Sinclair Broadcast Group - General Discussion

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

4 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

This has a good chance of not just killing the Sun outright, but coupled with the $500M in legal fees from Diamond's bankruptcy case, could damn well be the death penalty for hundreds of television newsrooms across the country, if not a financial death penalty for David Smith and Sinclair as a whole.

And the tragedy in that is these local newsrooms and network affiliates. 

 

Despite being run by Sinclair and pushing out all of their garbage, there are still a lot of talented, competent journalists they employ who know how to cover their communities, and are great at breaking their own stories that often uncover actual corruption. 

Edited January 19, 2024 by tyrannical bastard

[mre29 1537]

4 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

Absolutely no sane person, no person with a shred of mental competence, would willingly allow themselves to be made a target like David Smith has. This is worse than your typical delusions of grandeur that the likes of Elon Musk have.

 

Or a certain orange-skinned individual.

 

4 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

This has a good chance of not just killing the Sun outright, but coupled with the $500M in legal fees from Diamond's bankruptcy case, could damn well be the death penalty for hundreds of television newsrooms across the country, if not a financial death penalty for David Smith and Sinclair as a whole.

 

This would be a very good time for Sinclair to sell some of their stations, and not just small ones, either. But something tells me the company's response to that would basically be, "If we can't control those stations, NO ONE CAN!"

 

[nathannah 2448]

You would think Sinclair would be 'all-in' on this new "ARC" concept, but nineteen days later...KUNS is still KUNS, referring to an affiliation it no longer has, while their website for Univision Seattle, along with the domain name, remains up as a dead site, which Sinclair has refused to transfer to Weigel, and the move to KVOS was a short footnote at the end of a newscast that most Spanish viewers already tuned out of because of that betrayal.

 

There's not even an ARC Seattle section up on KOMO's website at all; its only presence on the entire web (behind several other results for 'ARC Seattle') is a low-viewed YouTube playlist on KOMO. Not even its own channel, but a playlist of videos. For all intents and purposes for the web, channel 51 in Seattle no longer exists, along with the CW in Seattle; they were better off just keeping it on Comet for all the lack of effort they put into this all.

 

Meanwhile, the Fox renewal that was seemingly less controversial this time (as in no oddball Ion backup plan) reads to me as Fox just not seeing them as any competition to speak of at all for right-wing news. They don't even consider them competition at all.

Edited January 19, 2024 by mrschimpf

[GoldenShine9 1513]

1 hour ago, mre29 said:

 

Or a certain orange-skinned individual.

 

 

This would be a very good time for Sinclair to sell some of their stations, and not just small ones, either. But something tells me the company's response to that would basically be, "If we can't control those stations, NO ONE CAN!"

 

I think the only way that they would start selling is if they start losing network affiliations.

 

Most of their stations rank dead last in markets in news ratings.

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

Which network is up next for renewal?  I believe NBC is up at the end of this year.

LOTS of affiliates that Sinclair has never helped, or helped to drive into the ground, or FURTHER into the ground.

[mre29 1537]

9 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

I think the only way that they would start selling is if they start losing network affiliations.

 

Most of their stations rank dead last in markets in news ratings.

 

Could the networks threaten to pull affiliation to get Sinclair to invest in their stations? Or require certain affiliates to be sold to new owners? I'm thinking of KDNL in particular.

 

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

NBC is probably their weakest link.  Despite them owning stronger stations like WJAR, WCYB, WTOV and WJAC, they have weaker stations like WOAI, and self-created abominations like WPMI, WTWC, WEYI, WNWO and WNBW.  Despite WNWO and WTWC being the only ones Sinclair owns outright, it's a black eye on the markets these other stations serve. 

 

NBC can't be too happy with them these days.  Even MSNBC recently eviscerated David Smith's recent purchase (and Sinclair in general) on Alex Wagner's show the other night.

 

While the whole group going away is unlikely, it may be like what happened with WJMN in Marquette.  If there's a more willing station to  take on NBC and provide a better path, NBC would happily oblige.  It happened years back (pre-Sinclair) to WRDC when Outlet plucked the Peacock to their-owned (at the time) WNCN after decades of failure in Raleigh-Durham.

[NowBergen 685]

I look at KDNL in St. Louis, which supposedly ABC has not been happy about yet they keep agreeing to affiliation agreements with Sinclair in the end.  

 

The issue becomes how does a network drop an affiliate?  If there is a strong independent station, that can work or if they plan to start their own station as NBC did in Boston (which probably would not happen anymore, especially outside a top 10 market).  If there was a whole affiliation switch in a market, then some other network gets stuck on a Sinclair station, just maintaining the actual problem.

[nycnewsjunkie 1443]

4 hours ago, NowBergen said:

I look at KDNL in St. Louis, which supposedly ABC has not been happy about yet they keep agreeing to affiliation agreements with Sinclair in the end.  

 

The issue becomes how does a network drop an affiliate?  If there is a strong independent station, that can work or if they plan to start their own station as NBC did in Boston (which probably would not happen anymore, especially outside a top 10 market).  If there was a whole affiliation switch in a market, then some other network gets stuck on a Sinclair station, just maintaining the actual problem.

Not to sound speculative, but I do think the prospect of networks dumping affiliations with certain station groups is becoming more feasible. The networks (except for Fox) are already able to distribute “network-only” feeds of their programming; ABC did just that when Sinclair and Hulu had a carriage dispute last year. Sure, it might be a loss for OTA viewers, but I’m sure the networks would find a way to get their feeds carried on streaming/cable. It’s not as though the networks care that much about OTA antenna viewers anyway; if they did, we wouldn’t be seeing Peacock-exclusive NFL playoff games.

 

I don’t see it happening anytime soon, but I do think there will come a time when the networks won’t need the affiliates, especially if they’re run by a company like Sinclair. I’d be intrigued to see what the TV landscape looks like 10 years from now. Disney can’t be happy to associate with Sinclair, and I imagine if the opportunity presented itself, they’d want to rid themselves of that association. 

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

Nexstar's bulk deal with CBS is also up at the end of this year, and with CBS losing the SEC games, the affiliation in these markets is much less attractive than it was before.  I think NBC would be willing to affiliate with Nexstar in certain places and let CBS jump to the Sinclair station.

 

And one of these markets is Mobile.

[mre29 1537]

7 hours ago, NowBergen said:

I look at KDNL in St. Louis, which supposedly ABC has not been happy about yet they keep agreeing to affiliation agreements with Sinclair in the end.  

 

The issue becomes how does a network drop an affiliate?  If there is a strong independent station, that can work or if they plan to start their own station as NBC did in Boston (which probably would not happen anymore, especially outside a top 10 market).  If there was a whole affiliation switch in a market, then some other network gets stuck on a Sinclair station, just maintaining the actual problem.

 

Prior to Nexstar buying a majority stake in the CW, I'd have said the easiest solution would be to take ABC for KPLR and send the CW to KDNL, but that's not likely now that Nexstar has a good reason to keep the CW affiliation. Maybe Weigel could be convinced to make room for it on KNLC or Scripps could take it for WRBU.

 

[Weeters 1919]

If ABC was truly that concerned about St. Louis, then the affiliation would have been taken elsewhere a long time ago. ABC could have even bought a station and started their own news operation if they were that concerned. But, I think they know St. Louis is news saturated and doesn't need another newsroom. They don't have to be "happy" about it, but they also know there's a slim chance that the affiliation would end up on any of the existing news-producing stations, and it's not worth building a new one.

[nathannah 2448]

6 hours ago, Weeters said:

If ABC was truly that concerned about St. Louis, then the affiliation would have been taken elsewhere a long time ago. ABC could have even bought a station and started their own news operation if they were that concerned.

And that is a whole lot less important considering ABC News's current direction; if we were talking 2005 ABC post-Jennings with Charlie Gibson and such, that could have been a priority to tie into. But with their news division now hyperfocused on weather, crime, and politics, there's less of a need to drive that full-day viewing, and pragmatically they'd still be deep in fourth even if the news division wasn't mothballed and went through the News Central and 'fake news cold read' eras unchanged with Sinclair.

 

The move towards streaming and Hulu also makes it easy to just be happy with what you can get through KDNL, and both Disney syndies, Kelly and Mark and Tamron are on their schedule in the morning; whatever complaints they have about three hours (!) of talk/court reruns (!!) in the afternoon and TND, as long as they have viewers back at 7 or online, that's more important now than building around a low-rated news operation, and after The Allman Report, they're probably just glad that Sinclair has stopped messing around with news at all in St. Louis.

6 hours ago, mre29 said:

Maybe Weigel could be convinced to make room for it on KNLC or Scripps could take it for WRBU.

Realistically, Scripps is pretty much done with developing news beyond their odd Alden/Gannettized 'evergreen for the siding companies instead of breaking' direction; an "ABC 46" would make WGBA look like a juggernaut in comparison.

 

I could still see Weigel do it for KNLC, but the studio issue would be a lot to overcome (do you build in town, on the edge of town, or deep in St. Louis County?), but the problem is the market, where you have to provide enough news coverage of St. Louis City that would be original and worthwhile, but also have to deal with balancing St. Louis County and MetroEast coverage and not alienating those viewers by being too St. Louis-focused (a major issue with Midwest cities).

 

There has to be a niche to stand out, and unfortunately the only one in STL that stands out right now is the 'cancelled' one Larry Connors, Jamie Allman and Vic Faust have honed, and that isn't Weigel at all. For them outside of dealing whatever wacky things the NLEC does on their second sub in the public file, they probably have fewer headaches just dealing with common MeTV complaints about commercials and schedules and such than dealing with ABC complaints.

[kjohnson 17]

22 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

And that is a whole lot less important considering ABC News's current direction; if we were talking 2005 ABC post-Jennings with Charlie Gibson and such, that could have been a priority to tie into. But with their news division now hyperfocused on weather, crime, and politics, there's less of a need to drive that full-day viewing, and pragmatically they'd still be deep in fourth even if the news division wasn't mothballed and went through the News Central and 'fake news cold read' eras unchanged with Sinclair.

 

The move towards streaming and Hulu also makes it easy to just be happy with what you can get through KDNL, and both Disney syndies, Kelly and Mark and Tamron are on their schedule in the morning; whatever complaints they have about three hours (!) of talk/court reruns (!!) in the afternoon and TND, as long as they have viewers back at 7 or online, that's more important now than building around a low-rated news operation, and after The Allman Report, they're probably just glad that Sinclair has stopped messing around with news at all in St. Louis.

Realistically, Scripps is pretty much done with developing news beyond their odd Alden/Gannettized 'evergreen for the siding companies instead of breaking' direction; an "ABC 46" would make WGBA look like a juggernaut in comparison.

 

I could still see Weigel do it for KNLC, but the studio issue would be a lot to overcome (do you build in town, on the edge of town, or deep in St. Louis County?), but the problem is the market, where you have to provide enough news coverage of St. Louis City that would be original and worthwhile, but also have to deal with balancing St. Louis County and MetroEast coverage and not alienating those viewers by being too St. Louis-focused (a major issue with Midwest cities).

 

There has to be a niche to stand out, and unfortunately the only one in STL that stands out right now is the 'cancelled' one Larry Connors, Jamie Allman and Vic Faust have honed, and that isn't Weigel at all. For them outside of dealing whatever wacky things the NLEC does on their second sub in the public file, they probably have fewer headaches just dealing with common MeTV complaints about commercials and schedules and such than dealing with ABC complaints.

Studio space might not be an issue. KDNL's old studios at 1215 Cole Street were up for sale last year, as they jumped ship to Brentwood, MO where the Allman Report was being filmed. If Scripps and/or Weigel wants an in town studio that's turn-key, 1215 Cole is it. 

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1215-Cole-St-Saint-Louis-MO/27232037/

On 1/20/2024 at 3:02 PM, Weeters said:

If ABC was truly that concerned about St. Louis, then the affiliation would have been taken elsewhere a long time ago. ABC could have even bought a station and started their own news operation if they were that concerned. But, I think they know St. Louis is news saturated and doesn't need another newsroom. They don't have to be "happy" about it, but they also know there's a slim chance that the affiliation would end up on any of the existing news-producing stations, and it's not worth building a new one.

If we are "news saturated" that seems to be news to people here.  A quick look at any newscast that KMOV has proves a lot of news is being left on the table. KPLR isn't really producing much of anything, other than essentially a rebroadcast of the previous KTVI newscast. It's leaving KSDK and the Post-Dispatch to find rest of the news out there, but they don't have the resources. We need another functioning newsroom. Spectrum News doesn't really have any sort of obvious presence.

[nathannah 2448]

43 minutes ago, kjohnson said:

If we are "news saturated" that seems to be news to people here.  A quick look at any newscast that KMOV has proves a lot of news is being left on the table. KPLR isn't really producing much of anything, other than essentially a rebroadcast of the previous KTVI newscast. It's leaving KSDK and the Post-Dispatch to find rest of the news out there, but they don't have the resources. We need another functioning newsroom. Spectrum News doesn't really have any sort of obvious presence.

St. Louis before the traditional 'cable guys' got their hands on Charter and moved it to CT is still in many ways, Spectrum's true 'home' market Charter-wise; it's really surprising that they haven't had a Spectrum News outpost in STL for years, and it seems like a severely missed opportunity. I know the big three organizations seem to 'serve' enough, but it's a very entrenched and conservative market where even changing the graphics (as KMOV just did) is akin to a gaudy plastic surgery to the market core in St. Louis County. Some kind of competitor would be welcome, but they have to balance the city and county viewers and find a niche that works.

 

KDNL's move meanwhile isn't shocking as for their netlet/lower Big Four stations, SBG prefers a small studio to do what they need to do for commercial clients and the occasional public affairs show. I would worry about deferred maintenance for those Cole St. studios though.

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

Sinclair is dumping their free streaming service STIRR to another company, and has stripped basically all of their content from it.

 

https://cordcuttersnews.com/sinclair-sells-its-free-streaming-service-stirr/

 

This leaves NewsON as the only OTT service that carries Sinclair stations.

 

I say good riddance.  It was a mess of mismatched content and never seemed to work right.   It had a lot of potential but like everything, Sinclair squandered it because, well....it's Sinclair.

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

Sinclair is (gasp) selling a station!

 

Sort of..

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2024/1/22/buy-this-sinclair-station-for-13-million

 

Probably will be consolidated into its parent station.

[Greggo 357]

What’s going on at Sinclair’s KUTV in SLC? They’re a rare highly-rated Sinclair station, have a nice downtown window-front studio, newscasts that don’t look small-market, etc., etc. … and yet they’ve lost several on-air folks. Now the ND is fleeing too, heading to WRAL. 

[Howard Beale 57]

9 hours ago, Greggo said:

What’s going on at Sinclair’s KUTV in SLC? They’re a rare highly-rated Sinclair station, have a nice downtown window-front studio, newscasts that don’t look small-market, etc., etc. … and yet they’ve lost several on-air folks. Now the ND is fleeing too, heading to WRAL. 

Utah outlawed non-competes.  Thus, it's easier than ever to jump to another station.  Plus, KUTV is a Sinclair station, and I'm sure the salaries and wages there are even worse than what the penny-pinchers at Nexstar pay.

 

 

[T.L. Hughes 890]

David Smith is financially involved in a lawsuit accusing Baltimore City Public Schools of defrauding taxpayers filed in 2022 by Jovani Patterson, chairman of People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement, a PAC funded almost entirely by Smith promoting ballot initiatives seeking to reshape the Baltimore city government.

 

Apparently though, WBFF's news staff had no knowledge of Smith's involvement when it ran previous stories concerning the suit; the station now plans to add a disclosure notice to stories concerning the suit.

Edited January 30, 2024 by T.L. Hughes

[mre29 1537]

23 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

David Smith is financially involved in a lawsuit accusing Baltimore City Public Schools of defrauding taxpayers filed in 2022 by Jovani Patterson, chairman of People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement, a PAC funded almost entirely by Smith promoting ballot initiatives seeking to reshape the Baltimore city government.

 

Apparently though, WBFF's news staff had no knowledge of Smith's involvement when it ran previous stories concerning the suit; the station now plans to add a disclosure notice to stories concerning the suit.

 

Maybe they should also add a disclosure notice to all of their newscasts.

 

[kjohnson 17]

On 1/21/2024 at 9:17 PM, mrschimpf said:

St. Louis before the traditional 'cable guys' got their hands on Charter and moved it to CT is still in many ways, Spectrum's true 'home' market Charter-wise; it's really surprising that they haven't had a Spectrum News outpost in STL for years, and it seems like a severely missed opportunity. I know the big three organizations seem to 'serve' enough, but it's a very entrenched and conservative market where even changing the graphics (as KMOV just did) is akin to a gaudy plastic surgery to the market core in St. Louis County. Some kind of competitor would be welcome, but they have to balance the city and county viewers and find a niche that works.

 

KDNL's move meanwhile isn't shocking as for their netlet/lower Big Four stations, SBG prefers a small studio to do what they need to do for commercial clients and the occasional public affairs show. I would worry about deferred maintenance for those Cole St. studios though.

Funny you should mention Spectrum.  Gregg Palermo is a KTVI/KPLR alum; They also appear to have an executive producer, a digital producer, a meteorologist, and a reporter, too.  A small team, for sure, but more than KDNL, and it's comical The National Desk. 

[tyrannical bastard 3958]

Sinclair is looking at "strategic alternatives" for the Tennis channel.

https://frontofficesports.com/sinclair-exploring-strategic-alternatives-for-the-tennis-channel/

 

Since the reorganization, they've been a part of "Sinclair" itelf, separated from the broadcast stations and Diamond Sports.

 

I don't think other parts of the company are going well, either.  Sinclair Digital dumped Stirr earlier.

[Megatron81 263]

Looks like on Sat the news is taped from another Sinclair TV station for WWMT 6PM & 11PM news other than weather & sports. As I said ARC West Michigan doesn't air news at 10PM on Sat.

[Megatron81 263]

Does Sinclair use ARC branding in any other markets other than Seattle & West Michigan?