Sinclair and the midterms: California edition

Written by Pam Vogel

Published


Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

If you live in a midsize city or battleground state, you are now more likely than ever to see pro-Trump propaganda and conservative spin on your local news -- just in time for the 2018 election season -- thanks to conservative media giant Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Media Matters has identified communities that will see competitive congressional midterm races and that have Sinclair-owned or -operated news stations. Many Sinclair stations are already airing national news programming with a conservative slant, and they will be ramping up coverage of their local races.

We’ve already tackled Nevada, Tennessee, New York, Florida, Virginia, and Ohio. Now, we’re taking a look at California.

Key 2018 races

There are seven key congressional district races in California, most labeled by Cook Political Report as toss-up or “lean Republican” races and some targeted as key races by political groups. One currently includes several communities with Sinclair news stations, and the rest may have at least one Sinclair station before Election Day.

  • House: California’s 21st congressional district (CA-21), in the central San Joaquin Valley, was considered a “likely Republican” race by Cook Political Report as of publication, but it is one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s targeted races for 2018. Incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao faces Democrat challenger TJ Cox.
  • House: There are six other key House races in California, many in districts that are part of Orange County and/or the greater Los Angeles area: CA-10, CA-25, CA-39, CA-45, CA-48, and CA-49.

Sinclair stations in the state

KMPH (Fox 26), KFRE (CW 59), and KMPH-CD in Fresno

  • Sinclair controls KMPH (Fox 26) and KFRE (CW 59), two main local stations in the Fresno area, including parts of CA-21. It also owns KMPH-CD, a separate, small station that relays Fox 26 broadcasts to certain parts of the media market. All three stations share a main studio address in Fresno.
  • Fox 26 regularly airs at least some of Sinclair’s “must-run” content, including some nationally produced news packages, fearmongering “Terrorism Alert Desk” updates, and “Bottom Line with Boris” pro-Trump commentary segments. It also aired the recent anchor-read scripted segments about media bias at least twice.
  • The CW 59 re-airs some newscasts from Fox 26, likely including some of these “must-run” segments.

KBAK (CBS 29) and KBFX (Fox 58) in Bakersfield

KRCR (ABC 7), KCVU (Fox 20), KUCO-LP (Univision), and KRVU-LD (MyNetwork) in Chico and Redding

  • Further north, Sinclair owns a group of four stations in the media market serving the areas around Chico and Redding: KRCR (ABC, News Channel 7), KVCU (Fox 20), and smaller stations KUCO-LP (a Univision affiliate) and KRVU-LD (a MyNetwork TV affiliate).
  • ABC 7 regularly airs at least some of Sinclair’s “must-run” content, including national news packages, “Terrorism Alert Desk,” and “Bottom Line with Boris.” It also airs Full Measure, and it ran the recent anchor-read scripted segments about media bias at least 17 times. Fox 20 airs a nightly KRCR newscast, likely including some of these “must-run” segments.

KAEF (ABC 23), KBVU (Fox 28), KECA-LD (CW), and KEUV-LP (Univision) in Eureka

  • Sinclair also controls a group of four stations in the Eureka media market, which neighbors the market serving Chico and Redding. It owns KAEF (ABC 23), KBVU (Fox 28), and smaller stations KECA-LD (a CW affiliate) and KEUV-LP (a Univision affiliate.) ABC 23 and Fox 28 -- together branded as “North Coast News” -- share a website with the Sinclair-owned ABC and Fox affiliates in Chico and Redding.
  • Data is not currently available for ABC 23 or Fox 28’s airing of “must-run” segments. ABC 23 does air Sinclair’s weekly news show Full Measure and appears to likely share some news resources with KRCR (ABC 7) in nearby Redding, which airs “must-run” content.   

Coming soon: KTLA (KTLA 5, CW) in Los Angeles

  • Sinclair is set to purchase several more California local news stations via its pending acquisition of Tribune Media, including KTLA (KTLA 5, a CW affiliate) in Los Angeles, one of the largest local media markets in the country.
  • KTLA serves parts of CA-25, CA-39, CA-45, CA-48, and CA-49.

Possibly coming soon: KSWB (Fox 5) in San Diego and KTXL (Fox 40) in Sacramento

  • Sinclair also plans to acquire KSWB (Fox 5) in San Diego, which serves parts of CA-49. However, Sinclair has agreed to sell the station to 21st Century Fox in order to comply with current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership limits.
  • Sinclair plans to use the same strategy for KTXL (Fox 40) in Sacramento, which serves parts of both CA-10 and CA-21. It will also acquire the station from Tribune Media and has agreed to sell it to Fox.

Are there Sinclair stations near you?

Use Media Matters’ interactive map at FindSinclair.com to learn more.

Graphics by Sarah Wasko