaii. He has been a U.S. Senator since 1963, and is currently the third-most-senior member after fellow Democratic Party Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy....
, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

The 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:...
 and Ranking Member Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens

Theodore Fulton Stevens is a former senior United States United States Senate from Alaska, who served from December 24, 1968 until January 3, 2009....
 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 of the United States George W....
, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an Independent agencies of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by United States Congress statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President of the United States....
, 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.

Many satellite providers in the impacted areas looked to capitalize on the Mediacom/SBGI conflict and ran vigorous campaigns to try to recruit disenfranchised Mediacom subscribers. Sinclair's stations in Iowa, KDSM-TV
KDSM-TV

KDSM-TV is a television station that broadcasts on channel 17 in Des Moines, Iowa. It is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company and serves most of central Iowa....
 in Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines , is the Capital and the most populous city in the United States U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County, Iowa....
 and KGAN
KGAN

KGAN, broadcasting on channel 2.1 , is a CBS affiliated television station based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. KGAN is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is the primary CBS affiliate for northeast Iowa, including Iowa City, Iowa, Waterloo, Iowa, and Dubuque, Iowa....
 in Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River , north of Iowa City, Iowa and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city....
, offered $150 rebates (payable as $10 monthly credits) while other markets offered $100 rebates for switching to DirecTV
DirecTV

DirecTV is a direct broadcast satellite service based in El Segundo, California, California, which transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, the Caribbean, and parts of Latin America....
. Mediacom and the American Cable Association criticized this campaign as a type of bounty
Bounty (reward)

A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group....
 payment. Mediacom lost 14,000 subscribers during the last quarter of 2006 and an additional 18,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2007.

Time Warner Cable

Sinclair was also involved with retransmission negotiations with Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable is an American national cable television company that operates in 27 states and has 31 operating divisions. Its corporate headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut, and has other corporate offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado....
, but the two sides reached an agreement on January 19, 2007.

Comcast

Broadcasting & Cable reported on January 5, 2007 that Sinclair may pull 30 stations from Comcast
Comcast

Comcast Corporation is the largest cable television company, the second largest Internet service provider and the fourth largest telephone service provider in the United States....
 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 . The deadline passed at 2 a.m. early Thursday morning, March 1. The two sides were still talking so the deadline was extended 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.

Sinclair-owned stations

Note: ** indicates a station built and signed on by Sinclair.

DMA#
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 station and radio broadcasting offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content....
 City of license
City of license

A city of license or community of license, in United States and Canada 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
Analog television

Analog television encodes television picture and sound information and transmits it as an analog signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast Signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal....
 / DT
Digital terrestrial television

Digital Terrestrial Television is an implementation of digital technology to provide a greater number of channels and/or better quality of picture and sound using aerial broadcasts to a conventional Antenna instead of a satellite dish or cable connection....
 Owned Since Affiliation
13. St. Petersburg - Tampa WTTA
WTTA

WTTA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tampa Bay Area that is licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida. It broadcasts a high-definition television digital signal on UHF channel 38 from a transmitter is located in Bloomingdale, FL....
 3		 38 / 57 1999(?) MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV

MyNetworkTV is a television network in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation. It is the lowest-rated of the six major US English-language commercial broadcast networks....
15. 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 CW
The CW Television Network

The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006-07 United States network television schedule....
21. St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
 KDNL-DT 30 / 31 1996 ABC
23. Pittsburgh WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV

WPGH-TV Fox 53 is the Fox Broadcasting Company television affiliate broadcasting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts on digital television channel 43 and is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group....
 53 / 43 1991 Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company

The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox and stylized as FOX, is an United States television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation....
WPMY
WPMY

WPMY-TV is the affiliate of MyNetworkTV in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market. As My Pittsburgh TV, WPMY broadcasts on digital television channel 42 and is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group....
 **		 22 / 42 2000
(previously owned by
Sinclair from 1978-91)		 MyNetworkTV
26. Baltimore WBFF
WBFF

WBFF, channel 45, is a Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station located in Baltimore, Maryland. WBFF is the flagship of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Baltimore's The CW Television Network affiliate, WNUV-TV , through a local marketing agreement....
 **		 45 / 46 1971 Fox
45.2 This TV
This TV

This TV is a general entertainment television network designed for Digital subchannel. The network is a joint venture between film/TV studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, and launched on November 1, 2008....
WNUV-TV 1 54 / 40 1994 CW
27. Raleigh - Durham - Fayetteville WLFL-TV 22 / 57 1994 CW
WRDC 28 / 27 1995 MyNetworkTV
29. Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the Capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis, Tennessee....
 WZTV
WZTV

WZTV channel 17 is the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, as sister stations to My Network TV affiliate WUXP-TV channel 30 and The CW affiliate WNAB channel 58....
 17 / 15 1994 Fox
WUXP 30 / 21 2000 MyNetworkTV
WNAB
WNAB

WNAB channel 58 is The CW Television Network affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Tennessee Broadcasting, although operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group under an outsourcing agreement....
 2		 58 / 23 2 CW
32. Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....
 WSYX
WSYX

WSYX, channel 6, is the American Broadcasting Company television affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is the sister station to Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate WTTE ....
 6 / 13 1996 ABC
WTTE
WTTE

WTTE is the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. The station broadcasts on channel 28 and broadcasts in Multichannel television sound in the 32nd largest television market in the United States....
 ** 1		 28 / 36 1984 Fox
34. Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County, Ohio. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border....
 WSTR-TV
WSTR-TV

WSTR-TV is a broadcast television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, affiliated with My Network TV. The station previously broadcast on channel 64; its digital channel is 33, and it is carried in Cincinnati on Time Warner Cable channel 11....
 64 / 33 1995 MyNetworkTV
35. Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and List of United States cities by population in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan....
 WVTV
WVTV

WVTV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin 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-TV , WVTV's sister station....
 18 / 61 2000 CW
WCGV 24 / 25 1995 MyNetworkTV
36. Asheville - Greenville - Spartanburg WLOS
WLOS

WLOS, channel 13, is the American Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for western North Carolina and South Carolina that is licensed to Asheville, North Carolina....
 13 / 56 1996 ABC
WMYA-TV
WMYA-TV

WMYA-TV, virtual channel 40 , is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for western North Carolina and South Carolina that is licensed to Anderson, South Carolina....
 1		 40 / 14 1996 MyNetworkTV
37. San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....
 KABB
KABB

KABB is the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. It is co-owned with KMYS by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. KABB's studios are located in Northwest San Antonio off Interstate 410 and its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas....
 29 / 30 1996 Fox
KMYS
KMYS

KMYS, My35, is the MyNetworkTV affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is licensed to the nearby city of Kerrville, Texas....
 35 / 32 2001 MyNetworkTV
40. Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in the United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama. It also includes part of Shelby County, Alabama....
 - Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Tuscaloosa is a city in west central Alabama in the southern United States. Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama and the fifth-largest city in Alabama with a population of 83,052 ....
 WTTO
WTTO

WTTO is the The CW Television Network affiliate for the Birmingham, Alabama/Anniston, Alabama/Tuscaloosa, Alabama market. It broadcasts its digital signal on Ultra high frequency channel 28, however through the use of Program and System Information Protocol technology, digital television receivers display WTTO's virtual channel as 21....
 21 / 28 1995 CW
WABM-TV 68 / 36 2001 MyNetworkTV
WDBB
(satellite of WTTO)		 17 / 18 1995 CW
42. Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, Nevada, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment....
 KVMY
KVMY

KVMY is a full-service television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting locally in NTSC on Ultra high frequency channel 21 and in ATSC on UHF channel 22 as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV....
 21 / 22 1997 MyNetworkTV
KVCW
KVCW

KVCW is a full-service television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting locally in NTSC on Ultra high frequency channel 33 and in ATSC on UHF channel 29 as an affiliate of The CW Television Network ....
 33 / 29 2000 CW
43. Norfolk - Portsmouth - Newport News WTVZ 33 / 38 1996 MyNetworkTV
45. 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...
 KOKH-TV
KOKH-TV

KOKH-TV is the Fox Broadcasting Company broadcasting affiliate for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group of Maryland, LLC in a duopoly with The CW affiliate KOCB 34....
 25 / 24 1996 Fox
KOCB
KOCB

KOCB, referred to on-air as CW 34, is the The CW affiliate for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, in a duopoly with KOKH-TV Channel 25....
 34 / 33 2001 CW
46. Winston-Salem - Greensboro - High Point WXLV-TV
WXLV-TV

WXLV-TV is the American Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina....
 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, North Carolina....
 48 / 33 2001 MyNetworkTV
51. Buffalo, New York WUTV
WUTV

WUTV is a broadcast television station in Buffalo, New York, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company network. It broadcasts on digital channel 14....
 29 / 14 1996 Fox
WNYO-TV
WNYO-TV

WNYO-TV, channel 49, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Buffalo, New York. Its analog transmitter is located north of U.S. Route 20A near the Wyoming County, New York and Erie County, New York County line....
 49 / 34 2001 MyNetworkTV
58. Richmond, Virginia WRLH-TV
WRLH-TV

WRLH-TV, channel 35, is the Fox Broadcasting Company television affiliate serving the Richmond, Virginia television market. It is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group....
 35 / 26 1998 Fox
60. Pensacola, FL - Mobile, AL WEAR-TV
WEAR-TV

WEAR is the American Broadcasting Company affiliate 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
WFGX
WFGX

WFGX is the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida television market. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is a sister station to the market's American Broadcasting Company affiliate, WEAR-TV....
 3		 35 / 50 2001 MyNetworkTV
63. Danville - Lexington, KY WDKY-TV
WDKY-TV

WDKY-TV, channel 56, is the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for Lexington, Kentucky that is licensed to nearby Danville, Kentucky....
 56 / 4 2001 Fox
64. Dayton, Ohio WKEF
WKEF

WKEF is a broadcast television station in Dayton, Ohio, affiliated with the American Broadcasting Company network. It broadcasts on channel 22....
 22 / 51 1998 ABC
WRGT-TV
WRGT-TV

WRGT-TV is a broadcast television station in Dayton, Ohio affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company network. It broadcasts on channel 45. WRGT is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation, but operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group under a local marketing agreement with Dayton's American Broadcasting Company affiliate, WKEF-TV....
 1		 45 / 30 2001 Fox
65. Charleston - Huntington, WV WCHS-TV
WCHS-TV

WCHS-TV, channel 8, is the American Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for the Charleston, West Virginia / Huntington, West Virginia market, the second-largest market east of the Mississippi River....
 8 / 41 1997 ABC
WVAH-TV
WVAH-TV

WVAH-TV, channel 11, is the Fox Broadcasting Company network affiliate in the Huntington, West Virginia / Charleston, West Virginia television market....
 1		 11 / 19 1994 Fox
66. Flint
Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River , 66 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan....
 - Saginaw
Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County, Michigan. Once two independent cities, the consolidated City of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center that in recent years has suffered from population decline, job losses, and increased crime rates....
 - 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 United States Census, 2000, the city's population was 36,817, with the United States Census Bureau estimate placing the population at 34,026....
 WSMH-TV 66 / 16 1996 Fox
71. Des Moines KDSM-TV
KDSM-TV

KDSM-TV is a television station that broadcasts on channel 17 in Des Moines, Iowa. It is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company and serves most of central Iowa....
 17 / 16 1996 Fox
77. Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Cumberland County, Maine. The city population was 64,249 at the 2000 United States Census....
 WGME-TV
WGME-TV

WGME-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for southern Maine and northern New Hampshire that is licensed to Portland, Maine. The station broadcasts a High-definition television digital signal on UHF channel 38....
 13 / 38 1998 CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
78. Paducah, KY
Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River....
 - Cape Girardeau, MO
Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri and Scott County, Missouri counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States....
 -
Harrisburg, IL
Harrisburg, Illinois

Harrisburg is a city in Saline County, Illinois, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,860 at the 2000 census, with a township population of 11,658....
 KBSI
KBSI

KBSI, channel 23, is the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for southeast Missouri, western Kentucky, and southern Illinois that is licensed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri....
 23 / 22 1998 Fox
WDKA-TV 3 49 / 50  MyNetworkTV
80. Rochester, New York WUHF
WUHF

WUHF is a broadcast television station in Rochester, New York, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company network. It broadcasts its digital signal on channel 28 and formerly broadcast its analog television signal on channel 31, and is seen on cable channel 7 in most of the market....
 4		 31 / 28 1995 Fox
81. Syracuse, New York WNYS-TV
WNYS-TV

WNYS-TV is a broadcast television station in the Syracuse, New York DMA. An Affiliate with News Corp's MyNetworkTV. WNYS is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group....
 3		 43 / 44  MyNetworkTV
WSYT
WSYT

WSYT is a broadcast television station in Syracuse, New York affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company network. It broadcasts on digital channel 19....
 68 / 19 1998 Fox
83. Champaign
Champaign, Illinois

Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago and west of Indianapolis, Indiana....
 - Urbana
Urbana, Illinois

Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, Illinois, United States. As of the 2007 population estimates, the population was 39,484....
 -
Decatur
Decatur, Illinois

Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County, Illinois 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....
 - Springfield, IL
Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County, Illinois with a population of 116,482 . Over 200,000 residents live in the Springfield Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area, which includes Sangamon County and adjacent Menard County, Illinois....
 WICS
WICS

WICS is the American Broadcasting Company affiliate located in Springfield, Illinois. Branding itself as "ABC NewsChannel 20", it is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and broadcasts on channel 20....
 20 / 42 1998 ABC
WICD
(semi-satellite of WICS)		 15 / 41 1998 ABC
85. Madison, Wisconsin WMSN-TV
WMSN-TV

WMSN-TV is a FOX Broadcasting Company station in Madison, Wisconsin owned by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, with studios and transmitter located on Madison's west side....
 47 / 11 2002 Fox
88. Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River , north of Iowa City, Iowa 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, Iowa, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city had a total population of 68,747....
 -
Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2007, its population was estimated at 57,313, making it the eighth-largest city in the state and the county's population was estimated at 92,359....
 - Iowa City, IA
Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, Iowa, United States. As of the 2007 census estimate, the city had a total population of 67,062 making it the fifth-largest city in Iowa....
 KGAN-TV 2 / 51 1998 CBS
KFXA
KFXA

KFXA is a television station based out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. KFXA is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company television network. As such, it is the primary Fox affiliate for northeast Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, Waterloo, Iowa, and Dubuque, Iowa....
 5		 28 / 27 2008 5 Fox
99. Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County....
 WTAT-TV
WTAT-TV

WTAT-TV is the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for Charleston, South Carolina. It broadcasts a High-definition television digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located in North Charleston, South Carolina....
 1		 24 / 40 1995 Fox
WMMP
WMMP

WMMP is the MyNetworkTV television affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina. It broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 36, and its digital signal on UHF channel 35....
 36 / 35 1998 MyNetworkTV
105. Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the Capital of the Florida, USA, and the county seat of Leon County, Florida. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida in 1824....
 - Thomasville, GA
Thomasville, Georgia

Thomasville is a city in Thomas County, Georgia, Georgia and is the second largest city in Southwest Georgia after Albany, Georgia.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival....
 WTWC-TV
WTWC-TV

WTWC-TV is the NBC affiliate station for Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.The station was started on April 21, 1983 by Guy Gannett Communications....
 40 / 2 1998 NBC
116. Bloomington - Peoria, IL WYZZ-TV
WYZZ-TV

WYZZ Fox 43 is the only TV station licensed to Bloomington, Illinois. Channel 43 was founded as WBLN by members of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois on October 18, 1982, but is unrelated to the old WBLN on channel 15 in the 1950s....
 4		 43 / 28 1985 Fox


Footnotes:
  • 1 These stations are nominally owned by 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....
     and operated by Sinclair under local marketing agreement
    Local marketing agreement

    In United States and Canada broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one corporation agrees to operate a radio station or TV 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.
  • 2 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.
  • 3 Via local marketing agreements, Sinclair operates these stations, which are owned by local independent or private companies. The lone execption among this group is WTTA, in which Sinclair CEO David Smith is the station's majority owner.
  • 4 These stations are owned by Sinclair, but operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group
    Nexstar Broadcasting Group

    File:NXST 2006.jpgNexstar 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 ....
     under local marketing agreements.
  • 5 The planned acquisition of KFXA by Sinclair is awaiting FCC approval. Sinclair is expected to seek a "failing station" waiver for this purchase.


Former Sinclair-owned stations

DMA#
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 station and radio broadcasting offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content....
 City of license
City of license

A city of license or community of license, in United States and Canada 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
Analog television

Analog television encodes television picture and sound information and transmits it as an analog signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast Signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal....
 / DT
Digital terrestrial television

Digital Terrestrial Television is an implementation of digital technology to provide a greater number of channels and/or better quality of picture and sound using aerial broadcasts to a conventional Antenna instead of a satellite dish or cable connection....
 Years Owned Current affiliation/owner
20. Stockton - Sacramento, CA KOVR
KOVR

KOVR, channel 13, is a CBS owned and operated station television station licensed to Stockton, California, and serving the Sacramento, California-Stockton television market....
 13 / 25 1996-2005 CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 owned-and-operated (O&O)
25. Bloomington - Indianapolis, IN WTTV
WTTV

WTTV, channel 4, is a television station city of license to Bloomington, Indiana, serving as the CW Television Network affiliate for the Indianapolis, Indiana television market....
 4 / 48 1996-2002 CW
The CW Television Network

The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006-07 United States network television schedule....
 affiliate owned by Tribune Company
Tribune Company

The Tribune Company is a large United States multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, responsible for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the The Morning Call, among others....
Kokomo, Indiana
Kokomo, Indiana

Kokomo is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, Indiana, United States, Indiana's 13th largest city. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo metropolitan area, which includes all of Howard and Tipton County, Indiana counties....
 WTTK
(satellite of WTTV)		 29 / 54 1996-2002 CW affiliate owned by Tribune Company
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is a city and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. According to the United States Census, 2000, the city population was 69,291 and its Bloomington, Indiana metropolitan area had a population of 175,506....
 WIIB
(Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network

Home Shopping Network or HSN is a 24-hour basic cable shopping television network that can be seen on cable television, satellite television, and some terrestrial television channels in the United States....
 Affiliate)		 63 / 27 1988-1997 WIPX
WIPX

WIPX is a commercial television station in Bloomington, Indiana, serving the Indianapolis, Indiana media market on channel 63 as an Ion Television owned-and-operated station....
, an ION Television affiliate owned by ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks

ION Media Networks is an American television broadcasting company that owns and operates over List of stations owned and operated by ION Media Networks in most major American markets....
31. Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson County, Missouri, Clay County, Missouri, Cass County, Missouri, and Platte County, Missouri counties....
 KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV

KSMO-TV, channel 62, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Kansas City metropolitan area, licensed to the Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City....
 62 / 47 1994-2005 MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV

MyNetworkTV is a television network in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation. It is the lowest-rated of the six major US English-language commercial broadcast networks....
 affiliate owned by Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation

Meredith Corporation is based in Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa. The company has two divisions, publishing and broadcasting.Edwin Thomas Meredith founded the company in 1902 when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine....
92. Greenville - Kingsport -
Johnson City - Bristol, TN
Tri-Cities, Tennessee

In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Tennessee, Johnson City, Tennessee and Bristol, Tennessee and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia....
 WEMT
WEMT

WEMT, channel 39, is the affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company for the Tri-Cities, Tennessee area of Tennessee and Virginia. It is licensed to Greeneville, Tennessee; with the transmitter located on Camp Creek Bald on the Tennessee-North Carolina border....
 39 / 38 2000-2006 Fox affiliate owned by Esteem Broadcasting, LLC
(operated via LMA by BlueStone Television
Bluestone Television

BlueStone Television also known as Bluestone License Holdings Inc., is a Wichita, Kansas-based owner of television broadcast stations in the United States....
)
93. North Pole
North Pole, New York

North Pole is a small hamlet located in the town of Wilmington, New York, Essex County, New York in the Adirondack Mountains.See also: town of North Pole, Alaska, Geographic North Pole...
 - 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, Vermont. With a population of 38,889 at the 2000 United States Census, the city is the core of one of the nation's smaller metropolitan areas, and is also the smallest U.S....
 WPTZ
WPTZ

WPTZ is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Vermont and the North Country, New York of New York State that is licensed to North Pole, New York....
 5 / 14 1997-1998 NBC affiliate owned by Hearst-Argyle Television
Hartford, VT
Hartford, Vermont

Hartford is a New England town in Windsor County, Vermont in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is located on the New Hampshire border, at the intersection of Interstates 89 and 91....
 - Hanover, N.H.
Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 10,850 at the 2000 census....
 WNNE
WNNE

WNNE is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Connecticut River Valley area of eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire. The station broadcasts a High-definition television digital signal on UHF channel 25....

(semi-satellite of WPTZ)		 31 / 25 1997-1998 NBC affiliate owned by Hearst-Argyle Television
105. Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the Capital of the Florida, USA, and the county seat of Leon County, Florida. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida in 1824....
 - Thomasville, GA
Thomasville, Georgia

Thomasville is a city in Thomas County, Georgia, Georgia and is the second largest city in Southwest Georgia after Albany, Georgia.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival....
 WTXL-TV 27 / 21 2001-20061 ABC 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. It was established in 1937 as Calkins Newspapers, Inc....
110. Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Texas

Jacksonville is a city in Cherokee County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 13,868 at the United States Census, 2000. 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 Area....
 - Tyler
Tyler, Texas

Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, Texas in the United States. The city is named for President John Tyler in recognition of his support for Texas's admission to the United States....
 - Longview, TX
Longview, Texas

Longview is a city in Gregg County, Texas and Harrison County, Texas Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 73,345 at the 2000 census, but a 2006 estimate placed the city's population at 77,793....
 KETK-TV
KETK-TV

KETK-TV, channel 56, is the NBC television affiliate serving the East Texas viewing area. It is owned by Communications Corporation of America ....
 56 / 22 1998-1999 NBC affiliate owned by ComCorp
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....
111. Springfield - Holyoke, MA WGGB-TV
WGGB-TV

WGGB-TV, channel 40, is the American Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield, Massachusetts....
 40 / 55 1998-2007 ABC affiliate owned by Gormally Broadcasting LLC
  • 1Operated by WTWC-TV
    WTWC-TV

    WTWC-TV is the NBC affiliate station for Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.The station was started on April 21, 1983 by Guy Gannett Communications....
     under a shared services agreement (license was held by a third party)


See also

  • Lists of corporate assets
    Lists of corporate assets

    This page is an index for lists of some assets ownership by large corporations....


External links


Sinclair

  • official site
  • official site


Anti-Sinclair activism

  • petition


News/comment

  • GQ December 2005.
  • , Oct 2004
  • , AlterNet
    AlterNet

    AlterNet, a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a Progressivism in the United States/Liberalism in the United States news and opinion website that was launched in 1998 and claims a readership of over 1.7 million visitors per month.....
    , February 17, 2005.
  • by Eric Boehlert, Salon
    Salon.com

    Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online magazine, with content updated each weekday. Modern liberalism in the United States politics of the United States is its major focus, but it covers a range of issues....
    , Oct. 14, 2004