Name: Sinclair Broadcast Group
Age: 46
Occupation: media giant
Last Seen: Hunt Valley, MD
Bee-otched For: taking more and more control of the media... even here in Grand Rapids
Age: 46
Occupation: media giant
Last Seen: Hunt Valley, MD
Bee-otched For: taking more and more control of the media... even here in Grand Rapids
One of the most-evil broadcast giants in America is getting more evil-er.
Sinclair Broadcast Group just announced that they're now in the process of purchasing Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. The company will soon control an additional 200 TV stations, including Chicago's legendary WGN-TV. Post-merger, WGN will replace Washington ABC affiliate WJLA as Sinclair's biggest station.
Tribune has been hurting for years and has been trying to spin off their TV and radio units to focus more on their newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune. Tribune has owned WGN since 1924 and signed on WGN-TV in 1949. Their assets also include 39 TV stations and several channels including classic TV network Antenna TV and This TV.
Here in Michigan, Tribune owns Fox affiliate WXMI-17 in Grand Rapids. Sinclair owns and/or operates CBS WWMT-3 also in Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids, NBC WEYI-25, WSMH Fox 66 and WBSF CW 46 in Flint/Tri Cities and NBC WPBN/WTOM 7&4 and ABC WGTU/WGTQ 29&8 Traverse City and Sault Ste. Marie. They also used to own Marquette NBC affiliate WLUC-6 (traded to Gray Television for Sound Bend CBS WSBT-22) and low-budget Lansing ABC outlet WLAJ-53 (now operated by Nexstar). Some wonder if either WWMT-3 or WXMI-17 will have to be sold off since both are top four stations in a top 50 market. True, Sinclair is known for operating shell companies like Cunningham Media (owned by the family that started and still has an operating interest in Sinclair, the Smith family) and Howard Stirk Media (operated by Uncle Tom Armstrong Williams, who has a TV show that Sinclair forces their stations to air). But, the FCC has been frowning on shared services agreements over the past several years. As a result, some stations have resorted to only selling their intellectual rights to another station while that station is sold for dirt cheap.
Currently, Sinclair is the second-largest TV station owner in America next to Nexstar (which owns NBC WOOD-TV 8, ABC WOTV-41 and MyNetworkTV WXSP-15 here in Grand Rapids). However, the company is known for being asskissers to the Republicans. Back in 2004, they ordered their stations to air an anti-John Kerry documentary that blasted the former presidential candidate for his Vietnam war records. They even ordered all their ABC affiliates to drop an episode of Nightline because they listed all of the people who died in the Iraq War. In 2012, the company also aired an anti-Obama documentary on their stations during his presidential campaign.
Today, Sinclair orders their stations to air right-winged dreck from the aforementioned Williams and former CBS newswoman-turned-right-winged nut Sharyl Attkisson.
Now, there's rumors that when they take control of WGN America, Sinclair could be in the running to turn it into a conservative news network with Bill O'Reilly as anchor. Sad, considering that once upon a time, WGN was an awesome independent superstation, complete with their local newscasts, Bozo the Clown and Chicago Cubs baseball. Plus, it was the TV station that taught us all to sing "588-2300... EMPIRE!"
The sad thing is that people bitch about the "liberal" media, but the truth is, Sinclair is a royal asskisser to the right and who knows? They own 20 CBS affiliates and they could dump The Late Show With Stephen Colbert from their stations because of his Drumpf-bashing. Who knows?
Good media is becoming more and more of a pipe dream from the past.
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