Sinclair TV chairman to Trump: 'We are here to deliver your message'
Source: The Guardian
The rightwing broadcaster met Trump at the White House to pitch a potentially lucrative new product to officials
Jon Swaine in New York
@jonswaine
Tue 10 Apr 2018 07.00 EDT Last modified on Tue 10 Apr 2018 10.09 EDT
The chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group met Donald Trump at the White House during a visit to pitch a potentially lucrative new product to administration officials, the Guardian has learned.
David D Smith, whose company has been criticised for making its anchors read a script echoing Trumps attacks on the media, said he briefed officials last year on a system that would enable authorities to broadcast direct to any Americans phone.
I just wanted them to be aware of the technology, Smith said in an interview. He also recalled an earlier meeting with Trump during the 2016 election campaign, where he told the future president: We are here to deliver your message.
Sinclair is the biggest owner of local TV in the US, and may soon reach 72% of American households if a proposed $4bn takeover of a rival is approved by federal regulators. It is accused by critics of having a conservative bias, which it denies.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/apr/10/donald-trump-sinclair-david-smith-white-house-meeting?CMP=share_btn_tw
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)or betrays 250 years of America.
brush
(53,784 posts)Bengus81
(6,931 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)and he's all out of bubblegum.
Cirque du So-What
(25,940 posts)Sinclair must pay!
LittleGirl
(8,287 posts)iluvtennis
(19,861 posts)flying_wahini
(6,600 posts)CrispyQ
(36,470 posts)How Trump's FCC aided Sinclair's expansion
Use of a regulatory loophole will allow Sinclair to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribunes stations.
By MARGARET HARDING MCGILL and JOHN HENDEL 08/06/2017 07:03 AM EDT
Sinclair Broadcast Group is expanding its conservative-leaning television empire into nearly three-quarters of American households but its aggressive takeover of the airwaves wouldnt have been possible without help from President Donald Trump's chief at the Federal Communications Commission.
Sinclair, already the nations largest TV broadcaster, plans to buy 42 stations from Tribune Media in cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, on top of the more than 170 stations it already owns. It got a critical assist this spring from Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who revived a decades-old regulatory loophole that will keep Sinclair from vastly exceeding federal limits on media ownership.
The change will allow Sinclair a company known for injecting "must run" conservative segments into its local programming to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribunes stations. Thats nearly double the congressionally imposed nationwide audience cap of 39 percent.
The FCC and the company both say the agency wasnt giving Sinclair any special favors by reviving the loophole, known as the UHF discount, which has long been considered technologically obsolete. But the Tribune deal would not have been viable if not for Pais intervention: Sinclair already reaches an estimated 38 percent of U.S. households without the discount, leaving it almost no room for growth.
My non-political friends are so confident that it can't happen here, even as it's happening before our eyes.
justhanginon
(3,290 posts)as will all of our resident would be Nazis. It is beyond disgusting how far this country has fallen under republican so-called leadership.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)The demos watching local news has slipped dramatically. Sinclair at least can't corrupt the minds of the younger generations with their bullshit news coverage.
murielm99
(30,742 posts)Snake oil salesmen deliberately duping.
brooklynite
(94,585 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,608 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,010 posts)turbinetree
(24,703 posts)djg21
(1,803 posts)He also recalled an earlier meeting with Trump during the 2016 election campaign, where he told the future president: We are here to deliver your message.
If this statement was made by Mr. Smith, it is admission that Sinclair was not acting independently as a member or the media, but was in fact was making in-kind contributions of advertising space to the Trump Campaign Committee. If so, Sinclair was subject to campaign contribution limits and the Campaign Committee would have been required to discllose the value of its in-kind contributions in campaign finance reports. Let see the FEC or someone go after Sinclair!