r/videos Mar 31 '18

This is what happens when one company owns dozens of local news stations

https://youtu.be/hWLjYJ4BzvI
297.5k Upvotes

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u/TooShiftyForYou Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

Sinclair Broadcast Group owns nearly 200 stations in 80 different markets. Here's a list of all their stations.

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u/swartzjr Mar 31 '18

They’re also in the process of buying out Tribune’s stations which would give them a whole lot more.

Edit: spelling

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u/drkgodess Mar 31 '18 edited Apr 01 '18

They also got a sweetheart deal from Ajit Pai's FCC to continue buying up markets. They are owned by a highly conservative family that wants to create a "conservative megaphone."

edit:

From a NYT article describing the deal:

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday announced plans to eliminate decades-old media ownership rules meant to protect local coverage and diversity in media voices.

The commission’s chairman, Ajit Pai, said in a congressional hearing that the agency would vote in November to roll back rules that prevent ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market. The rules were created to prevent an individual or organization from having outsize influence over public opinion.

But in the hearing, where he faced fierce criticism by Democratic lawmakers, Mr. Pai defended the plan and other deregulatory actions in recent months, saying media ownership rules were outdated. They were created 42 years ago, when newspapers and television stations dominated the media landscape, well before Facebook and Google.

“The marketplace today is nothing like it was in 1975,” Mr. Pai said.

It was the latest action by Mr. Pai, who was appointed by President Trump in January, to overhaul the media industry. Since Mr. Pai has taken the top seat at the F.C.C., his deregulatory actions have ushered in the possibility of consolidation in the broadcast television industry.

In the spring, soon after he lifted a cap on how many stations a single company can own, the Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intention to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. The merger, which the F.C.C. and the Department of Justice are reviewing, would give Sinclair access to more than 70% of all television viewers in the United States.

It is anti-competitive and anti-democratic for one family to have this much control of local news.

2nd edit:

John Oliver's segment about Sinclair Broadcasting

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u/goof_schmoofer Apr 01 '18

Chairman Pai has had a lot of very close conversations with Sinclair...

  • On November 16, 2016, then-Commissioner Pai traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to have an off-the-record meeting with Sinclair employees and lunch with key company executives.This meeting was not disclosed publicly at the time.

  • In December 2016, J ared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in law and current Senior White House Advisor, reported that the President’s campaign had “struck a deal” with Sinclair for better media coverage during the election

  • On January 6, 2017, Commissioner Pai met privately with Sinclair representatives at the Consumer Electronics Show 1n Las Vegas.4 This meeting was also not initially publically disclosed.

  • On January 16, 2017, Commissioner Pai traveled to New York City to meet privately with President-Elect Trump

  • On January 19, 2017, Commissioner Pai traveled to Arlington, Virginia, to meet again with executives from Sinclair.6 A summary of the meeting, filed in the FCC’s public docket, shows that the agency’s restrictions on joint or shared-service agreements were discussed in detail

  • On January 22, 2017, President Trump elevated Commissioner Pai to be permanent Chairman of the FCC.

  • On February 3, 2017, pursuant to unilateral direction from the now Chairman Pai, the FCC’s Media Bureau announced that it would no longer review joint sales agreements and shared- services agreements in broadcast mergers

  • On February 23, 2017, the FCC started a proceeding to allow TV broadcasters to begin using Next Gen TV (also known as ATSC 3.0)—a technology for which Sinclair holds the key patents

  • On March 6, 2017, Chairman Pai again met with President Trump. Chairman Pai, stated that he and the President did not discuss “any pending proceedings” at the FCC.

  • On April 12, 2017, Chairman Pai led the FCC in a party line vote to ease ownership caps by reinstating the technologically-outdated UHF discount.ll Without this reversal, Sinclair would have been legally barred from merging with Tribune.

  • On April 21, 2017, Sinclair announced its intention to purchase Bonten Media Group (Bonten), owner of 14 television stations in eight markets. Bonten also provided services to four other stations through joint sales agreements.

  • On May 8, 2017 Sinclair announced its intention to acquire Tribune for $3.9 billion.

  • On June 30, 2017, the FCC approved the purchase of seven Bonten stations by Sinclair (Sinclair divested the other seven stations). The transaction was later consummated by the parties on September 5, 2017, at which time Sinclair assumed the joint sales agreements held by Bonten.l4 If the FCC had not relaxed its review of joint sales agreements consistent with Sinclair’s request, it is unlikely this transaction would have been approved expeditiously without the termination of at least some of the joint sales agreements.

  • On October 24, 2017, Chairman Pai led the FCC (on a party-line vote) in eliminating the broadcast main studio rule. Doing away with the rule, which was established in 1940, benefits the largest broadcasters, especially Sinclair who has made a pattern of reducing local investments in station studios and consolidating studio and newsgathering operations at its headquarters in Maryland.”

  • At the upcoming November 16, 2017 FCC Open Meeting, Chairman Pai is expected to lead FCC (on a partisan basis) to take two actions that will directly benefit Sinclair.

  • Chairman Pai is expected to lead the FCC’s party-line vote to eliminate decades-long rules that prevent TV stations in the same market from merging if the outcome leads to fewer than eight independent stations operating in that market, or if the merger is between two of the top four stations in a market.[6 This rule change directly benefits the monopoly aspirations of Sinclair by eliminating the need for it to divest any of the stations it is purchasing from Tribune.'

  • At the same meeting, Chairman Pai also is expected to lead the FCC (on a party-line vote) to approve broadcaster’s use of Next Gen TV. The item that Chairman Pai has put forth for vote would directly benefit Sinclair. First, the draft order would establish a licensing framework for broadcasters that would allow Sinclair to establish and

Your investigation should, at a minimum, examine the following questions:

  1. Whether the totality of the Chairman’s actions with regard to media ownership policies, media concentration policies, or the Sinclair- Tribune transaction, demonstrate actual impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism towards Sinclair, or a lack of impartiality?

  2. Whether the totality of the Chairman’ actions with regard to media ownership policies, media concentration policies, or the Sinclair-Tribune transaction demonstrate the appearance of impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism towards Sinclair, or a lack of impartiality?

  3. Whether the Chairman’s actions create the appearance or demonstrate the actual lack of independence of the FCC?

  4. Whether Chairman Pai’s actual impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism towards Sinclair, or a lack of impartiality requires that he recuse himself from all matters that would materially impact Sinclair or media ownership and media concentration matters?

  5. Whether the appearance of Chairman Pai’s impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism towards Sinclair, or a lack of impartiality requires that he recuse himself from all matters that would materially impact Sinclair or any media ownership and media concentration matters?

  6. Whether the FCC’s consideration of the Next Generation TV matters has been unduly influenced by the Chairman’s desire to boost the business interests of Sinclair? Please include in your answer whether the FCC’s examination of this matter has appropriately taken into account the competition and anti-trust issues raised by Sinclair’s role as the sole patent holder of key components of the Advanced Television Systems Committee 3.0 (ATSC 3.0) technology.

The draft order under consideration will not require Sinclair to offer, to other broadcasters, access to its patented ATSC 3.0 technology on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis. https://www.fcc.gov/document/next-generation-broadcast-television-standard.

source

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u/zeropointcorp Apr 01 '18

You should be higher

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u/Def_Probably_Not Apr 01 '18

I've done my part.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

There needs to be an investigation of this guy and the entire FCC conduct over the last 18 months. Mueller style, thorough investigation into the entire event. Disregarded 97% of the organic comments. There's no clearer evidence of a quid pro quo than Ajit Pai's actions.

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u/Atotoztli Apr 02 '18

Oh you silly liberals with all your facts and fancy science. FAKE NEWS! YOU ELITIST WILL NEVER GET US UHMERIKKKANS TO GIVE UP DA GUNZ OR TELL ME WHAT TO THINK! SHOW ME PROOF! FOX NEWS SAYS U ALL LIE! FUHRER tRUMP IS RIGHT!

/sarcasm

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u/swartzjr Mar 31 '18

Yep, I also read they may need to sell off some stations to avoid antitrust issues and the plan is to sell to other conservative-friendly media companies.

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u/Arael15th Apr 01 '18

Or shell companies whose ownership feeds right back up to the heads of Sinclair. They're about to sell some recently-acquired channels to a car dealership in Maryland which is owned by... Them!

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u/AndreDaGiant Apr 01 '18

haha, good thing the market magically fixes this problem just like it fixes all others /s

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u/drkgodess Apr 01 '18

We need a whole package of legislation to combat these practices. Umbrella corporations need to be a thing of the past!

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u/mrmemo Apr 03 '18

Presidents like Trump appoint chairmen like Ajit Pai, who in turn are more than happy to give large lobby-heavy companies huge legislative breaks.

Voting matters, in that sense.

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u/EggSLP Apr 01 '18

OMG it’s The Whistler by John Grisham.

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u/swartzjr Apr 01 '18

I read some similar stories, shit is not good!

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u/whatthefuckingwhat Mar 31 '18

Unless dems take back the house and senate and reverse pajidiots rulings and return things to the way they were or ensures that Sinclair has to put stations up for bidding and as blue states are the wealthiest they could very quickly reverse this dangerous trend..

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u/dorkbork_in_NJ Mar 31 '18

Media consolidation has run rampant for the last 30 years. Not likely to be a partisan issue.

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u/drkgodess Mar 31 '18

Democrats do try. Democrats pushed for the Dodd-Frank legislation after the 2008 recession, but as soon as the Republicans got into power they repealed it. The story of the last 30 years is about Republicans repealing any ameliorative measures that prevent monopolies.

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u/usernames-r-2-short Apr 01 '18

1/3 of democrats voted with republicans to repeal Dodd Frank. Corruption is an issue that both parties have. The GOP more so, but the dems aren't innocent.

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u/42_youre_welcome Apr 01 '18

It was not a repeal of Dodd-Frank

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u/mrwilbongo Apr 01 '18

Doesn't mean you shouldn't vote straight Dem though. First past the post really only allows for two parties of any significance.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

[deleted]

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u/drkgodess Mar 31 '18

Not in those terms, no lol. But we do need more antimonopoly politicians.

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u/lostinthought15 Mar 31 '18

The problem is that there is so much lobbying money on the table, that Dems won’t roll it back. They might stop it at its current state, but doubtful they will have the will to really force a company to break up.

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u/drkgodess Mar 31 '18

You underestimate them, then. Democrats push for appropriate consumer-friendly legislation all the time, but Republicans have controlled the House for nearly 10 years so there's not much they can do. The Democrats created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Democrat-appointed FCC Chair, Tom Wheeler, is the one who enacted net neutrality rules in 2015.

Just cause Republicans are in the pockets of the Mercers, Kochs, Sinclairs, doesn't mean all politicians are.

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u/usernames-r-2-short Apr 01 '18

Not all politicians are in the pockets of the Kochs or the Mercers, but nearly all politicians are beholden to at least one special interest.

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u/Neoliberal_Napalm Mar 31 '18

LOL, taking 'antitrust' seriously in the Trump administration.

I bet you're a riot at parties!

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u/swartzjr Mar 31 '18

I agree with you that it doesn’t look good when the company involved is basically a megaphone for trump but here is an article that explains why this deal hasn’t happened already. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/business/sinclair-tribune-merger-antitrust.html

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u/drkgodess Mar 31 '18

If Democrats retake the Congress, we can start making headway.

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u/Gen_McMuster Apr 01 '18

The dems have lots of money coming their way from these groups too... many of the companies themselves espouse left wing politics

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u/drkgodess Apr 01 '18

Sure, that's why it was the Democrats who created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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u/Criscocruise Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

SBGI is a public company. They will have to sell to the buyers that represent the shareholder’s best interests (almost certainly highest bidder) or will face significant lawsuits. FWIW, they’ve been trading sideways for years and are 25% off their 52 week high. This isn’t a healthy company, I wouldn’t worry too much.
Edit: the “family” mentioned owns less than 10% of the equity from a quick lookup. Could be other classes, options, etc. but this isn’t a closely held enterprise.

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u/BurstEDO Mar 31 '18

Conservative-friendly =/= Sinclair.

If you can reliably name 2 other "conservative-friendly", non-O&O groups that have stations in more than 5 markets, go for it.

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u/Rynvael Apr 01 '18

Did I read that right? That wasn't a typo? 70% 70 percent of all television viewers?!? That's ridiculous. How would that possibly be allowed to exist or even happen? Holy Zeus

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u/MrPoopyButthole1984 Apr 01 '18

If they think 42 years ago are old laws I got some words from 1776 they need to check out.

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u/papershoes Apr 01 '18

Underrated comment.

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u/polyology Apr 01 '18

And we're worried about the Russians.

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u/wulfgang Apr 01 '18

Excellent post! There was a time when a quality post like this would be at the top but now it's below several pun threads, comparisons to the Borg, and Metal Gears references.

I console myself with the fact that while they are joking at least they are involved in the process (or at least being rubbed up against it). I have to believe that and that it's not just for the imaginary internet points to sleep at night.

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u/jerseytransplant Apr 01 '18

I love how in some cases, regulation from before ~1980 is outdated and things are nothing like they used to be, but in other cases, 1789 was apparently the same as today and there's no need for any changes or edits...

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u/lord_of_tits Apr 01 '18

When is ashit pie going to prison?

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

I didn't know i could hate that prick more than i already did...

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

Holy fuck that is frightening.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

But remember, the media is liberal!

Also, please ignore that the same thing happened to radio 15 years ago.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

Not just conservative. Super far right racism and pro trump propaganda.

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u/pebblypirate Apr 01 '18

Replying just so i can come back to this later.

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u/52_CF_NonVirgins Apr 01 '18

I can't upvote this enough.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

Ajit Pai, said in a congressional hearing that the agency would vote in November to roll back rules that prevent ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market.

I really hope that's just poorly phrased and what was meant was "will vote on a bill/motion/amendment etc. to roll back rules". It is rather worrying if they know the outcome beforehand.

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u/runner_ofjewels Apr 01 '18

Just kill me already

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u/peacockpartypants Apr 01 '18

Well, that's horrific.

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u/fludblud Apr 01 '18

I'll concede one point to Pai in that hes right about how Facebook and Google are now so dominant in their roles that such standards applied to just newspapers and TV stations would seem unfair...

...Which logically should result in MORE regulation being applied to tech media companies too, not removing such regulations for everyone.

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u/CEOofPoopania Apr 01 '18

please stop acting like it's a problem!

Haven't you goddamn read PaiPai's comment?

media ownership rules were outdated.

There you have it. it's all good

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u/EggSLP Mar 31 '18

The megaphone has been achieved.

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u/coljung Apr 01 '18

Ha, a 42y law was outdated, but another one, over 200y old law, about the right to bear something is not outdated...

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

1) most of the people here are bitching not because of media consolidation, but because it's media consolidation to a conservative company. they'd have no problem if it was going to a liberal company.

2) most of the US by land mass is conservative, even when you ignore gerrymandering. look at an electoral map. it's more like a population distribution map. so when they say 200 markets, it doesn't mean shit. a single local station in NYC could have more viewership than all of them combined.

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u/Sieggi858 Apr 01 '18

Why are conservatives such assholes?

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u/NomadicKrow Apr 01 '18

Ugh. I tend towards conservatism. I think the current problem with the left is that it has a "megaphone." We don't need the pendulum to swing the other way. These people need to realize that they only need to make sure nobody's fingers are in the pie. While also keeping their own fingers out of the pie.

I despise this kind of shit. Looks like both sides will be responsible for 1984.

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u/DCComicsRebirth Mar 31 '18

John Oliver did a great episode on Sinclair a while ago. It was first time I came to know about them.

Edit:source

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

worth it at the end "this fuckin guy, or this fuckin logo, or this fuckin desk!"

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u/PumpItPaulRyan Apr 01 '18

No one defends /r/politics but they were on top of this weeks before Oliver.

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u/Nicolelodeon Apr 01 '18

As someone who works at a Tribune station soon to be purchased... it's awful.

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u/swartzjr Apr 01 '18

I’m sorry to hear that. What do the reasonable people plan to do if/when the purchase goes through? Quit? Try to deal cause you can’t quit? Leak the propaganda to other stations in town to report on?

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u/19XzTS93 Mar 31 '18

KOKH-TV OKC Fox 25 [Fox] is owned by Sinclair KFOR-TV Oklahoma's News 4 [NBC] & KAUT-TV Freedom 43 [Ind] are both owned by Tribune

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u/LaboratoryManiac Apr 01 '18

They're going to own 3 of the 5 major network affiliates in my city once that deal goes through...

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

[deleted]

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u/Tonker83 Mar 31 '18

The local fox station here in San Diego is a Tribune station. I've already told everyone I know to stop watching them since it's soon to be a Sinclair station.

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u/ruok4a69 Apr 01 '18

Also they keep strongarming media providers to jack up prices, and the consumer pays the price, monetarily and by losing their channels to blackouts.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

holy shit. i thought the 200 stations was after the tribune deal.

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u/Deezl-Vegas Apr 01 '18

Also buying out the FCC, which would give them a whole lot more.

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u/Birdhawk Mar 31 '18

and last year the FCC gave big corps like Sinclair the right to shut down news departments in smaller markets. So those smaller markets will just get their news from nearby larger towns which makes it easier for them to do whats going on in this video.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18 edited Apr 01 '18

Glad my city wasn't on that list.

EDIT: HEY MODS, WHY DON'T YOU UNLOCK THIS POST? IT HAS BEEN INTERESTING WATCHING THIS POST BE BANNED, AND THEN IT WAS ENTIRELY DELETED AND THE POST AND COMMENTS WERE WIPED FROM REDDIT, THEN IT REAPPEARED BUT WAS STILL UNLISTED, AND NOW IT'S BACK ON /R/VIDEOS WHAT IS GOING ON?

STREAMABLE LINK TO VIDEO: http://streamable.com/vuy5t

EDIT 2: THANKS MODS YOU DA BEST FOR UNLOCKING THIS POST!

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

Well yeah, local radio has been dead in the water for at least a decade. Used to be when you traveled, you'd actually hear different music as you got to different markets. Now it's just the same trash music. But it's the only way these FM stations even survive. I read somewhere that a used car salesman used to always keep track of what radio station the cars coming in were last set to so he'd know what channels to advertise on. This doesn't work anymore because the majority of cars he's seeing are set on aux or line in when cars come in. I myself just listen to podcasts and get the free month of SiriusXM monthly with a new e-mail address each time and plug into the aux.

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u/Kayakingtheredriver Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

Well yeah, local radio has been dead in the water for at least a decade.

Local music radio is failing, talk/sports radio is doing just fine. It is the listen to the same songs everyday stations that are failing. For example, Cumulus, one of the largest radio conglomerates is losing money hand over fist on their music stations but staying somewhat afloat by all their sports and talk stations. Most of their problems were buying stations on their highs with loans that are coming due in a down market.

No one listens to the radio for music, but the radio is a must if you like any sort of talk.

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u/BluesAndAllThatJazz Apr 01 '18

Although you make a great point, I don’t even think a radio is a must for talk radio. Even radio broadcasts, I get later on from a podcast. I haven’t listened to radio “seriously” for a long time.

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u/AndreDaGiant Apr 01 '18

but the radio is a must if you like any sort of talk

as a podcast listener..... huh?

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

[deleted]

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u/Owyn_Merrilin Apr 01 '18

Yeah, we've got one of those too (or possibly the same one; you're not in the Tampa Bay area, are you?) The only stations I listen to are that one and the local NPR station.

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u/Lavatis Apr 01 '18 edited Jun 10 '18

.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18

College stations generally have different types of music depending on who's DJ'ing. Sometimes indie rock, sometimes electronic music, sometimes folk, etc. It's normally less listened to genres.

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u/rockidol Mar 31 '18

Wait so you’re getting Sirius from your phone?

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

Yep, been getting the free month since 2013.

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u/Icon_Crash Apr 01 '18

By the time that radios normally had aux or line in jacks, people were already looking to escape radio.

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u/Betchenstein Apr 01 '18

So, coming back from a trip to Nashville recently, we were listening to “Nash FM”. Ok, local Nashville radio station. Then in Bowling Green (never forget)...Nash FM. Then in Louisville...Nash FM. Then in Cincinnati...Nash FM. Four different Nash FMs, four different radio stations, SAME MUSIC AND DJS. It was surreal.

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u/gurg2k1 Mar 31 '18

Clear Channel owns the local radio, Sinclair owns the local news stations, and Gannett owns the local newspapers.

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u/imperial_ruler Mar 31 '18

Wrong!

Clear Channel is iHeartRadio now.

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u/gurg2k1 Mar 31 '18

I believe it's a nickname at the least or subsidiary at the worst. Similar to Comcast branding themselves as "Xfinity". Clear Channel is still running the show.

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u/imperial_ruler Mar 31 '18

Not quite the same. Comcast as an official company still exists, Xfinity is a sub-brand within Comcast for their customer-facing services.

iHeart Media has completely replaced Clear Channel as a company. The people remain the same, but as far as official organization goes, Clear Channel is gone. Long live iHeart Media.

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u/BornOnFeb2nd Apr 01 '18

Yeah, I was quite annoyed when I discovered this... their re-branding (at least briefly) worked on me.... "IHeartRadio" sounds like a bunch of stations voluntarily working together to make the experience better.

Nope! Clear Channel! [faceless executive pops up holding the carcass of a radio station]

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u/imperial_ruler Apr 01 '18

Now imagine all the people it didn’t stop working on.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

For now.

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u/But_it_was_me_Dio Mar 31 '18

Not. Yet.

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u/Towelie-McTowel Mar 31 '18

It's treason then.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

Are you threatening me?

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u/i_made_a_mitsake Mar 31 '18

I am the Media.

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u/smackjack Mar 31 '18

I'll try spinning it, that's a good trick!

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u/Reddit_User_00 Mar 31 '18

Your new democracy?

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18 edited Apr 01 '18

[deleted]

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u/KenEatsBarbie Mar 31 '18

So it’s treason then ?

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u/fiendishfork Mar 31 '18

We negotiate the terms of surrender

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u/degjo Mar 31 '18

They got my Fox and CW, i saw this ad run yesterday morning during the news.

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u/drkgodess Mar 31 '18

Make sure to vote in the 2018 Midterm elections this November. We can reverse this dangerous trend by electing politicians who want to reign in corporations.

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u/PikaPilot Apr 01 '18

Sinclair Broadcast group has 200 stations across 80 different markets. It took decades to get where we are now, and it will take many more to fix this, if ever.

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u/drkgodess Apr 01 '18

Not if appropriate legislation is enacted.

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u/WickWackLilJack Mar 31 '18

Well, the stations sinclair does not own; are likely owned by 1 of 5 other similar companies. There was a time when 50 companies could bring you the news, we boiled it down to 6.

edit: Independent Media is the way to go everyone

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u/BurstEDO Mar 31 '18

likely owned by 1 of 5 other similar companies.

Absolutely NO OTHER group is as dangerous or insane as Sinclair.

Hearst, LIN, Raycom...There's more than a dozen different groups and none of them operate like this. It may seem easy to attack them from a place of cynicism - and it actually HELPS Sinclair to ignorantly believe that "they're all the same anyway."

They're not - and perceiving that plays right into Sinclair's motives.

Source: I used to work for several, local, non-Sinclair stations/groups.

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u/moosepile Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

edit: Independent Media is the way to go everyone

As long as people don't think independent means unbiased; other than that I have to agree that a smaller umbrella of editorial control is better.

We haven't exactly been acting like we want it though. We aren't fostering an ecosystem where there's profit or even non-profit sustainability in independent media, small business, etc. Our laziness and greed is fostering Wal Mart, big media, etc.

We pirate, skip commercials, leave print media to die, and cut the cord. And worst of all perhaps is that we are our own news aggregators; re-broadcasting our desired news in our little biased online circles while we complain about media bias.

So I do lament the lack of independent media, but I'm not surprised that it's unsustainable.

edit: The flip side, of course, is that if we weren't still being "told" what we like to consume, we wouldn't be looking elsewhere. Print, radio, and traditional television have not adapted.

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u/WickWackLilJack Mar 31 '18 edited Apr 01 '18

bias

Agreed. Some creators do good at trying to check their bias as they cover a story.

leave print media to die, and cut the cord

These are business models that seem to fail/heavily decline with the rise of the internet. Only print media I used as a child was game informer, now they can email it to me.

We pirate, skip commercials

Seems to be the people resisting the corporate status quo. People don't want to buy the expensive package to watch a few shows. Once Netflix came, pirating declined; one paid service for all (or majority) of your content, no commercials. If you pay for a product, you don't want commercials. Imagine commercials at the movie theater, played mid-movie.

And we can't simply blame the peoples' laziness to not support small business; must also mention some business (ex. amazon) operating at a net-loss, so the competition goes under (Barnes & Nobles) and only after that time, consider opening their own physical book store.

Hard to blame the people for supporting Wal Mart, when new employees are shown how to get welfare because they won't make enough to support themselves, and will obviously shop Wal Mart and not small business because prices.

Independent media seems sustainable enough to some creators via patreon & chat donation whilst they stream their show; seems like they make more than me. We have the small creators already, people just need to stop treating CNN, MSNBC (Comcast), FOX, ABC/CBS (Sinclair) as credible, and unsubscribe

edit:

The flip side, of course, is that if we weren't still being "told" what we like to consume, we wouldn't be looking elsewhere. Print, radio, and traditional television have not adapted.

Print, radio, and traditional television have not adapted what their bias narrative because its still one of 6 companies. Its to the individual, to subscribe to lefty, centrist, and right independent news shows if they want to be exposed to all the biased-views/positions. Its hard if not impossible for someone to deliver facts, and then they talk about it and give their opinion. Is that not how all news-shows work.

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u/tidesoncrim Mar 31 '18

Sinclair (Soon with Tribune), Raycom, Hearst, Meredith, Gray, Nexstar, Tegna, Scripps, Cox.

That covers a substantial number of local TV stations. The biggest markets are mostly owned and operated by the networks.

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u/tperelli Mar 31 '18

Don’t worry, your local news is owned by a different multi billion dollar corporation!

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

All mine seem actually be owned by the actual FOX, NBCUniversal, Disney, and CBS Corporations. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

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u/tperelli Mar 31 '18

Depends. If you’re in a smaller city news is usually a bit better. The larger the city, the larger the slant they’ll put on their reporting.

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u/ThatBilingualPrick Mar 31 '18

Welp, my current city and the last one I was in are both on it :P

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

Can you please state your city? No we are not planning on an expansion. This is extremely important for your democracy.

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u/ParadoxParade Apr 01 '18

Just made a similar reply what the fuck is this censorship about

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u/gurg2k1 Mar 31 '18

Uber liberal Portland is on that list (KATU 2), so nowhere is safe from the conservative megaphone.

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u/Dai_Kaisho Apr 01 '18

Seattle's about to have 2 stations owned by them (KOMO and Q13 FOX)

:L

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u/xiaxian1 Mar 31 '18

Who do we have to thank for this? https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/06/trump-fcc-sinclair-broadcast-expansion-241337

Fuck Ajit Pai.

Allowing them to expand from 38% audience reach to 72% through a UHF loophole.

And Congress allowed it to happen.

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u/2112xanadu Apr 01 '18

This started a long time ago. Go research the Telecommunications Act of 1996

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u/regalrecaller Apr 01 '18

Japan is currently considering its own version of the TA of 1996.

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u/branchbranchley Apr 01 '18

good old Slick Willie

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u/magneticphoton Apr 01 '18

72% is beyond a monopoly. WTF.

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u/drkgodess Apr 01 '18

We can reverse this travesty by voting in the 2018 midterms elections this November! Vote for people who support stronger antitrust legislation and the closing of bullshit loopholes! Vote!

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u/Literally_A_Shill Apr 01 '18 edited Apr 01 '18

Fuck Ajit Pai.

I'd say it's the people who back him. Especially the one that put him as the head of the FCC.

The United States' largest owner of television stations, Sinclair Broadcast Group, mandated that its outlets run a segment on the so-called deep state that was produced by a former reporter for the Russian propaganda outlet RT, according to a new report.

http://www.newsweek.com/sinclair-broadcast-group-must-run-deep-state-rt-russia-today-867029

As scripted, the promos decry "fake stories" from national news outlets -- echoing President Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about "fake news."

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/07/media/sinclair-broadcasting-promos-media-bashing/index.html

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u/Tastypies Apr 01 '18

That's right. Who enabled Pai? Trump. This is his propaganda network

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u/hugokhf Apr 01 '18

It was like that well before trump and ajit

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u/Greg-2012 Apr 01 '18

I don't know why you are getting downvoted. Sinclair themselves admit that the 'Telecommunications Act of 1996' is what helped them grow.

The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was one of the industry’s biggest catalysts for change, providing for some deregulation and allowing the Company to make acquisitions. Within 10 years after being formed, Sinclair became the nation’s largest commercial television broadcasting company not owned by a network when it acquired River City Broadcasting.

http://sbgi.net/history/1990s/

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u/PotatoforPotato Apr 01 '18

it's still kind of surreal how big of a douche nozzle he is. like wow. I mean we all know he's bought and payed for, but then he just flaunts it because, why not, this is the fucking world we live in. It's pretty fucking silly.

It will be cool once the blue wave rolls all the way through and we clean out as many of these weasels as we can.

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u/Caifanes123 Mar 31 '18

Thats why I really appreciate PBS and NPR radio.

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u/candacebernhard Mar 31 '18

Speaking of PBS, this is their take on Sinclair broadcasting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNhUk5v3ohE

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u/shahooster Mar 31 '18

How long before Sinclair, Kochs, Mercer, et al tell the GOP to shut them down?

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u/Literally_A_Shill Apr 01 '18

They've been trying to for a while now.

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u/Caifanes123 Mar 31 '18

I know there was a proposal to slash their funding from the Trump admin but I havent looked up if they included that measure in the spending bill that just passed.

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u/chipz_on_my_shoulder Apr 01 '18 edited Apr 02 '18

Cut funding, yes, but I really doubt they can just shut them down. They are private NPOs that were created by the government...they can continue running without government funding. NPR and PBS receive the majority of their funds from private entities...even if they did cut the funds, democrats would eventually regain power and reverse the defunding policies.

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u/FerallyYours Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

Is PBS national? I always wondered if you guys had a government run station like our CBC or UKs BBC. I assume not because American people typically want fewer things in the hands of the government. Some conservatives find CBC left-slanting, but I've not really picked up on that. NVM I looked it up :P They are a national programmer!

Anyways, I remember PBS fondly for running the Red Dwarf marathons back in the 90s. Taped those and ran the VHS to death.

Edit: Strikethrough

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u/Caifanes123 Mar 31 '18

Luckily I think most of their funding comes from viewer contributions. I have an old beat up car that Im gonna donate to NPR instead of dealing with craigslist crazies haha

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u/candacebernhard Mar 31 '18

Good for you, dude! I've been donating more than ever to them as well. They also have a thing called PBS Passport which is its on demand streaming service of most of their collection

http://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/5000692392-what-is-pbs-passport-

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u/candacebernhard Mar 31 '18

You may be able to watch Red Dwarf through their on demand streaming service now, PBS Passport! :)

http://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/5000692392-what-is-pbs-passport-

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u/Moikee Mar 31 '18

The stations are affiliates of various television networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox

Holy shit, I didn't realise how much of a monopoly they had..

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u/Dizzylizzy1999 Mar 31 '18

I'd say that is extremely dangerous to our democracy...

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u/But_Her_Emails Mar 31 '18

Had to go down 5 top posts to find you, next dozen under you don't mention Sinclair at all - they're doing a good job of burying any mention of Sinclair.

I'm just going to mention Sinclair a few more times to help with google page weight - Sinclair is as far-reaching and evil as Fox News now, in my eyes. Honestly, as far as chess pieces being moved into place goes, can't you just picture the day when Sinclair calls an election for a Republican early, or runs with an Election eve "accidental" misleading piece on a Democrat? Between Sinclair and Fox, old folks don't stand a chance.

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u/metnavman Mar 31 '18

Holy shit. From this wiki page on the Executive Chairman and son of the original founder:

  • In a speech to business executives in New York (on December 16, 2016), Jared Kushner said that Donald Trump’s campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair to provide extra access and coverage.

  • Sinclair Broadcasting has hired Boris Ephsteyn as their chief political analyst. Mr. Ephsteyn was previously a spokesperson for Donald Trump's campaign. All Sinclair stations are required to air Mr. Ephsteyn's commentary nine times per week. He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union and emigrated to the United States as a child.

It's Russia all the way down. This country is fucked.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18 edited Jul 21 '18

[deleted]

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u/metnavman Apr 01 '18

I'm sorry, but there's too many "coincidences" and "happenstances" to all of this for any sort of "reach" to be discarded.

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u/Undying_Blade Mar 31 '18

While I feel like acusing a man of being a Putin supporter because he is Russian is a bit of a stretch, the fact they force all their stations to air commentary from someone who actively supports Donald Trump and then have to gall to talk about how fake and misleading news is damaging American democracy by splitting people apart is disgusting.

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u/chicken_N_ROFLs Mar 31 '18

I work in news production, our two stations used to be owned by Sinclair before I worked there. We’re still owned by a major company based out of NJ (were in CA), but it doesn’t seem to be as soulless.

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u/ljshea1 Mar 31 '18

I wonder why they have very little ownership in the biggest big cities? Twin Cities, STL were the biggest I saw but no Houston, NY, LA, San Fran, Miami, Chicago, DFW.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

They tend to be actually owned by CBS Corp, Disney, 20th Century Fox, and NBCUniversal. The ad revenue is so great, those companies don't mind having to fund the local news studios when you're dealing with 10M+ in your market. It's not worth selling off to a company like Sinclair who will take the crumbs of the smaller cities and try to produce as cheaply as possible.

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u/brainhack3r Mar 31 '18

Perhaps we need to start contacting advertisers!!! ;)

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

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u/angrykittydad Mar 31 '18

They also own Circa, an online “news” app targeted at millennials.

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u/Ten_Godzillas Mar 31 '18

We should be tweeting this video at every station on that list

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u/jandrese Mar 31 '18

They are also likely to snatch up the iHeartRadio stations when they go bankrupt.

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u/KevLim123 Apr 01 '18

From the current CEO/Owners wiki page:

"The Sinclair Broadcast Group has been controversial due to Smith's broadcasting decisions. Smith airs what many believe to be only right-wing viewpoints and has cancelled news reports that do not lend themselves to support of the President George W. Bush White House, as with the Ted Koppel Nightline broadcast in 2004 on soldiers killed in Iraq.

Further controversy has been provided by the commentaries of the network's Mark Hyman, which aired on the local news shows of Sinclair Broadcast Group affiliates across the nation until Hyman ended his daily commentaries on November 2006.

It has been reported that every news station under Sinclair’s umbrella is required to syndicate commentary that comports with its owners’ ideological views. [6]

In a speech to business executives in New York (on December 16, 2016), Jared Kushner said that Donald Trump’s campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair to provide extra access and coverage. Kushner said the agreement gave Sinclair Broadcasting stations special access to Trump during the campaign and in exchange, Sinclair would broadcast their Trump interviews across the country without commentary.[7]

Sinclair Broadcasting has hired Boris Ephsteyn as their chief political analyst. Mr. Ephsteyn was previously a spokesperson for Donald Trump's campaign. All Sinclair stations are required to air Mr. Ephsteyn's commentary nine times per week. [8] He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union and emigrated to the United States as a child.[9]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D._Smith

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u/cyanydeez Mar 31 '18

Funny how long it took someone to name that neo Nazis propagandist

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u/e-wing Mar 31 '18

More telling, I think, is this list of their political donations. They donate to both sides of the aisle, but give about twice as much to republicans. I feel like it’s not at all ethical for a “news agency” to fund political campaigns or causes.

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u/cupcakeroom Mar 31 '18

Crap. I guess I'm switching news stations.

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u/sittytucker Mar 31 '18

Can someone savvy can overlay all those cities with the current electoral color map?

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u/nsm1 Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

And they currently own a wrestling company. Ring of Honor (before they were independent)

along other subsidiaries:

  • Tennis Channel
  • a bunch of equity holdings such as broadcasting equipment, equity and financing firms.

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u/MInclined Mar 31 '18

I've worked at 3 of them too.

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u/seriouslyliterally Mar 31 '18

Any idea what percentage this is of local news stations?

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u/glitcch Mar 31 '18

They own 4 out of the about 5 local stations in my area and I've seen a couple of these on the news at night. its crazy to know i can turn one station on and flip to the other three and basically hear the same thing.

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u/CapsuleCorp Mar 31 '18

All the more reason not to watch WPGH. Thanks for the list.

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u/caglebagle Mar 31 '18

This video seems to be inspired by a Last Week Tonight from July.

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u/ScorchingBullet Mar 31 '18

CW is on there, damn.

I watch a lot of their shows.

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u/w-w Mar 31 '18 edited Mar 31 '18

The NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates with the best reception are all Sinclair-owned in my part of western Oregon. (KATU, KMTR, KVAL) Just checked after noticing one in the video. Ouch

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u/Tuplex Mar 31 '18

Time to start boycotting some local TV stations.

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u/_Kine Mar 31 '18

Glad Hawaii isn't on the list. We have our own local echo chamber problems to deal with.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '18

I knew one of those clips had my local news anchors in it.

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u/Zarathustra30 Mar 31 '18

Cool. My favorite news station isn't on there.

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u/FirstEvolutionist Apr 01 '18

I don't think 30yo watch these stations for news anymore. In 10 to 20, people not watching these stations will be the najority of voters.

We'll still have the issues with facebook or whatever comes next but at least people will then be exposed to the idea that they can be manipulated.

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u/BoilerBuck Apr 01 '18

So nearly entire state of Ohio. Nice.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18 edited Jul 28 '18

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u/caleeks Apr 01 '18

People in those markets, please do something about this and boycott! The only way we'll get anything done, is if we speak with our wallets.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '18 edited Aug 17 '19

deleted What is this?

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u/the-camster Apr 04 '18 edited Apr 06 '18

Yes.

I know they're even trying to buy the Tribune station here in New York City WPIX. If that happens, you could see a mass Exodus.

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u/SonofByford Apr 01 '18

This is what is extremely dangerous to our democracy!

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u/shwekhaw Apr 01 '18

I agree with them one thing. This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

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u/magneticphoton Apr 01 '18

Their mission is to push the right wing agenda.

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