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Categories: Television broadcasting companies of the United States | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Companies based in Maryland Sinclair Broadcast Group(Redirected from WICD)
The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) is the operator of the largest number of local television stations in the United States, with a total of 62 stations across the country in 39 small and medium markets. Broadcasts by SBG stations can be received by 24 percent of American households. The company is based in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
BackgroundMany stations are owned outright by the company, but many others are affiliated through local marketing agreements, or LMAs. The stations are affiliates of various television networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, and the WB. Two of the stations are independents. SBG has been compared to the radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications, and programming produced by the group is considered to have a right-wing slant. The company, founded by Julian Smith, originated in 1971 as a UHF station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is currently run by CEO David Smith and three other sons of Julian Smith.
SBG has experimented with using a centralized news organization called "NewsCentral" that provides pre-packaged news segments for distribution to several of the group's stations. These segments are integrated into programming during local news broadcasts. Mark Hyman, a high-ranking executive at SBG, also creates editorial segments called "the Point" that are broadcast on all of the group's 62 stations. As of December 2, 2004, it was announced that the station KOVR would be sold (http://www.sbgi.net/press/release_2004122_93.shtml) to CBS parent Viacom pending regulatory approval. Nightline controversyIn 2004, the media group attracted controversy when it decided that eight ABC stations it owned would not be allowed to broadcast an April 30 airing of a Nightline tribute to the 721 soldiers killed in the 2003 invasion and 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 markets in the following areas:
WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida, owned by Media Venture Management and part of an outsourcing agreement with SBG, decided to air the program. In other affected areas, a number of independent stations stepped into the breach to air the broadcast. Kerry film controversyIn October 2004, it was reported that Sinclair would order all 62 of its affiliate stations to preempt prime time programming to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, a documentary critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activism, just two weeks before the November 2 election. [1] The film was produced by Carlton Sherwood, a former associate of Tom Ridge, and accuses John Kerry of prolonging the Vietnam War because of his antiwar activism. The organization Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry organization whose name has become well known in this election year, is cross-promoting the film as part of a $1.4 million advertising campaign. [2] In response, the Democratic National Committee filed a legal motion with the Federal Election Commission stating that it is inappropriate for the media organization to air "partisan propaganda" in the last 10 days of an election campaign. [3] Sinclair fired its Washington bureau chief Jon Leiberman , stating he revealed company business when he publicly discussed the documentary in an interview published October 18th in the Baltimore Sun. Stations operated by SBG
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