Misplaced Pages

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125-476: On September 17, 2013, Fantasy Factory was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on January 16, 2014. The sixth season was originally announced to be the final season, but in June 2014, MTV announced that Fantasy Factory would return for a seventh season. The seventh season premiered on January 1, 2015, and ended on March 5, 2015. As of 2022, the entire series is available to stream on Paramount+ , except for

250-497: A Fortune 500 company, having reached 2020 annual revenues of US$ 5.9   billion, equivalent to $ 6.8   billion in 2023. A 2019 study in the American Political Science Review found that "stations bought by Sinclair reduce coverage of local politics, increase national coverage and move the ideological tone of coverage in a conservative direction relative to other stations operating in

375-610: A Canadian charity which builds schools in Africa. On October 17, 2021, Sinclair was struck by a ransomware attack affecting the internal servers and workstations of its television stations, after the alleged hackers breached the stations' internal broadcasting systems via an Active Directory domain that interconnected the company's corporate and local IT networks. The incident had disrupted some of its office and operational networks (including internal servers, email servers, corporate phone lines, and workstations and news graphics systems at

500-801: A buyer, Sinclair proposed in May 2014, to return to the FCC the licenses for WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa, Alabama , WJSU-TV in Anniston, Alabama , and WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina , transferring the intellectual properties of those three stations to existing Sinclair-owned stations. One other Allbritton station, WHTM-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania , was sold to Media General for $ 83.4 million (equivalent to $ 107 million in 2023). After nearly

625-836: A deal with Paramount and its UPN network, bringing five affiliates WPTT-TV in Pittsburgh, WNUV-TV in Baltimore, WCGV-TV in Milwaukee, WSTR-TV in Cincinnati and KSMO-TV in Kansas City to the network. In 1996, Sinclair bought out Superior Communications for $ 63 million. In 1997, Sinclair reached a deal with The WB to convert many of the UPN affiliates to The WB. Following the disputes, in August 1998, Sinclair and UPN signed

750-461: A feed of its syndicated newscast The National Desk ). Ransomware experts later indicated that the attack was likely linked to Evil Corp., a Russia-based cybergang that was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2019 and had been accused prior to the attack of attempting to rebrand itself to evade the sanctions; the hackers are believed to have disseminated the Macaw ransomware strain (which

875-510: A few days afterward. Many scheduled NFL game telecasts on the 17th were disrupted on its NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates (replaced by a different game feed or by alternative programming). Sinclair also supplied alternative programming feeds to fill airtime on some of the affected stations due to varying difficulties in transmitting and receiving certain syndicated program feeds or to occupy timeslots normally filled by newscasts (mainly from company-owned multicast networks like Stadium and TBD , or via

1000-435: A few episodes. The factory is a space for skateboarder Rob Dyrdek to manage two aspects of his life, business and pleasure. The 25,000-square-foot complex contains two distinct areas: A warehouse designed for skateboarding and an office complex. Dyrdek's cousin, Christopher "Drama" Pfaff serves as Dyrdek's assistant on the show. Christopher "Big Black" Boykin , originally from Rob & Big , made his debut appearance to

1125-431: A few weeks later, with CBS reporting an 84% increase in new subscribers. On November 25, 2019, as part of the re-merger between CBS Corporation and Viacom , CBS All Access announced the inclusion of programming from Nickelodeon , as part of the wider launch of children's programming on the service, with other partners including Boat Rocker Studios and WildBrain . In January 2020, CBS All Access became available on

1250-428: A hearing before an administrative law judge . On August 9, 2018, Tribune Media announced that it had terminated the sale agreement with Sinclair, and that it had filed a $ 1 billion lawsuit against the company for breach of contract. Tribune Media CEO Peter Kern stated that the sale "cannot be completed in an acceptable timeframe, if ever"; the suit cited Sinclair's "belligerent and unnecessarily protracted negations" with

1375-454: A high-ranking executive at Sinclair, also created "The Point", a series of conservative editorial segments that were broadcast on stations operated by the group that maintain news departments. In October 2015, Sinclair premiered Full Measure , a syndicated public affairs program hosted by Sharyl Attkisson . On July 1, 2017, Sinclair launched a new daily morning kids' TV block called KidsClick , partnering with This TV . The block

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1500-464: A joint venture between Paramount Global and Network 18 , beginning in early 2021. Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc. , doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group , is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith . Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland ,

1625-714: A larger dispersal of Newport's 22-station portfolio. That same day, Sinclair purchased Tampa station WTTA for $ 40 million, equivalent to $ 53.1 million in 2023. Two of Sinclair's existing stations in markets affected by the Newport deal, WSTR-TV and KMYS , were sold to Deerfield Media. Deerfield also acquired KBTV-TV , Beaumont, Texas 's Fox affiliate, from Nexstar, with Sinclair assuming operations and merging it into CBS affiliate KFDM . The non-license assets of ABC affiliate WHAM-TV in Rochester, New York , were sold by Newport to Sinclair, with Deerfield purchasing

1750-470: A library of 30,000 television series episodes and up to 1,000 film titles from Paramount's film and television divisions and CBS Media Ventures and expanded live news and sports offerings. No pricing plan or firm dates for content expansion were disclosed, though a "soft relaunch" will occur later in 2020. ViacomCBS will also continue to license its TV and film content to competing streaming platforms. On May 7, 2020, CBS All Access began adding more films to

1875-532: A limited library of films, made up of content from Paramount Pictures , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Sony Pictures , The Samuel Goldwyn Company and CBS Films , was made available on the service. This includes several titles in the Star Trek film series . On May 7, 2020, CBS All Access added more than 100 films from Paramount Pictures; more films were added in the following months. In August 2019, CBS All Access expanded into children's broadcasting by acquiring

2000-451: A major string of acquisitions involving television stations and other properties two years later. The beginning of the 2010s saw Sinclair's acquisition strategy intensify. In May 2011, Ring of Honor (ROH), a professional wrestling promotion , was purchased for an undisclosed amount. ROH's flagship program Ring of Honor Wrestling was added onto the schedules of many Sinclair-operated stations. In September 2011, Four Points Media Group

2125-607: A minority stake in YES Network . While Sinclair did not bid on the Cox stations, on April 26, 2019, it was reported that Sinclair was the successful bidder for Fox Sports Networks at $ 10 billion. On August 22, 2019, Sinclair completed the acquisition of FSN and thus FSN is now a wholly owned subsidiary and becoming sisters to Marquee. On January 27, 2020, Sinclair announced that it would sell WDKY-TV in Lexington, Kentucky , and

2250-492: A network that will feature reruns of home improvement, true crime, reality and celebrity-driven shows. In May 2024, Sinclair was reportedly considering selling more than 30% of its 185 broadcasting stations. Sinclair had experimented with using a centralized news organization called News Central that provided prepackaged news segments for distribution to several of the group's stations. These segments were integrated into programming during local news broadcasts. Mark Hyman ,

2375-711: A new UHF television station in Baltimore, expected to be operating by September 1968 on channel 45, no call sign yet assigned. Channel 45, with the call sign WBFF , joined on April 11, 1971. By that time, Chesapeake Engineering Placement Service had changed its name to Chesapeake Television Corporation . The Commercial Radio Institute, by then a division of Chesapeake Television Corporation, founded WPTT (now WPNT ) in Pittsburgh , in 1978, and WTTE in Columbus, Ohio , in 1984. All three stations originally were independents . In 1986, WBFF and WTTE became charter affiliates of

2500-461: A new agreement. In February 1998, Sinclair bought out Sullivan Broadcasting for $ 1 billion. In 1998, Sinclair bought out Max Media Properties, for $ 252 million. In November 2004, Sinclair sold off KSMO-TV in Kansas City to Meredith Corporation for $ 26.8 million. In December 2004, Sinclair divested KOVR-TV in Sacramento to Viacom , now Paramount Global , for $ 285 million. In 2004, as

2625-776: A refocus on the Politico website and newspaper, Allbritton Communications sold their seven station portfolio—including Washington, D.C. 's WJLA-TV —to Sinclair, for $ 985 million, equivalent to $ 1.29 billion in 2023. This deal was complicated by multiple regulatory hurdles and a proposed barring of future joint sales agreements (JSA) by the FCC. Originally planning to divest four Sinclair-owned stations in three markets with Allbritton stations to Deerfield and Armstrong Williams -controlled Howard Stirk Holdings, and continuing to operate them under JSAs, In March 2014, Sinclair announced intentions to divest three stations and one existing LMA to independent third parties. Unable to find

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2750-617: A response when LIN Media signed ABC affiliates WDTN and WAND to NBC, Sinclair Broadcast Group converted two of its NBC affiliates WICS / WICD and WKEF to ABC . In July 2009, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission , Sinclair stated that if the company could not refinance its $ 1.33 billion debt, or if Cunningham Broadcasting became insolvent due to nonpayment on a loan worth $ 33.5 million, Sinclair may be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . The company seemingly recovered its financial fortunes enough, and began

2875-475: A second TV network, Charge! , a new digital subchannel network focusing on action-adventure based programming. It begin broadcasting on February 28, 2017. Sinclair had two rounds of executive promotions announced in November 2016 and effective January 1, 2017, with chair and CEO David D. Smith moving up to executive chairman while CFO Christopher Ripley becoming president and CEO. In the second round, David Amy

3000-717: A series adaptation of Flashdance , among others. In February 2021, Paramount+ announced a television adaptation of the Xbox Game Studios franchise Halo produced by Amblin Television and Showtime, set to premiere in 2022. The show had been moved from Showtime's slate, as ViacomCBS positions the network as a premium "adult" service (as opposed to the broader positioning of Paramount+). In May 2021, CBS announced that Evil and SEAL Team would move from CBS to Paramount+ beginning with their second and fifth seasons, respectively. In August 2021, as part of

3125-690: A seven-day administrative stay to the UHF discount rulemaking, in order to allow review of an emergency stay motion filed by The Institute for Public Representation (a coalition of public interest groups comprising Free Press , the United Church of Christ , Media Mobilizing Project, the Prometheus Radio Project , the National Hispanic Media Coalition and Common Cause ) on May 15. The coalition argued that

3250-841: A year of delays, the deal was approved by the FCC in July 2014, and completed on August 1. WCIV, WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV were ultimately sold to Howard Stirk Holdings. In September 2013, Sinclair purchased eight stations owned or operated by New Age Media. As part of the deal, three stations— WSWB in Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , WTLH in Tallahassee, Florida , and WNBW-DT in Gainesville, Florida —would be sold by owner MPS Media to Cunningham, with Deerfield purchasing WTLF in Tallahassee. New Age Media and MPS Media terminated

3375-430: Is commercial-free and, unlike CBS All Access, has only one pricing tier. In January 2019, CBS reported its largest increase in subscribers over a weekend—a 72% increase over the premiere of Discovery , crediting the premiere of season 2 of the series and that week's AFC Championship Game (which also brought the service its largest streaming audience for a football game). Super Bowl LIII would surpass this record only

3500-805: Is currently the only show of the genre not to be available on either Corus services or Paramount+. Instead, it airs in Canada on the CTV Sci-Fi Channel. A localized version of Paramount+ operates in the Middle East as a premium offering on pay-TV provider OSN , replacing the now-defunct Paramount Channel . It features content from the aforementioned channel, as well as Nickelodeon , Comedy Central and MTV . In India, Paramount+ original programming, along with Showtime and CBS programming were made available under Voot Select in Viacom18 's Voot ,

3625-465: Is expected to enter into LMA's to operate WPIX and WGN-TV, while selling off KSWB outright. Overlapping stations in Seattle , St. Louis , Salt Lake City , Oklahoma City , Grand Rapids, Michigan , Norfolk, Virginia , and Des Moines, Iowa will be sold off to unaffiliated third parties. On July 16, 2018, FCC chairman Ajit Pai was reported to have "serious concerns" about the transaction and proposed

3750-479: Is primarily carried on Sinclair stations. ASN was created as part of the company's foray into original, non-news content creation beyond Ring of Honor Wrestling and school sports. Subsequently, on August 21, 2014, the company announced the formation of Sinclair Original Programming, a new division concentrating on entertainment and commercial content. The company also announced plans for a future cable news network. The Original Programming division chief operating officer

3875-576: The 2026 World Cup . which would begin in 2023, sharing broadcasts with Pluto TV and the free-to-air television channel Chilevisión . Paramount+ has also acquired exclusive rights in Mexico , Central America , Belize and Dominican Republic for the Premier League starting in the 2022/2023 season, and will carry rights in Brazil to air Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana , beginning on

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4000-480: The Fox Broadcasting Company at its launch. The Fox affiliation in Pittsburgh went to higher-rated WPGH-TV , which was purchased by Sinclair in 1990. Chesapeake's first foray into local news came in the early 1980s when it launched a newscast on WPTT, a rarity at this time for stations not affiliated with the then-major networks ( ABC , CBS and NBC ). This newscast was called WPTT News . In

4125-559: The Grammy Awards . Along with Star Trek , Big Brother 19 and the start of the 2017 NFL season had also driven major increases in growth that month. Buoyed by Star Trek: Discovery , CBS All Access reached over 2 million subscribers by early 2018. The 60th Annual Grammy Awards also provided a boost to sign-ups, marking the second largest day for new subscriptions after the Discovery premiere. In April 2018, CBS All Access

4250-465: The NFL ; however due to the absence of streaming rights, a few sports events are not streamed on the service (mainly involving PGA Tour events, some locally programmed NFL preseason games, and select brokered shows through CBS Sports Spectacular ), along with limited syndicated and paid programming where only a local broadcast license to carry the program is allowed and web airing rights are retained by

4375-686: The TVING video streaming platform operated by the entertainment company CJ ENM . TVING subscribers can stream Paramount+ content at no additional charge, In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the service launched on June 21, 2022, one day earlier than planned, and is available to watch on the Amazon Prime Video platform and as a standalone app. An announcement about the launch of Paramount+ in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria in

4500-738: The Xfinity Flex platform, followed by the X1 platform in December. On February 6, 2020, CNBC reported that ViacomCBS was in discussions to launch a larger premium streaming offering, combining CBS All Access with content from Paramount Pictures , the Domestic Media Networks division, and Pluto TV . The service would include an ad-free tier, and a premium tier that includes Showtime 's streaming service. The company would maintain its existing streaming platforms, while marketing

4625-470: The construction permit  – for the estimated US$ 25,964 (equivalent to $ 271,400 in 2023) construction project – . Sinclair's first station, WFMM-FM (now WPOC ), signed on the air in February 1960. In 1967, Smith, as Chesapeake Engineering Placement Service, partly owned by the name-shortened Commercial Radio Inc., applied for and was granted, a construction permit for

4750-493: The 2023 seasons for their respective football cups. The most recent episodes of CBS's shows are usually made available on CBS.com and Paramount+ the day after their original broadcast. Paramount+ provides complete back catalogs of most of its current series, including full-season "stacking rights" (with the exception of certain series, such as The Big Bang Theory , which CBS held only "last five" episode rights during its original run, as Warner Bros. retains all other rights as

4875-481: The Big Red Dog received simultaneous theatrical and Paramount+ releases on August 20 and November 10, 2021 respectively, while other future theatrical releases from Paramount would premiere on the service either after their theatrical run or after their run on Epix (which reached a new deal with ViacomCBS that same day to provide content for Paramount+, allowing recent releases from Paramount to be available on

5000-459: The Department of Justice and FCC over regulatory negotiations in order to maintain control of stations that it was advised to divest, as well as violations of the sale agreement requiring divestitures of stations to not result in any threats of regulatory scrutiny. Following the failed acquisition of Tribune Media, Sinclair has mentioned publicly about buying Fox Sports Networks , as well as

5125-497: The El Paso market while KFOX ranked sixth, making it permissible under FCC duopoly regulations. Dielectric Communications, a key supplier of television broadcasting antennas, was purchased from SPX on June 18, 2013. SPX had intended to close down all of Dielectric's operations by the end of July, in turn threatening a FCC-proposed incentive auction and subsequent repacking of television broadcast spectrum . In July 2013, as part of

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5250-416: The FCC for WBMA-LD satellite stations WCFT-TV on September 24 and WJSU-TV on September 28. Sinclair continued its push into original programming. Since May 2015, three deals were made to expand American Sports Network beyond college sports. In June, subsidiary Sinclair TV Group, Inc. formed Tornante-Sinclair LLC, a TV production company, with Michael Eisner's Tornante Co. With MGM on October 31, 2015, Comet

5375-572: The FCC. In August 2020, Sinclair reached a $ 25 million settlement agreement for its shareholders related to three lawsuits. Of the $ 25 million, $ 20.5 million will be paid into a settlement fund. In November 2020, Sinclair announced that they would sell KBSI in Cape Girardeau, Missouri , and WDKA in Paducah, Kentucky , to Standard Media for $ 28 million, in a transaction that closed in 2021. In 2021, Sinclair began moving

5500-762: The Fantasy Factory beginning in the fourth season. Rashawn "Bam Bam" Davis, who co-starred with Rob, Big Black, and Drama in Rob & Big , made his first appearance in the Fantasy Factory on the third episode of Season 5. Throughout the series, guest appearances included Ryan Sheckler , John Mayer , Danny Way , Steve Berra , Ludacris , and Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius from Jackass . Paramount%2B Through third-party distributors: Baltics, Caribbean, India, French-speaking Switzerland, Middle East, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand Paramount+ (known until 2021 as CBS All Access in

5625-522: The NFL's rights renewal with CBS, Paramount+ gains expanded rights to stream games on both its premium and ad-supported tiers between 2021 and 2033. On January 27, 2022, it was announced that the platform would broadcast all the matches of the Chile National Team as well as the rest of the qualifying games (with the exception of the home games of the Brazil and Bolivia national teams) towards

5750-539: The Nordics and Latin America, replacing an existing service of the same name, with additional markets to follow. In Australia, while the relaunched service will premiere all new Showtime original programs going forward, currently airing series will remain on Stan until their conclusion under an existing deal. The Paramount+ brand itself was originated as a subscription video on demand film service, first launching in

5875-577: The Nordics in 2017, and then in Hungary , Latin America , and Russia in the following three years. The current iteration of Paramount+ in the Nordics and Latin America was preceded by this service. Outside the United States, Paramount+ is currently available in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Latin America, Middle East (as a pay TV channel), the United Kingdom and Ireland. Additionally,

6000-1116: The Paramount+ SVOD service is still active in Russia (as Okko Paramount+ and IVI Paramount Play ), though the current streaming service is unavailable in said regions. Due to program rights and existing content deals, several programs are not available on local versions, or have delayed availability for new episodes. For example, Star Trek: Discovery and all others from the franchise are licensed to Bell Media in Canada for their CTV Sci-Fi (in English) and Z (in French) channels and streaming service Crave . As another example, selected Paramount+ original kids and family programming such as Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years and Rugrats are licensed to Corus Entertainment for their YTV and Treehouse networks and Nick+ streaming service in 2021, in part due to pre-existing agreements between Corus and Paramount Global. Star Trek: Prodigy

6125-591: The Paramount+ service in South Korea ended after June 18, 2024. In 2021, ViacomCBS issued a press release that revealed the combined number of subscribers to both CBS All Access and Showtime (another streaming product). That press release revealed that the two streaming services had a combined 19.2 million US subscribers, though the release did not provide individual numbers for either service. In May, ViacomCBS reported to have gained 6 million subscribers during

6250-494: The U.S. broadcast rights to Danger Mouse (1981) (as well as the reboot of the series), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , and several other series from WildBrain including Inspector Gadget (and Inspector Gadget's Field Trip ), Bob the Builder ( original and reboot ), Polly Pocket and others. On July 30, 2020, CBS All Access added 56 shows from ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks . On February 15, 2022, it

6375-459: The UHF discount was no longer logical from a technical standpoint (as stations that transmit on the UHF band have typically maintained better digital signal quality than those transmitting on VHF, a reversal of the technical issues with both bands during the analog era) and would trigger a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the broadcast television industry that would further reduce diversity in station ownership. The D.C. Court of Appeals denied

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6500-535: The United States and 10 All Access in Australia ) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Paramount Global . The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures , CBS Studios , Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media Networks and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks), and Paramount Pictures , while also including original series and films, live streaming sports coverage , and in

6625-725: The United States to the UEFA Champions League and Europa League in European soccer, replacing Turner Sports. All matches will stream on the service, with selected matches on the broadcast network and CBS Sports Network . The contract was initially to begin in the 2021–22 season and last through 2023–24. However, during a suspension of the 2019–20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe , existing rightsholder Turner Sports opted out of its contract, and CBS took over

6750-550: The United States was fully integrated with the advertising-free premium tier of Paramount+, replacing the aforementioned bundle first introduced in 2021. The newly renamed "Paramount+ with Showtime" premium tier was raised from $ 9.99 to $ 11.99 per month while the "Essential" plan (containing advertising and no Showtime content) was raised from $ 4.99 to $ 5.99 per month. The existing, standalone Showtime and cable-specific Showtime Anytime apps were discontinued on December 14, 2023. This service launched in South Korea on June 16, 2022, on

6875-451: The United States, live streaming of local CBS broadcast stations. The service was launched in the United States in 2014, as CBS All Access, initially focusing on the live streaming of CBS programming from its local affiliates, as well as on-demand access to CBS programs and library content. The service began to expand into original programming in 2016, beginning with spin-offs of CBS programs such as Big Brother , The Good Fight , and

7000-528: The United States. Canada was announced as the first international market to receive the service. Plans to launch in Australia quickly followed, resulting from CBS's purchase of free-to-air broadcaster Network 10 . In September 2017, Star Trek: Discovery premiered on CBS All Access, with its first episode also airing on the CBS broadcast network to promote the service. CBS reported that the premiere had driven its largest single-day increase in new subscribers since

7125-594: The announcement, a lawsuit was filed by a Fisher shareholder. The suit was settled in July 2013 and the merger approved shortly thereafter. On June 3, 2013, Titan TV Broadcast Group sold four stations, along with operating agreements for two stations, to Sinclair. Prior to the deal, a seventh station, KDBC-TV in El Paso, Texas , to Cunningham, fueling speculation KDBC-TV would be consolidated with Sinclair-owned KFOX-TV . Sinclair exercised its option to purchase KDBC-TV outright citing KDBC-TV's fourth-place ranking in

7250-833: The broadcasting assets of Schurz Communications (owner of WSBT), was necessary as Gray already owns WNDU-TV in South Bend. The sale was completed on February 16, 2016. On January 27, 2016, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tennis Channel for $ 350 million. The channel's corporation comes with $ 200 million in net operating losses that SBGI can use to offset future income thus reducing taxes. Sinclair's news operations had launched six drone teams in September 2016. Initial stations getting drone teams were in Washington, Baltimore, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Columbus, Ohio; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Little Rock, Arkansas. In

7375-482: The closing of its reorganization as a holding company. In May 2023, Sinclair sold its controlling interest in Stadium to Silver Chalice, Sinclair stating that the network did not have enough viewership for Sinclair to continue funding it; Sinclair will continue to supply some programming. On October 10, 2023, Sinclair announced that on October 30, 2023, it will convert Stadium's over-the-air service into The Nest ,

7500-622: The combined "Paramount+ with Showtime" service for $ 11.99 per-month with ads and $ 14.99 without; a discount for new subscribers was available as an introductory offer through October 2. On August 15, 2022, Walmart reached an exclusive deal with Paramount+ to offer the streaming service as part of its Walmart+ offering. It meant that Walmart+ customers could access the ad-supported plan on Paramount+ at no additional charge. Qantas also announced it had partnered with Paramount ANZ to offer Paramount+ on its in-flight entertainment systems. On June 27, 2023, Showtime's direct-to-consumer service in

7625-645: The company is the second-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations, after Nexstar Media Group , owning or operating 193 stations across the country in over 100 markets, covering 40% of American households. It is the largest owner of stations affiliated with Fox , NBC , CBS , ABC , MyNetworkTV , and The CW . Sinclair owns four digital multicast networks, Comet , Charge! , The Nest , and TBD , and sports-oriented cable networks, Stadium , Tennis Channel , and Bally Sports Regional Networks . In June 2021, Sinclair became

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7750-524: The company's only foray into local news for years, a genre it became much more involved in from the mid-1990s on. Smith's son David D. Smith began taking a more active role in the company in the 1980s. In 1985, the Chesapeake Television Corporation changed its name to Sinclair Broadcast Group . In 1990, David and his three brothers bought their parents' remaining stock and went on a buying spree that eventually made it one of

7875-410: The company's stations), and resulted in data being taken from its server network. Many of Sinclair's stations saw varying disruptions to programming in the days following the attack; many of its stations were able to produce their newscasts using limited internal resources (while generally being unable to display lower-third and/or full-screen graphics), while a few were forced to preempt them outright for

8000-494: The company's stock, was technically a Sinclair arm that planned to use the LMA with KOKH to gain control of the station and create an illegal duopoly with KOCB . In 2001, the FCC levied a $ 40,000 fine against Sinclair for illegally controlling Glencairn. Sinclair became a publicly listed company in 1995, raising $ 105 million in a June sale of 5 million shares. The Smith family retained a controlling interest. In 1994, Sinclair signed

8125-450: The deal also includes up to $ 6 million in earnout if certain targets are reached. Sinclair intends to integrate the properties with Tennis Channel. On April 21, 2017, following the reinstatement of the "UHF discount" (a policy that counts television stations broadcasting on UHF channels by 50% of their total audience towards the FCC's 39% market cap), Sinclair announced its intent to purchase Bonten Media Group for $ 240 million. The sale

8250-603: The deal on October 31, 2014. Sinclair purchased the non-license assets for all eight stations and began operating them through master service agreements the next day. Sinclair signed an agreement in June 2014 to carry the classic film subchannel network GetTV in 33 markets by the end of September. In July of that year, Sinclair announced the launch of the American Sports Network (ASN) service, operating within its Sinclair Networks company. This service, which produces and distributes college sports broadcasts,

8375-624: The deal) was challenged by the Rainbow/PUSH coalition (headed by Jesse Jackson ) to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1998, citing concerns over a single company controlling two broadcast licenses in the same market in violation of FCC rules. The coalition argued that Glencairn passed itself off as a minority-owned company (Edwards is African American ) which, since the Smith family controlled most of

8500-420: The divestment of their radio portfolio between 1999 and 2000. The deal was initially met with financial scrutiny. The law firm Levi & Korsinsky notified Fisher shareholders with accusations that Fisher's board of directors were breaching fiduciary duties by "failing to adequately shop the Company before agreeing to enter into the transaction", and Sinclair was underpaying for Fisher's stock. Shortly after

8625-426: The emergency stay motion on June 15, 2017, though it is still subject to a pending court proceeding to appeal the UHF discount implementation. On February 21, 2018, Sinclair informed the FCC that it planned to sell off Tribune stations in New York City , Chicago , and San Diego , while seeking waivers to purchase the Tribune stations in Indianapolis , South Central Pennsylvania , and the Piedmont Triad . Sinclair

8750-493: The end of 2021. This number increased to 39.6 million as of late March and reached to 43.4 million by September. In November 2015, it was announced that CBS All Access would expand into original programming, announcing plans for a new Star Trek television series produced by Alex Kurtzman to premiere in 2017. The series would be the first television series in the franchise since Star Trek: Enterprise (which ran from 2001 to 2005 on former corporate sibling UPN ). The series

8875-416: The first quarter. This brought the total number of global subscribers for ViacomCBS streaming platforms (Paramount+, Showtime, BET+) to 36 million. Out of the 36 million subscribers, a majority of these subscribers are subscribed to Paramount+; however, the exact number of subscribers were not released. On February 15, 2022, Paramount announced that 32.8 million subscribers have signed up for Paramount+ as of

9000-627: The largest station owners in the country, through the purchases of stations and of companies that owned groups of stations. Sinclair pioneered the concept of the local marketing agreement (LMA) in American television in 1991, when it sold WPTT to its general manager Eddie Edwards (founder of Glencairn, Ltd., the Sinclair-affiliated licensee that would eventually become Cunningham Broadcasting ) in order to purchase fellow Pittsburgh station WPGH-TV to comply with FCC ownership rules of

9125-500: The late 1950s, when electrical engineer Julian Sinclair Smith and his wife Carolyn B. Smith, owning 34.5% of the shares, along with a group of shareholders, formed the Commercial Radio Institute , a broadcasting trade school in Baltimore , Maryland. In March 1958, Commercial Radio Institute applied to build an FM radio station in Baltimore. In April 1959, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted

9250-593: The lease for a third, were initially set to be transferred to Cunningham Broadcasting, but were ultimately sold to an affiliate of Northwest Broadcasting owner Brian Brady. Prevailing in a bidding war with LIN Media, Sinclair purchased Fisher Communications in April 2013, for $ 373.3 million, equivalent to $ 488 million in 2023, including 20 television stations in the western United States, operational control of one station, and three radio stations in Seattle . This deal returned Sinclair to radio ownership, since

9375-479: The mid-2010s, Sinclair launched Refined , an online local lifestyle web magazine run in conjunction with local Sinclair stations. The third was announced for DC under WJLA-TV . In December 2016, SBG announced TBD , a new digital subchannel network aimed towards millennials , with a focus on digital content. It began broadcasting on February 13, 2017. At the NATPE conference on January 17, 2017, SBG and MGM announced

9500-524: The new Star Trek television series Star Trek: Discovery . Content from Comedy Central , MTV , Nickelodeon , and other Viacom brands was subsequently included, and in 2021, the service was rebranded as Paramount+, taking its name from the Paramount Pictures film studio and becoming a companion to other Paramount brands, mainly CBS, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures. It expanded into Australia, Latin America, and Europe. CBS All Access

9625-600: The new name. On January 19, 2021, it was announced that Paramount+ would launch on March 4, 2021, with information being released on February 24, 2021, during an investor event. The company announced that no updates will be provided for apps on second or third generation Apple TV once the service relaunches. ViacomCBS announced during their investor event on February 24 that Paramount+ would premiere new 2021 theatrical releases from Paramount Pictures (such as A Quiet Place Part II and Snake Eyes ) 45 days after their theatrical release, PAW Patrol: The Movie and Clifford

9750-628: The new service to users of these other services. ViacomCBS partially outlined these plans in a corporate earnings call on February 20, 2020, stating that the expanded All Access service would take a "house of brands" approach to content and serve as a mid-tier offering complementing Pluto TV (which would remain a free service) and the Showtime OTT service by "adding a broad pay offering, built on All Access's foundation." The expanded service will include content from MTV , VH1 , Nickelodeon , Comedy Central , BET , and Smithsonian Channel , as well as

9875-1089: The ninth-largest broadcast group in the United States. At the same time, Sinclair purchased WWHO , a CW affiliate in the Columbus, Ohio , market, from LIN TV . Owing to Sinclair's existing Columbus duopoly of WSYX and WTTE , WWHO was resold to Manhan Media, who entered into a shared services agreement with Sinclair. In May 2012, a groupwide affiliation renewal with Fox reached, included an option for Sinclair to purchase WUTB , Baltimore's MyNetworkTV station, from Fox Television Stations before March 31, 2013. Sinclair purchased WUTB and resold it to Deerfield Media —controlled by Manhan Media owner Stephen P. Mumblow—on November 26, 2012, pairing with WBFF and WNUV. Concurrently, Fox had an option to purchase up to any combination of six different MyNetworkTV and CW stations in four different markets from Sinclair, which it declined. On July 19, 2012, Sinclair acquired six stations from Newport Television , along with existing operational agreements for two other stations, for $ 412.5 million, equivalent to $ 547 million in 2023, as part of

10000-778: The non-broadcast operations would be placed under Sinclair Ventures. Then, the two companies would be placed under a new holding company, "Sinclair, Inc.". In late April 2023, Sinclair announced that starting May 15, it would end all local news broadcasts on stations in five markets: WGFL in Gainesville, Florida ; KPTH in Sioux City, Iowa ; KPTM in Omaha, Nebraska ; WNWO-TV in Toledo, Ohio ; and KTVL in Medford, Oregon . These low-rated newscasts were to be replaced by airings of The National Desk . On June 1, 2023, Sinclair announced

10125-484: The non-license assets of KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas , to Nexstar Media Group for $ 60 million, as part of a settlement between the two companies over Sinclair's failed acquisition of Tribune Media , which was ultimately acquired by Nexstar. The transaction was completed on September 17, 2020. On May 7, 2020, the company was fined $ 48 million to settle investigations related to reports and statements made to

10250-702: The number of newscasts in four markets: KAEF-TV in Eureka, California ; WGXA in Macon, Georgia ; WEYI-TV / WSMH in Saginaw / Flint, Michigan ; and WACH in Columbia, South Carolina . The discontinued newscasts were replaced by airings of The National Desk . On April 3, 2023, Sinclair announced that it would be re-organizing its operations, with the TV broadcasting properties remaining under Sinclair Broadcast Group, while

10375-439: The official wireless sponsor of the league. In the 2018 NFL season , a new agreement with Verizon ending that exclusivity began to allow CBS All Access to stream games to all mobile devices; Super Bowl games run on CBS All Access without the need for any authentication. As of February 2017, the service had nearly 1.5 million subscribers. In August of the same year, CBS unveiled plans to expand CBS All Access to markets outside

10500-498: The opening segment, the letters "news" were formed from a compass indicating the four cardinal directions . This opening segment, featuring then-anchorman Kevin Evans, appeared briefly, and was audible, in the movie Flashdance during a scene where Jennifer Beals ' character returns home and turns on the television. The presentation was relatively low-budget, with the anchor simply reading copy, with no field video shots other than

10625-518: The owner of WLUK and WCWF and operator of WTGS at that time, as both Media General and LIN owned stations in the three markets, requiring both companies to sell off stations in conflicting markets due to the FCC's recent decision to scrutinize sharing agreements between stations owned by different licensees. The swap was approved by the FCC alongside the Media General-LIN merger on December 12, 2014. On September 3, 2014, Sinclair announced

10750-551: The pre-1973 NBC and ABC libraries to subscribers of the service. Paramount+ also carries behind-the-scenes features from CBS programs and special events, and (beginning with the 17th season in June 2015) live feeds and special content from the reality series Big Brother . However, with Warner Bros. licensing its content from its television and film library (even including a few HBO series) to Paramount+ in select regions like Australia, The Big Bang Theory would soon be made available for streaming on Paramount+. In mid-April 2017,

10875-647: The primary programming from so-called "sidecar" stations with which Sinclair has an LMA, to subchannels of stations Sinclair owns outright, replacing the sidecar stations' programming with subchannel network (also known as diginet ) affiliations on their main signals. On January 1, Fox moved from KFXA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to KGAN , where its "Fox 28" branding was retained. With a transitional simulcast period from January 1 to February 4, Fox moved from WRGT-TV in Dayton, Ohio to WKEF , where its "Fox 45" branding

11000-587: The purchase of Las Vegas NBC affiliate KSNV-DT from Intermountain West Communications Company for $ 120 million. As Sinclair already owns a duopoly in Las Vegas ( KVMY and KVCW ), the company will sell the license assets (though not the programming) of one of the three stations to comply with FCC ownership restrictions, with the divested station's programming being relocated to the other stations. The purchase of KSNV's non-license assets

11125-513: The renewal of Comedy Central animated series South Park through 2027, it was announced that series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone would produce 14 movie-length South Park specials for Paramount+, with two premiering annually from 2021 through 2027. Streaming rights to the South Park series proper are owned by Max through 2025, after which streaming rights for new episodes will move to Paramount+ beginning in 2024 (season 27), and

11250-569: The rights early for its remaining seasons. On August 19, 2022, UEFA extended the deal until 2030. The service has picked up other domestic and international soccer events as well, including the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), CONCACAF Nations League , Women's Nations League , and 2022 CONCACAF Women's Championship , the Argentine Primera División , Brazilian Série A , and Italy's Serie A . As part of

11375-423: The same market". The company has been criticized by journalists and media analysts for requiring its stations to broadcast packaged video segments and its news anchors to read prepared scripts that contain pro-Trump editorial content, including warnings about purported " fake news " in mainstream media, while Trump has tweeted support for watching Sinclair over CNN and NBC. The company's roots date back to

11500-553: The second half of the year was made in early 2022. in late 2022, Paramount+ announced that the streaming service will be launched in France and French-speaking Switzerland on December 1, followed by its arrival in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland on December 8. Paramount+ was replaced in the Nordics by SkyShowtime , a joint venture with Comcast that also includes Sky Studios and NBCUniversal content. SkyShowtime

11625-411: The series library in 2025. In May 2022, Paramount announced that Paramount+ was planned to commission 150 international originals by 2025, including several from Latin America (mainly Mexico) and European territories (including France, Italy and Spain). Paramount+ also carries sports programming, in conjunction with CBS Sports . In November 2019, CBS announced that it had acquired streaming rights in

11750-469: The service allows live programming streams of local CBS affiliates in 194 markets reaching 92% of the United States (including stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group , Hearst Television , Tegna Media , Nexstar Media Group , Meredith Corporation , Griffin Media , Gray Television , Weigel Broadcasting , and Cox Media Group and the launch group of CBS Television Stations ), including SEC sports and

11875-534: The service among other titles). The relaunch occurred as announced on March 4, 2021, with additional streaming content being launched and further rebranding efforts taking place at that time. In August 2021, it was announced that Paramount+ would be shut down in Nordic Europe in 2022 in favor of SkyShowtime, a joint venture with Comcast -owned Sky Group that would also include content from Showtime, Sky Studios , and NBCUniversal . In September 2021, it

12000-410: The service in 2021. With the expansion, it was also announced that the service would rebrand in early-2021 to separate itself from CBS's platforms, and that there were plans to add multiple user profiles and parental controls later in 2020. On September 15, 2020, it was announced that CBS All Access would rebrand as Paramount+ in 2021, and that it planned to perform more international expansion under

12125-903: The service's rebranding as Paramount+, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and spin-off series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years debuted in March 2021. Sponge on the Run was also made available to rent on demand on the same day. ViacomCBS announced planned original series such as the true crime series The Real Criminal Minds , a revival of Behind the Music , a revival of the BET series The Game , Taylor Sheridan 's Lioness , and The Offer —a drama based on Albert S. Ruddy 's experiences filming The Godfather . It later announced plans to produce continuations, revivals, and reboots of other properties, including Frasier , iCarly , Reno 911! , and

12250-698: The service, named 10 All Access , on December 4, 2018. In August 2020, ViacomCBS announced plans to launch an expanded international streaming service using the CBS All Access technical architecture, but under the new Paramount+ name (revealed in September) in 2021; the Paramount+ name would also be applied to the American replacement to CBS All Access. The service features original programming from CBS All Access as well as Showtime , plus additional programming including Paramount Pictures films which may vary by market. The service would initially launch in

12375-437: The service, starting with more than 100 from Paramount Pictures, and ViacomCBS announced that CBS All Access will expand internationally within twelve months. On July 30, 2020, CBS All Access added several shows from ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks , introduced a new user interface with "hubs" for different brands, and revealed that Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years (previously planned to air on Nickelodeon) would debut on

12500-569: The show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone extending their deals with Paramount Global in August 2021; the streaming acquisition of the series will also include the rights to all 310 episodes beginning in 2022 in other countries and in 2025 in the United States. CBS's Christmas specials are not available on Paramount+. CBS All Access was first launched in the United States on October 27, 2014. The service would receive its first International expansion on April 23, 2018, when CBS All Access expanded to Canada. Australia received its own version of

12625-639: The show's distributor), as well as a wide selection of episodes of classic series from the CBS Media Ventures program library – including shows previously owned by the original Paramount Television made for both CBS and other networks prior to CBS's acquisition of its program library through the CBS-Viacom split (including the complete episode catalog of shows like Star Trek , Cheers , MacGyver , Twin Peaks and CSI: Miami ), along with

12750-637: The station's license. In February 2013, Cox Media Group sold five television stations, their smallest by media market rankings, to Sinclair, with Deerfield Media assuming ownership of Cox-operated KAME-TV in Reno. Sinclair purchased Schaumburg, Illinois –based Barrington Broadcasting on February 28, 2013, including six other stations operated by Barrington. The former Cox and Barrington stations are operated through subsidiary Chesapeake Television, focusing on smaller markets and with management separate from Sinclair proper. Two Barrington stations, along with

12875-504: The stations owned by Cox Media Group . In January 2019, Sinclair launched an OTT multi-channel streaming service Stirr providing free streaming access to local Sinclair station content as well as on-demand shows and films. On February 13, 2019, Sinclair and the Chicago Cubs announced a new regional sports network, Marquee Sports Network , to start in 2020 with exclusive rights to Cubs' games. On March 9, 2019, Sinclair purchased

13000-489: The syndicator or infomercial producer. By the very nature of its being live, streaming of a local affiliate does include all advertising, even with the commercial-free plan. On December 1, 2016, CBS announced an agreement with the NFL to allow clearance of regional NFL games carried by CBS on CBS All Access from Week 13 of the 2016 NFL season on. At the time, the games were blacked out on non– Verizon Wireless mobile devices due to that provider's exclusivity agreement as

13125-516: The time that prohibited duopolies , while agreeing to allow Sinclair to retain operational responsibilities for the station. However, while LMAs would become an integral part of the company's business model in subsequent years, Sinclair's plans to acquire KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City through Glencairn, which would subsequently attempt to sell five of its 11 existing LMA-operated stations to Sinclair outright in turn (with Sinclair stock included in

13250-420: The weather read over a stock video shot denoting the conditions outside. It was not a factor in taking ratings away from then-market laggard WIIC-TV, now WPXI , much less solid runner-up WTAE-TV and then-locally owned Group W powerhouse KDKA-TV . As WBFF did not air newscasts until 1991 and WTTE would not air any newscasts from its 1984 sign-on until Sinclair purchased ABC affiliate WSYX in 1996, this marked

13375-510: Was also linked to a similar cyberattack that hit Olympus Corporation 's corporate server network on October 10) within Sinclair's servers. On March 3, 2022, Sinclair announced that they would sell the Ring of Honor wrestling promotion to Tony Khan , who is the principal owner of rival All Elite Wrestling . In March 2023, it was reported that Sinclair had laid off news employees and reduced

13500-711: Was announced as Arthur Hasson, general manager of Sinclair stations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . On August 20, 2014, Sinclair announced that it would swap WTTA in Tampa and KXRM-TV and KXTU-LD in Colorado Springs to Media General in exchange for WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island , WLUK-TV and WCWF in Green Bay and WTGS in Savannah, Georgia . The deal was part of Media General's merger with LIN Media,

13625-491: Was announced that Paramount+ would be the new streaming home for South Park in the United States beginning with season 27 in 2024, after HBO Max 's deal to the show will expire in 2025 in the United States and its separate international deal with Netflix has also expired in 2022, with all current seasons of South Park rolling out onto the service in countries where it is available, with new episodes premiering on Paramount+ in those regions. This comes just seven months after

13750-469: Was announced that Showtime's direct-to-consumer service would be offered as part of a bundle with Paramount+. Showtime content would still be accessed via the Showtime app and website, but plans were announced for Showtime content to be accessible within the Paramount+ apps for its DTC subscribers later in 2022. The change was implemented in August 2022, with subscribers on both services able to upgrade to

13875-634: Was announced that Sinclair is a Fortune 500 company, with annual revenues of $ 5.9 billion in 2020, placing it at 465 on the annual listing of the largest U.S. companies. The company has 10,000 employees as of 2021, and acquired an additional 46,000-square-foot (4,300 m ) office building near its main Hunt Valley headquarters to accommodate an additional 260 employees. On April 1, 2021, Sinclair anchorman Reed Cowan said that if WE Charity did not pay him $ 20 million, he would use Sinclair Broadcast Group's television platforms to disparage

14000-745: Was announced that a streaming spin-off season of CBS reality series Big Brother was being planned for CBS All Access. The season, Big Brother: Over the Top , premiered in September 2016. Further Star Trek television series were announced for CBS All Access as well: in February 2019, CBS All Access announced what would become Star Trek: Picard , focusing on the Star Trek: The Next Generation series' captain, which premiered in January 2020. The adult animation series Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered in August 2020. With

14125-595: Was approved on June 30, and the sale was completed September 1. On May 8, 2017, Sinclair announced its intent to acquire the Chicago-based Tribune Media for $ 3.9 billion. The sale would have given Sinclair ownership of additional stations within the top-10 markets, along with ownership of a stake in Food Network , WGN America , and other additional assets, To comply with Department of Justice antitrust and FCC ownership regulations, it

14250-449: Was completed on November 1, 2014. On September 11, 2014, the license assets of WCIV were sold to Howard Stirk Holdings (pending FCC approval) and aside from sharing studio space with WMMP (which will retain the ABC affiliation and current programming of WCIV), will have no operational control from Sinclair, saving the station from being forfeited back to the FCC. Similar sales were filed with

14375-457: Was later announced as Star Trek: Discovery . In May 2016, it was announced that The Good Wife would get a spin-off featuring Christine Baranski 's character Diane Lockhart ; The Good Fight launched with a CBS broadcast premiere in February 2017, with the remaining nine episodes exclusive to CBS All Access. This became the first original drama on the platform, ahead of the delayed launch of Star Trek: Discovery . In August 2016, it

14500-488: Was launched as a sci-fi broadcast subchannel network. On October 12, Sinclair Original Programming and the programming department was merged into Sinclair Programming and moved into Sinclair Television Group. On October 1, 2015, Gray Television announced that it would acquire WLUC-TV from Sinclair; in return, Sinclair would receive WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana , from Gray. The swap, part of Gray's acquisition of

14625-551: Was launched on October 28, 2014, priced at US$ 5.99 per month with advertising and $ 9.99 per month without. Announced on October 16, 2014, as the first over-the-top (OTT) offering by an American broadcast television network, the service initially encompassed the network's existing streaming portal at CBS.com and its mobile app for smartphones and tablet computers; CBS All Access became available on Roku on April 7, 2015, and on Chromecast on May 14, 2015. In addition to providing full-length episodes of past and present CBS programs,

14750-401: Was made available outside the United States for the first time when it was launched in Canada. The service launched in Australia in December 2018 as 10 All Access. It operated alongside 10's free catch up and live streaming service 10 Play and contains a mixture of Network 10 and CBS programming. CBS shows are made available on All Access prior to being broadcast on 10's channels. 10 All Access

14875-680: Was moved to TBD in 2018, and was eventually discontinued 8 months later. In June 2020, Sinclair announced it would launch "a headline news service" that would air weekday mornings (6:00 AM – 9:00 AM local time) and rely on news-gathering services of Sinclair's stations as well as original content, similar in format to NewsNation produced by Nexstar Media Group for WGN America . The show, titled The National Desk , launched on January 18, 2021, and airs on Sinclair's CW and MyNetworkTV -affiliated stations along with its Fox -affiliated stations that do not have their own local morning news shows. On September 27, 2021, The National Desk expanded to

15000-461: Was promoted from chief operating officer to vice chairman with responsibility for corporate marketing, human resources and the networks group, while Steven Pruett move from co-COO of Sinclair Television Group to executive vice president and chief TV development officer. On March 1, 2017, Sinclair bought Tennis Media Company for $ 8 million, which includes the Tennis.com website and Tennis magazine;

15125-466: Was purchased for $ 200 million, equivalent to $ 271 million in 2023. Sinclair assumed managerial control of the stations from Nexstar Broadcasting Group . Four Points owner Cerberus Capital Management paid Nexstar cash compensation for the prematurely terminated time brokerage agreements. In November 2011, Sinclair purchased Freedom Communications ' television stations for $ 385 million, equivalent to $ 521 million in 2023, making Sinclair

15250-437: Was retained. On February 1, Fox moved from WVAH-TV in Charleston, West Virginia to WCHS-TV , where its "Fox 11" branding was retained. While in at least one case (Columbus) the move was done due to the transition to ATSC 3.0 , there are no explanations for the other stations. In March 2021 Sinclair laid off 550 employees, which represented about 5% of its workforce, citing the COVID-19 pandemic . On June 2, 2021, it

15375-596: Was retained; although beginning on February 4, WRGT-TV maintained a primary affiliation with non-diginet MyNetworkTV, on April 19, that affiliation also moved to WKEF. With a transitional simulcast period from January 1 to February 1, Fox moved from KBTV-TV in Port Arthur, Texas to KFDM in nearby Beaumont, Texas , where its "Fox 4" branding was retained. With a transitional simulcast period from January 7 to February 3, Fox moved from original Sinclair signee WTTE in Columbus, Ohio to WSYX , where its "Fox 28" branding

15500-479: Was subsequently launched throughout many European countries over the course of late 2022 and early 2023, not including territories where Sky operates as a pay TV provider or France. The service is scheduled to be launched in Japan from November 15, 2023, in partnership with the cable television J:COM and Wowow , as part of their video streaming services, under a similar agreement to that of the South Korea. However,

15625-498: Was suggested that Sinclair would have to divest stations in multiple markets. The concerns about Sinclair potentially creating an oligarchy in the broadcast television industry – alongside Nexstar Media Group, which has a station portfolio of similar size – led public interest groups to attempt to block the purchase by preventing the UHF discount from being reinstated. On June 1, 2017, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals issued

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