Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Sinclair Broadcast Group history
Sinclair Broadcast Group company history timeline
1986 – Julian and his four sons (David, Fred, Duncan and Rob) combined the operations of their then three independent UHF television stations in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Columbus under Sinclair, appointing their long-term partner, Robert “Bob” Simmons as the Company’s first President and CEO.
The project’s smash success would later allow them to sell the enterprise for almost $5 million in 1986.
In 1986, however, David Smith was able to persuade one of the outsiders, who happened to hold a 10.2 percent share, to take the Smith’s side of the issue.
All three stations originally were independents, though WBFF and WTTE became charter affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company at its launch in 1986.
Smith realized that he would either have to sell the station or buy up the competitors; he chose to buy. It was at this time, in 1986, that the name Sinclair Broadcast Group name was coined, and the company began its affiliation with the Fox Broadcasting Co.
1990’s With David Smith as CEO, the Smith family vision was beginning to take hold as the Company grew from 3 television stations to 59, becoming the largest broadcaster in the country.
The Fox affiliation in Pittsburgh went to higher-rated WPGH-TV, which would later be purchased by Sinclair in 1990.
1991 – David Smith was elected to succeed the retiring Bob Simmons.
Warner Brothers and Paramount began a mad scramble after Warner Brothers’ November, 1993 announcement that it would introduce its own WB Network the following summer.
The following year, in October 1994, Sinclair turned its own deal and bought WLFL-TV in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina from Paramount Stations Group for an undisclosed amount.
1994 – Sinclair acquired four stations including adding two LMAs in Milwaukee and Baltimore, thereby doubling the size of the Company.
In 1994, Sinclair signed 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.
The station was then aligned with Paramount’s new broadcast network, which was scheduled to start in 1995.
1996 – 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.
The latter half of 1996 brought about the concept of Supercast, which would provide what Sinclair calls “internet and internet-type information” to computers, but without a wired connection to the internet.
In 1996, Sinclair bought out Superior Communications for $63 million.
In July of 1997, Sinclair completed the acquisition of the Heritage Media Group, which included both television and radio properties.
Switches Affiliation of Five Television Stations From the United Paramount Network to the Warner Brothers Network, Erasing UPN’s Former Distribution Advantage,” Media Week, July 21, 1997, p.2.
In an effort to repay a debt to an outstanding revolving credit facility, 5.3 million common shares of Sinclair was made available for sale in September of 1997.
1997 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the shift of the television industry from analog to digital television broadcasting (DTV) by granting the first digital licenses to broadcasters.
Sinclair issued a press release of its plans to begin broadcasting WB Network programming effective January 16, 1998.
With all legal obstacles cleared, Sinclair decided to cease its affiliation with UPN for four of its stations, and was prepared to turn at least six stations over to WB outlets in January, 1998.
Three more deals were completed in July of 1998, allowing Sinclair to announce that it had become one of the largest owners of radio and television stations in the United States.
In 1998, Sinclair bought out Max Media Properties, for $252 million.
2000’s With the television platform in place, Sinclair turned its efforts to repositioning the Company for future growth, both operationally and technologically.
A dazed UPN had no comment on the subject until it filed a law suit against Sinclair for breaking a contract that bound the two companies until January of 2001.
In December 2004, Sinclair divested KOVR-TV in Sacramento to CBS for $285 million.
2004 – With an improving economy, Sinclair’s free cash flow grew, leading to a stronger balance sheet.
2005 – Sinclair completed the build-out of its digital television platform, and quickly realized that there were many opportunities to monetize these assets.
2007 – Sinclair’s vision for utilizing and creating value from its digital TV investment did not stop there.
In 2007, Sinclair along with 8 other broadcasters and networks, founded the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) whose purpose it was to promote and evaluate mobile TV technical applications.
2008 – Just as the decade began with a recession, so too did it end.
On June 12, 2009, the United States government officially turned off the analog television signal forever, thereby ushering in the age of digital television.
The company, which has expanded the number of stations it owns by nearly threefold since 2010, is hoping to add another 42 stations as part of a potential buyout of Tribune Media, for which it needs federal permission.
On September 8, 2011, Sinclair entered into an agreement to purchase all of the assets of Four Points Media Group from Cerberus Capital Management for $200 million.
2011 – Sinclair kicked off the next wave of industry consolidation when it acquired the Four Points and Freedom Communications stations.
The deal was granted approval by the FCC for both Sinclair and Deerfield Media with their respective stations on November 19, 2012.
On February 25, 2013, Cox Media Group announced that it would sell its four smallest (by market size) television stations – KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas, WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, KRXI-TV in Reno, Nevada, and WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio – to Sinclair.
The deal with Sinclair acquiring the four smaller-market Cox stations was granted approval by the FCC on April 29, 2013, with Deerfield Media's acquisition of KAME-TV following suit the next day.
On April 11, 2013, Sinclair announced that it would merge with Fisher Communications, which owned 20 television stations in the western United States, as well as three Seattle radio stations.
Shortly after the announcement, a lawsuit was filed by a Fisher shareholder; the suit was settled in July 2013, with Fisher's shareholders approving the merger on August 6.
On September 25, 2013, Sinclair announced that it would purchase eight stations owned or operated by New Age Media.
Subsequently, on August 21, 2014, the company announced the formation of Sinclair Original Programming, a new division concentrating on entertainment and commercial content.
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 purchase of KSNV's non-license assets was completed on November 1, 2014.
The swap was approved by the FCC alongside the Media General-LIN merger on December 12, 2014.
Since May 2015, three deals were made to expand American Sports Network beyond college sports.
With MGM on October 31, 2015, Comet was launched as a sci-fi broadcast subchannel network.
In 2015, the Company added “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson,” a Sunday morning national news program focused on unique investigative reporting.
On January 27, 2016, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tennis Channel for $350 million.
Sinclair's news operations had launched six drone teams in September 2016.
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.
In 2016, the Company went live with “Circa,” a mobile, digital-first news destination focused on Millenial viewers.
At NATPE, SBG and MGM announced a second TV network, Charge!, on January 17, 2017, to begin broadcasting in the first quarter of 2017.
On January 27, 2016, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tennis Channel for $350 million. It began broadcasting on February 13, 2017.
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.
On May 8, 2017, Sinclair announced its intent to acquire the Chicago-based Tribune Media for $3.9 billion.
2017 – The year started with the appointment of Christopher Ripley as only the Company’s third CEO & President as David Smith became Executive Chairman.
Toward the end of 2017, the top internal watchdog for the F.C.C. had opened an investigation into whether Mr.
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.
On July 16, 2018, FCC chairman Ajit Pai was reported to have "serious concerns" about the transaction and proposed a hearing before an administrative law judge.
In August 2018, Tribune Media revealed some of Sinclair’s hardball tactics in a lawsuit it had filed against Sinclair after the merger plan fell through.
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.
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 March 9, 2019, Sinclair purchased 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 May 7, 2020, the company was fined $48 million to settle investigations related to reports and statements made to the FCC. In August 2020, Sinclair reached a $25 million settlement agreement for its shareholders related to three lawsuits.
On the first of April 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 a Canadian charity which builds schools in Africa.
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.
In 2021, Sinclair began merging primary programming of stations it was in an LMA with Sinclair sidecars onto subchannels of stations Sinclair owns outright, replacing the sidecar stations programming with subchannel network affiliations on their main signal.
"Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/sinclair-broadcast-group-inc
Rate Sinclair Broadcast Group's efforts to communicate its history to employees.
Sinclair Broadcast Group jobs
Do you work at Sinclair Broadcast Group?
Does Sinclair Broadcast Group communicate its history to new hires?
Sinclair Broadcast Group competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEGNA | 2015 | $3.1B | 6,883 | 149 |
| getTV | 2013 | $11.0M | 175 | - |
| Nexstar Media Group | 1996 | $5.4B | 11,086 | 750 |
| ION Media Networks | 1993 | $415.0M | 425 | - |
| Young Broadcasting | 1986 | $84.0M | 249 | - |
| Evolve Media, LLC | 2001 | - | 376 | 11 |
| Sangfor Technologies USA | 2000 | $68.1M | 7,553 | - |
| InfoSonics | 1994 | $48.1M | 75 | - |
| Shamrock Communications | 1990 | $8.5M | 150 | - |
| Daystar | 1993 | $3.8M | 5 | 1 |
Sinclair Broadcast Group history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Sinclair Broadcast Group, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Sinclair Broadcast Group. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Sinclair Broadcast Group. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Sinclair Broadcast Group and its employees or that of Zippia.
Sinclair Broadcast Group may also be known as or be related to Chesapeake Television Corporation (1971–1985), Sinclair Broadcast Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.