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OWNERSHIP Though Sinclair became a public company in 1995 and is currently traded on NASDAQ under the symbol SBGI, the Smith family still retains a majority financial interest, and all four Smith brothers serve as executives or directors. BACKGROUND Many stations are owned outright by the company, but many others are affiliated through , CBS , NBC and Fox . In January 2006, UPN and the WB merged into a new network, The CW , and it is unclear which of the remaining 8 WB stations that Sinclair owns will become affiliates of the newly-formed network. In February 2006 My Network TV , a new spin-off of Fox's parent News Corporation, was formed to pickup stations that were losing either UPN or The WB. That announcement resulted in Sinclair signing a deal the following March, bringing 10 soon-to-be-ex WB affils (WTTA, WCWB, WSTR, WBSC, KRRT, WTVZ, WNYO, KVWB, WDKA and WNYS), 6 soon-to-be-ex-UPN affils (WUXP, WCGV, WUPN, WMMP, WABM and WRDC) and one independent (WFGX) to the new upstart come September 2006 . KFBT in Las Vegas has been an independent before both the UPN/WB merger and the spin off of Fox's new network was announced and will continue in that capacity, as KVWB (also owned by Sinclair) is taking the new affiliation. There is also the possibility that WBFF/Baltimore's affiliation with Fox could have some implications in the wake of Fox O&O WUTB having passed on The CW and WBFF's contract with Fox having expired and has yet to be renewed, despite WUTB having picked up My Network TV as an affiliate. SBG has been compared to the Radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications (although they own TV stations as well as radio stations). The company, founded by Julian Smith, originated in 1971 as a UHF station in Baltimore , Maryland . It is currently run by CEO David Smith and three other sons of Julian Smith. SBG 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 , a high-ranking executive at SBG, also creates conservative Editorial segments called "The Point" that are broadcast on some of the group's 61 stations. In addition, most of the stations that aired "News Central" emulated the prepackaged news studio appearance for local stories. This model was ultimately unsuccessful, and on March 31, 2006, News Central ended its national news broadcasts (although as of April 2006, The Point survives). Most stations running the News Central format ended up cancelling their news coverage altogether. RELATIONSHIP TO GLENCAIRN/CUNNINGHAM Between 1994 and 1997 , nine stations owned by Glencairn Ltd. entered Local Marketing Agreement s with Sinclair-owned stations in the same cities. Glencairn was owned by Edwin Edwards, a former Sinclair executive, who also personally owned WPTT-TV in Pittsburgh . Since the Smiths owned nearly all of Glencairn's stock, some claimed Glencairn was a corporate shell with the sole purpose of evading FCC rules against owning more than one station in a market. In December 2001 , after complaints from Jesse Jackson and several other media companies, the FCC fined Sinclair $40,000 for illegally controlling Glencairn. Sinclair tried to merge outright with Glencairn in 2001 and purchase Edwards' Pittsburgh station, now WPMY . However, the FCC only allowed four of the stations to come directly under the Sinclair banner. Glencairn kept the others and changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting. Cunningham is owned by trusts in the name of four members of the Smith family. ''NIGHTLINE'' CONTROVERSY In 2004 , Sinclair attracted controversy when it decided that eight ABC stations it owned would not be allowed to broadcast an April 30 airing of a '' Nightline '' tribute to the 721 soldiers killed in the 2003 Invasion and Occupation of Iraq . The group issued a statement that said in part, "The action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq." ABC responded, saying that the program was meant to be an expression of respect which seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country." For differing reasons, the decision to not air the episode attracted criticism both from supporters and opponents of the Iraq war. Affected stations were in the markets in the following areas:
WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida , owned by Media Venture Management and part of an Outsourcing agreement with SBG, decided to air the program. In other affected areas, a number of independent stations stepped into the breach to air the broadcast. KERRY FILM CONTROVERSY In , a former associate of Tom Ridge , and accuses John Kerry of prolonging the Vietnam War because of his Anti-war Activism . The organization Swift Boat Veterans For Truth , an anti-Kerry organization whose name become well known in the 2004 election year, was cross-promoting the film as part of a $1.4 million advertising campaign. {Link without Title} In response, the Democratic National Committee filed a legal motion with the Federal Election Commission stating that it is inappropriate for the media organization to air "partisan propaganda" in the last 10 days of an election campaign. {Link without Title} Sinclair fired its Washington bureau chief Jon Leiberman , stating he revealed company business when he publicly discussed the documentary in an interview published October 18th in the Baltimore Sun . Left wing political action groups, such as moveon.org , and mediamatters.org, rallied their members to threaten to boycotting companies who advertized during the program and to contact companies to let them know they intend to boycott them, and sign a petition on stopsinclair.org. The Controversy caused Sinclair's stock to drop, with its heaviest volume after William Lerach threatened legal action claiming inside transactions and citing stopsinclair.org as evidence. fund, which holds 256,000 shares of Sinclair stock. Finally, Sinclair backed down and aired an edited version of the show. ACCUSATIONS OF MISINFORMATION On August 30, 2005, in the segment "The Point", broadcast on Sinclair newscasts across the country, Sinclair commentator Mark Hyman falsely claimed that Social Security discriminates against minorities, whereas the truth is that some minorities have longer life expectancies after retirement than whites {Link without Title} . He also falsely claimed that spouses who worked for less than 10 years because they "gave up career in order to raise a family... get diddly-squat"[http://www.newscentral.tv/uploads/franchise/point/point-20050830.shtml . In fact, married Social Security recipients are eligible for all the benefits that they have earned for themselves, and, in addition, if those benefits are less than half of what their spouse receives, they also receive spousal benefits that increase their overall benefits to an amount equal to half their partner's benefit, plus survivor benefits. {Link without Title} STATIONS OPERATED BY SBG
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