Viewership of Sinclair’s Sunday Political Talker Grows

umfan said:

Could WGN be a new home for Bill O'Reilly then? Certainly they could build a show around him and follow it up with a nightly show for Sharyl Atkisson. They don't necessarily need to build a new all news channel, just cover key dayparts. Another piece of a successful strategy might include a morning show on WGN to challenge Fox & Friends.

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The name Sinclair Broadcast Group may not be as familiar to Americans as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh or Breitbart, but make no mistake: it has long been an influential force for Republican politicians and political candidates, including Donald Trump.
Now, thanks in no small part to Trump's victory in November, it is poised to grow even more powerful.
On Monday, Sinclair announced a $3.9 billion deal to acquire Tribune Media. If approved, that deal would add more than 40 local television stations to the roster of 173 Sinclair already has across the country. If Sinclair's history is any guide, these stations may become more conservative.
As America's biggest local television owner, Sinclair's total household reach was already hitting the 39% cap imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, effectively barring it from further acquisitions.
But the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, newly appointed to that post by Trump, has moved to reinstate an archaic rule known as the "UHF discount" that allows broadcasters to understate their overall reach. Industry expectations are that Sinclair's acquisition will be approved.
That will no doubt satisfy David D. Smith, Sinclair's growth-driven executive chairman who is responsible for the company's meteoric growth over the last two-and-a-half decades.
When Smith and his brothers took over their father's television company, in the early 1990s, it consisted of three local stations in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Columbus. With David as president and CEO, the Sinclair Broadcast Group blossomed to 59 stations in less than a decade. By 2014, that number had nearly tripled to 162. (Smith stepped down earlier this year and became executive chairman.)
As Sinclair expanded across the country, so too did its conservative programming. Its ideological bent first came under scrutiny in 2004, when it sent a reporting crew to Iraq with the expressed intention of finding more positive stories about the war there. During the presidential election that year, it announced plans to air an hour-long special attacking Democratic nominee John Kerry. Sinclair's Washington bureau chief protested the special, telling NPR it was "biased political propaganda." He was subsequently fired.
Today, local television stations owned by Sinclair that were once apolitical have grown more conservative. From KOMO 4 News in Seattle, Washington, to WJLA 7 in Washington, D.C., there has been an increase in political news and programming, including the addition of shows like "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson" to "The Right Side with Armstrong Williams." Sinclair has also added reliably conservative political analysts like Mark Hyman, a former Sinclair executive, and Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump spokesperson. Many nightly news broadcasts have taken a more conservative tone, as well.
The influence of such changes is significant, especially in swing states. For all the growth of digital media, more Americans still get their news from local television than any other platform, according to a 2016 Pew Research survey. 46% of respondents said they got their news "often" from local TV, compared with 38% who said they often got news online and 31% who said they often got news from cable.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, was no doubt aware of local television's influence when he struck a deal with Sinclair to secure more favorable coverage for his father-in-law during the 2016 presidential campaign.

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The name Sinclair Broadcast Group may not be as familiar to Americans as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh or Breitbart, but make no mistake: it has long been an influential force for Republican politicians and political candidates, including Donald Trump.
Now, thanks in no small part to Trump's victory in November, it is poised to grow even more powerful.
On Monday, Sinclair announced a $3.9 billion deal to acquire Tribune Media. If approved, that deal would add more than 40 local television stations to the roster of 173 Sinclair already has across the country. If Sinclair's history is any guide, these stations may become more conservative.
As America's biggest local television owner, Sinclair's total household reach was already hitting the 39% cap imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, effectively barring it from further acquisitions.
But the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, newly appointed to that post by Trump, has moved to reinstate an archaic rule known as the "UHF discount" that allows broadcasters to understate their overall reach. Industry expectations are that Sinclair's acquisition will be approved.
That will no doubt satisfy David D. Smith, Sinclair's growth-driven executive chairman who is responsible for the company's meteoric growth over the last two-and-a-half decades.
When Smith and his brothers took over their father's television company, in the early 1990s, it consisted of three local stations in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Columbus. With David as president and CEO, the Sinclair Broadcast Group blossomed to 59 stations in less than a decade. By 2014, that number had nearly tripled to 162. (Smith stepped down earlier this year and became executive chairman.)
As Sinclair expanded across the country, so too did its conservative programming. Its ideological bent first came under scrutiny in 2004, when it sent a reporting crew to Iraq with the expressed intention of finding more positive stories about the war there. During the presidential election that year, it announced plans to air an hour-long special attacking Democratic nominee John Kerry. Sinclair's Washington bureau chief protested the special, telling NPR it was "biased political propaganda." He was subsequently fired.
Today, local television stations owned by Sinclair that were once apolitical have grown more conservative. From KOMO 4 News in Seattle, Washington, to WJLA 7 in Washington, D.C., there has been an increase in political news and programming, including the addition of shows like "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson" to "The Right Side with Armstrong Williams." Sinclair has also added reliably conservative political analysts like Mark Hyman, a former Sinclair executive, and Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump spokesperson. Many nightly news broadcasts have taken a more conservative tone, as well.
The influence of such changes is significant, especially in swing states. For all the growth of digital media, more Americans still get their news from local television than any other platform, according to a 2016 Pew Research survey. 46% of respondents said they got their news "often" from local TV, compared with 38% who said they often got news online and 31% who said they often got news from cable.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, was no doubt aware of local television's influence when he struck a deal with Sinclair to secure more favorable coverage for his father-in-law during the 2016 presidential campaign.

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What started as investigative long-form journalism -- and one of Sinclair's first moves into national programming -- has evolved into what executive producer Batt Humphreys (pictured below) labels "accountability reporting," which viewers appreciate in growing numbers. Cumulative audience is up substantially year-to-year, in part because among the company's 162 stations in 74 markets are playing Full Measure. And, a growing number are now double-running each episode on Sunday mornings, then again later in the day. Increasingly, that second run happens in primetime or following the station's late local newscast. Examples include CBS affiliate WRGB in Albany, New York (10:30 p.m.), Fox station WUTV in Buffalo, New York (10 p.m.), ABC affiliate KDNL in St. Louis, Missouri (10 p.m.) and The CW's WUFL in Raleigh, North Carolina (11 p.m.). Separately, the program is also streamed nationally at 9:30 a.m. ET.

The audience surge "has transcended and surprised all of us," Humphreys acknowledges. "When we started this venture, it was about giving perspective to investigative stories based in Washington, D.C., with a somewhat jaded eye. I think we've developed a program, content and an audience for journalism that holds government accountable; that looks at us with the same eye and level of comparison as they would for 60 Minutes. That's a huge compliment."

Just like 60 Minutes, Full Measure leads off with an extended cover story which brings an aspect of government accountability, or lack of it, to light. For example, its Memorial Day weekend edition led with “The Price of Power," reported by anchorperson Sharyl Attkisson, and explored the effort by members of Congress to obtain committee and subcommittee roles by raising money for both major political parties. Often, that money is generated through special interest lobbyists related to issues covered by those committees and subcommittees. One observer of this practice interviewed on-camera called it "borderline extortion...money over merit." Other segments covered how Birmingham, England deals with the threat of terrorism, and whether President Donald Trump has followed up his campaign promise to transform China's trade policy. Some episodes wrap with a "Follow the Money" feature pointing out examples of irresponsible government spending, updates on recent stories or viewer feedback.

So far, Full Measure has operated without corporate or outside interference. "There's an absolute fire wall here, unlike some places in my past," Humphreys says. "I've never felt any push or pull from anyone who may or may not have issues with any reporting we do. One very positive thing about our engagement with Sinclair is that we have not had any push/pull influence (from them) over what we report and how we go about reporting." What has been a boon was starting as Sinclair’s first national content creation platform, launched as a “device or model for what it could be,” Humphreys continued. “It’s been a good process in developing, in essence, a network inside of Sinclair, with its distribution, sales and multi-platform promotion.”

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EricStein said:

I wouldn't consider the show "syndicated" unless it's running on stations in other chains. Hearst's Soledad O'Brien show is truly syndicated.

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umfan said:

Good to know. I'd love to see Atkisson's show in more non-Sinclair markets. As to O'Brien's show, it's more pay to play than truly syndicated. I think the producers basically buy brokered time. I'd be shocked if she's on WADL in Detroit under terms other than that.

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