About Channel 10.
WJAR (more commonly known as NBC 10) is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts licensed to Providence. It was the first television station in the state and went on the air in 1949.
It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station shares studios on Kenney Drive in Cranston with ZGS Communications-owned Telemundo affiliate WRIW-CD. On March 21, 2014, WJAR’s owners, LIN Media, entered into an agreement to merge with Media General in a $1.6 billion deal. Because LIN already owned CBS affiliate WPRI and operated Fox affiliate WNAC-TV (channel 64), and the two stations rank among the four highest-rated stations in the Providence market in total day viewership, the companies were required to sell either WJAR or WPRI-TV to another station owner in order to comply with FCC ownership rules as well as planned changes to those rules regarding same-market television stations. On August 20, 2014, Media General announced that it would keep WPRI and the LMA with WNAC and sell WJAR to Sinclair Broadcast Group. The sale was completed on December 19 of that year. (Excerpted from Wikipedia.) |
WJAR forced to run pro-Trump programs
(Providence Journal Sept. 22, 2017) The company that owns WJAR-TV is mandating the broadcast of multiple programs favorable to President Donald Trump on the state’s most-watched television station.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, a rapidly growing media company that bought Channel 10 in 2014, produces “must-run” segments and distributes them to its local stations nationwide. They must air during daily news programming, Sinclair executives said.
Sinclair is poised to become the nation’s largest owner of TV stations and, with its recent hire of former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn, viewers can expect to see more of the chain’s political programming.
The practice, which has infused a political flavor into the 68-year-old WJAR’s broadcasts, started quietly there at least a year ago.
Three of the segments have rattled viewers and WJAR’s own news reporters, according to Fletcher Fischer, the business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1228, the union that represents broadcast workers there:
‒ The Terrorism Alert Desk, advertised as a daily news update about terrorist activity.
‒ News pieces from Epshteyn, Sinclair’s chief political analyst.
‒ A clearly labeled opinion show featuring Mark Hyman, a former vice president of the company.
These pieces are fed to Sinclair’s 174 stations in the United States every day.
Sinclair’s insertion of the segments into news programming has been harshly critiqued by Rhode Islanders and national commentators. See more.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, a rapidly growing media company that bought Channel 10 in 2014, produces “must-run” segments and distributes them to its local stations nationwide. They must air during daily news programming, Sinclair executives said.
Sinclair is poised to become the nation’s largest owner of TV stations and, with its recent hire of former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn, viewers can expect to see more of the chain’s political programming.
The practice, which has infused a political flavor into the 68-year-old WJAR’s broadcasts, started quietly there at least a year ago.
Three of the segments have rattled viewers and WJAR’s own news reporters, according to Fletcher Fischer, the business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1228, the union that represents broadcast workers there:
‒ The Terrorism Alert Desk, advertised as a daily news update about terrorist activity.
‒ News pieces from Epshteyn, Sinclair’s chief political analyst.
‒ A clearly labeled opinion show featuring Mark Hyman, a former vice president of the company.
These pieces are fed to Sinclair’s 174 stations in the United States every day.
Sinclair’s insertion of the segments into news programming has been harshly critiqued by Rhode Islanders and national commentators. See more.