Sinclair Broadcast Group - General Discussion

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Several weeks after "NBC 15" moved from WPMI to WEAR 3.2, viewers are confused as hell... I wonder why? 

 

From the looks of things Sinclair has royally bungled this switch especially if the only way to watch NBC15 is in digital siberia on the main Xfinity service in Mobile (which was WEAR 3.2 while WPMI has always been on channel 11)

[JRyan 694]

Bungled would be an understatement.  Surely Sinclair could at the very least remap 3.2 as 15.1 to minimize confusion - at least as far as over the air viewers are concerned.

 

Having 15.1 continue as something else while continuing to brand the NBC feed as NBC15 does nothing but further confuse viewers.

[MidwestTV 1358]

As is often the case, I wouldn't be surprised if this was Sinclair being in a hurry and not waiting until the Ts and Is had been crossed and dotted. 

 

There are examples of this, particularly with streaming: a station launches their platform but only some TVs can actually download it. (Seems to me that stations always launch on Samsung TV months later).

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

In this case, it's likely the first time that a separate operating unit (WPMI/WJTC in Mobile) has had to shack up on a co-owned rival's frequency (WEAR). 

Most of the other cases have been the same operating unit for years(WSYX/WTTE, WCHS/WVAH, KBTV/KFDM etc...), they just did the switch from the "shell" station to the parent as a subchannel.

Probably the closest things have been the Fox move-ins like with "Fox Chattanooga" being the old FOX 61 that used to live on WDSI, and the "Fox Michiana" that relocated from WSJV "Fox 28" to WSBT 22.2.   The others have kept their long-term branding in place on their new OTA home.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

14 hours ago, JRyan said:

Bungled would be an understatement.  Surely Sinclair could at the very least remap 3.2 as 15.1 to minimize confusion - at least as far as over the air viewers are concerned.

 

Having 15.1 continue as something else while continuing to brand the NBC feed as NBC15 does nothing but further confuse viewers.

WPMI itself still uses 15.1 as it is now the "Roar" feed on that channel.  They essentially traded places with WEAR 3.2.

 

This was just another legal maneuver to get "NBC 15" totally under Sinclair's control and away from Deerfield Media.

 

And unlike most digital stations, WPMI actually broadcasts on Channel 15, so no PSIP is needed at all.  The only remapping is WJTC 44.1's 1.0 feed since WJTC is a 3.0 station.

Edited November 13, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

We could be looking at another legal maneuver again by Sinclair.

 

According to this post on AVS Forum, starting December 1st, ABC 6 will move to WJAR 10.2, and WLNE 6.1 will become Roar.

 

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/providence-ri-hdtv.265419/page-218#post-64307615

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

3 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

We could be looking at another legal maneuver again by Sinclair.

 

According to this post on AVS Forum, starting December 1st, ABC 6 will move to WJAR 10.2, and WLNE 6.1 will become Roar.

 

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/providence-ri-hdtv.265419/page-218#post-64307615

And WLNE is still going to be owned by Standard Media... correct?

 

While "totally separate" from Sinclair in terms of their other semi-relater sidecars, it seems like these deals don't smell quite right.

 

In the eyes of the FCC, everything else is a non-licensed asset and can move to WJAR and Sinclair.  And given "ABC 6" and their place in the market, their presence is so minimal it doesn't raise any alarms about market share either.

[nathannah 2792]

7 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

And WLNE is still going to be owned by Standard Media... correct?

 

While "totally separate" from Sinclair in terms of their other semi-relater sidecars, it seems like these deals don't smell quite right.

They should change the calls to WHNE, because the love is certainly gone.

 

Also they could've finally settled the NBC Boston channel confusion on channel 10 by just moving to 6.1 and 6.2, but we're talking about Sinclair, who just loves to bungle things as of late.

[JRyan 694]

1 hour ago, nathannah said:

They should change the calls to WHNE, because the love is certainly gone.

 

Also they could've finally settled the NBC Boston channel confusion on channel 10 by just moving to 6.1 and 6.2, but we're talking about Sinclair, who just loves to bungle things as of late.

 

To be fair, it was NBC that decided to brand as NBC10 Boston because of their position on cable.  I doubt most people would get the two stations confused with one another.  WJAR has historical precedent as well as having an actual full power license of its own.  The only reason WBTS has full power coverage is because they have a channel share agreement with WGBX.

 

But, knowing Sinclair, nothing would surprise me concerning moving feeds around between stations in a single market.

Edited November 15, 2025 by JRyan

[NowBergen 924]

On 11/15/2025 at 5:45 PM, JRyan said:

 

To be fair, it was NBC that decided to brand as NBC10 Boston because of their position on cable.  I doubt most people would get the two stations confused with one another.  WJAR has historical precedent as well as having an actual full power license of its own.  The only reason WBTS has full power coverage is because they have a channel share agreement with WGBX.

 

But, knowing Sinclair, nothing would surprise me concerning moving feeds around between stations in a single market.

 

It would be suicide to move what is WJAR to 6, or to change its call letters.  WJAR historically is the dominant station in RI. Dead air often beat Ch. 12 and 6 combined.  It is one of NBC's oldest affiliates going back to radio and started using the three toned chime that is synonymous with NBC today.   It's a long heritage and habit in RI despite Sinclair's attempts to destroy the station.  I assume Disney isn't too happy with this move, but they have no where to go.  The Providence market is the future.  All anglo commercial stations (not including ION), are now owned by Nexstar and Sinclair.  Welcome to the future if both companies get their way with a compliant FCC.  RI viewers are the losers.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

It may actually be a benefit to move "ABC 6" to WJAR.  For cord-cutters, this puts them a click away from WJAR "NBC 10".

 

In Mobile's case, WEAR 3.1 (ABC 3), WEAR 3.2 (NBC 15) and WKRG 5.1 (CBS) are next to each other on the dial.  To get to Fox 10 on 10.1, one must wade through all of WKRG's other subchannels.

 

It's still an end-around in the Providence case, but a station as cursed as WLNE may actually benefit from this despite losing a voice in the market.

[Georgie56 3661]

WTVH Syracuse is changing their calls to WKOF.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

1 hour ago, Georgie56 said:

WTVH Syracuse is changing their calls to WKOF.

That's the simple answer. 

In reality, WTVH 5.1 CBS 5 is "moving" to WKOF 15.1, which is owned by Sinclair (WSTQ Licensee) instead of Granite.  But otherwise, it will still be known as 'CBS 5".
Since WKOF is a 3.0 station for Syracuse, WKOF 15.1 is still on WTVH's frequency as the ATSC 1.0 home.

 

That's the biggest stretch I've seen yet under Sinclair, or pretty much any other owner to get a sidecar back in the home garage.

Edited November 28, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[persistent whiner 2]

Well, the transition of ABC6 in Providence from WLNE 6.1 to WJAR 10.2 has occurred, but not without its problems, which I guess should be expected.

 

While ads and web posts have stated that cable, satellite and streaming WILL not be affected, several viewers have reported that they no longer receive ABC, ROAR has taken over its channel spot on their provider and that ABC is in another spot. My mother who has Xfinity tried to tune into the 6 o’clock news and got SNL instead. It was only through a Facebook comment from someone in our area that I was able to have her try another channel and she was able to get ABC programming again. But will these moves be permanent or will they be corrected?

 

 I have YouTube TV, and while I did not lose ABC in the process, the guide continues to show the ROAR lineup. It would be helpful, or downright professional, if ABC6 and/or WJAR came out and acknowledged that there were transitional issues for providers, if those issues have been addressed and where to now find the station, if anyone even cares at this point. Perhaps whatever else had to be done on their end to ensure a smooth transition was not done.

 

 This other thing is not so important, but I think it bares addressing. Newscasts continue to use their 10 year old graphics. I guess that’s not too much of a problem. But the issue in this case is pretty much each element of this package carries the WLNE call letters, which is not legally correct anymore, and I’m probably wrong about this but I believe this may be a violation. It’s basically now WJAR, so it shouldn’t be showing WLNE, especially since it’s not on the actual WLNE signal anymore. Will they eventually adopt the Sinclair look or will they continue to use its own autonomous identity established under Standard?

 

Also the copyright still shows Standard Media/WLNE Providence Operations. With the move to the WJAR signal, ABC6 has now been fully absorbed into Sinclair, has it not?

 

This could all be a moot point if perhaps in the agreement, Standard, soon to be acquired by Rincon, will continue to produce the newscast for Sinclair ABC6, keep things status quo and maybe receive some sort of cut.

 

Just some observations.

[AmericanErrorist 267]

6 minutes ago, persistent whiner said:

and I’m probably wrong about this but I believe this may be a violation.

The only actual violation is if the ident at the top of the hour is wrong, as outside of identification call letters can be trademarked to stations.

Edited December 2, 2025 by AmericanErrorist

[NowBergen 924]

15 minutes ago, persistent whiner said:

Well, the transition of ABC6 in Providence from WLNE 6.1 to WJAR 10.2 has occurred, but not without its problems, which I guess should be expected.

 

While ads and web posts have stated that cable, satellite and streaming WILL not be affected, several viewers have reported that they no longer receive ABC, ROAR has taken over its channel spot on their provider and that ABC is in another spot. My mother who has Xfinity tried to tune into the 6 o’clock news and got SNL instead. It was only through a Facebook comment from someone in our area that I was able to have her try another channel and she was able to get ABC programming again. But will these moves be permanent or will they be corrected?

 

 I have YouTube TV, and while I did not lose ABC in the process, the guide continues to show the ROAR lineup. It would be helpful, or downright professional, if ABC6 and/or WJAR came out and acknowledged that there were transitional issues for providers, if those issues have been addressed and where to now find the station, if anyone even cares at this point. Perhaps whatever else had to be done on their end to ensure a smooth transition was not done.

 

 This other thing is not so important, but I think it bares addressing. Newscasts continue to use their 10 year old graphics. I guess that’s not too much of a problem. But the issue in this case is pretty much each element of this package carries the WLNE call letters, which is not legally correct anymore, and I’m probably wrong about this but I believe this may be a violation. It’s basically now WJAR, so it shouldn’t be showing WLNE, especially since it’s not on the actual WLNE signal anymore. Will they eventually adopt the Sinclair look or will they continue to use its own autonomous identity established under Standard?

 

Also the copyright still shows Standard Media/WLNE Providence Operations. With the move to the WJAR signal, ABC6 has now been fully absorbed into Sinclair, has it not?

 

This could all be a moot point if perhaps in the agreement, Standard, soon to be acquired by Rincon, will continue to produce the newscast for Sinclair ABC6, keep things status quo and maybe receive some sort of cut.

 

Just some observations.

 

RIP WLNE and ABC Providence.  I'm headed up there tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how the hotel tv system reflects this.  The fact there are issues seems to be the norm with Sinclair, from what I keep reading.  Welcome to the new world of Sinclair and Nexstar, conservative media, controlling all the broadcast media in the market.  

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

When NBC 15 moved from WPMI to WEAR 3.2, YouTubeTV still had the wrong listings tied to WPMI 15.1 for a day or two.

 

The local Xfinity system still has WPMI (Roar) on the old channel slot (11) while "NBC 15" is off in digital siberia in the slot that WEAR 3.2 has always had.

[bmasters1 432]

3 hours ago, NowBergen said:

 

 Welcome to the new world of Sinclair and Nexstar, conservative media, controlling all the broadcast media in the market.  

 

That's how it is down here with me as well in South Carolina.

[gsrecaps 22]

It's happening in Mid-Michigan on the 10th.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Makes me wonder if in Charleston, SC....Sinclair takes things up a notch by consolidating "Fox 24" on to WCIV... 

 

WCIV being the former WMMP that still has MyNetworkTV on 36.1....since the old WCIV was gifted to Armstrong Williams to pacify the FCC at the time.

the result being "ABC 4" on 36.2....

 

Edited December 4, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[NowBergen 924]

On 12/2/2025 at 8:20 AM, NowBergen said:

 

RIP WLNE and ABC Providence.  I'm headed up there tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how the hotel tv system reflects this.  The fact there are issues seems to be the norm with Sinclair, from what I keep reading.  Welcome to the new world of Sinclair and Nexstar, conservative media, controlling all the broadcast media in the market.  

 

I was in the Providence market last night. The hotel uses Cox Cable (it has an odd guide, its alphabetical), and for ABC it listed whatever the can be seen elsewhere shows that were now broadcast on 6.1 but the feed was actually ABC.  Talk about confusing.  Again, the shows I notices are available on other digits.  I'm not sure what the value is.

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Another confirmed move.

 

Tomorrow, KCVU FOX 20 moves to KRCR 7.2 and KBVU FOX 28 moves to KAEF 23.2.

 

https://krcrtv.com/features/transmitter/fox-20-fox-28-change-channels-december-9-announcement-update

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Other moves that happened today:

• WCYB picks up FOX from WEMT on 5.3, with WEMT going to Roar.
• WGME picks up FOX from WPFO on 13.2, with WPFO going to Roar.
• WCTI picks up FOX from WCTI on 12.2, with WYDO going to... You guessed it, Roar.

The trend continues...

[persistent whiner 2]

Caught this interesting local ID on “WJAR” ABC6 on GMA upon return from commercial break.

On 12/2/2025 at 8:09 AM, AmericanErrorist said:

The only actual violation is if the ident at the top of the hour is wrong, as outside of identification call letters can be trademarked to stations.

Seen this morning.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Given the irrelevance that WLNE has had for most of it's existence, it makes total sense to blow up "ABC 6" as we know it and start anew on it's new home on WJAR.

 

Sinclair has some work to do on it's own website since many of these consolidations are not reflected. 

And in Mobile, NBC 15's Facebook page is still called "WPMI NBC 15 News".

Edited December 9, 2025 by tyrannical bastard