Media Action Center is a group of of concerned residents throughout the U.S. led by former Emmy-winning broadcaster turned media reformer Sue Wilson. We have successfully influenced policy at the Federal Communications Commission and at local TV and Radio stations throughout the country for more than a decade to ensure We the People are truly served by the publicly owned airwaves. (See the archive of our work under "older posts.") We successfully forced Entercom to give up its $13.5 million license to KDND for killing a woman in a radio water drinking stunt. We have a long-running action to label Alex Jones' radio show as the fiction it is, which has taken Jones' program off dozens of radio stations nationwide. We educated the Supreme Court in FCC v Prometheus Radio on critical information to #SaveLocalNews.

Please see MAC's 2018 Comment to the FCC (below) to learn why these actions are crucial to Democracy. Find full journalistic coverage of the Supreme Court case and our Amicus brief, Sinclair Broadcasting's shell game, Alex Jones, the Strange v Entercom trial and other public interest media issues at SueWilsonReports.com. For background on how we arrived in this era of disinformation and what to do about it, see Wilson's 2009 documentary Broadcast Blues.

Top Broadcasters Controlling Two Local Network Affiliate Stations in Same Local Market

 December 19, 2020

 

MAC Survey of Local Market News Content

As we consider whether the FCC should change the rules concerning how many local TV stations one company may license in one community, Media Action Center wanted to know how many local markets (Designated Market Areas or “DMAs”) already have one station group owning more than one Top Four (network affiliate) station. If so, in which markets, what size of markets, the minority population of those markets, and whether those stations offer the same or different local news on their two separate network affiliates.

Media Action Center researched this question to demonstrate that local news operations often result very similar, if not identical, news coverage on multiple TV stations in a single local market. These combinations are not adding anything to local news coverage in these communities.

 

Methodology:

Media Action Center volunteers researched the top ten largest TV Station groups in the country as defined by total revenue to provide such data. The data we produced is subject to some interpretation, but at least provides a snapshot for consideration. Volunteers reviewed websites, copyright information and local news reports to identify patterns. The Data Tables for every station group are provided below with hyperlinks for easy access for readers to independently review the findings. This research is not peer reviewed but does offer baseline information to illustrate the current state of local news in the communities studied.


 
NEXSTAR
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o7KjXrH2576Mm1vu6kW63hPvu41NKlZZ

SINCLAIR BROADCASTING 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSJiPmv8sgqbT_LJ-fiQmt1tGT0LkQVG

GRAY TV                                                                                                                        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1snw-ROVs0x_CaJwJ5HmAqAdasgXhgInQ

SCRIPPS                                                                                                                                     https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k7kNDzjN3OGzm69zQsuZEGXTBMpG_VkI

TEGNA
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQfTwJFAwhIa93xx1jnazB7O_FbhgsHv