Cunningham Broadcasting

{{Short description|American media company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation

| logo = Cunningham Broadcasting.png

| former_name = Glencairn, Ltd. (1994–2001)

| type = Private

| founded = {{Start date and age|1994}}
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| founder = Edwin Edwards

| hq_location_city = Baltimore, Maryland

| hq_location_country = US

| industry = Broadcast media

| owner = Sinclair Broadcast Group

| website = {{URL|cunninghambroadcasting.com}}

}}

Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of broadcast television stations in the United States. The company owns fifteen stations–eight affiliated with Fox, three affiliated with The CW, two affiliated with ABC, and two affiliated with MyNetworkTV.

Cunningham has very close ties to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. All but two of the Cunningham stations are operated by Sinclair under local marketing agreements (the exceptions are WTAT-TV, which Cunningham operates directly with no involvement from Sinclair outside of a news-share agreement with a Sinclair-owned station in its market, and WYZZ-TV, which is operated by Nexstar Media Group). In addition, over 90 percent of Cunningham's stock is controlled by trusts in the name of Sinclair founder Julian Smith's children. Based on these arrangements, Cunningham appears to be a shell corporation which Sinclair uses to circumvent Federal Communications Commission regulations on television station ownership.[http://www.sinclairwatch.org/sinclair_report.pdf SinclairWatch.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720005425/http://www.sinclairwatch.org/sinclair_report.pdf |date=July 20, 2006 }}

History

Cunningham was formed in 1994 as Glencairn, Ltd. It was headed by Edwin Edwards, a former Sinclair executive who had been general manager of one of Sinclair's original stations, WPTT-TV (channel 22, WPNT) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sinclair sold WPTT to Edwards after Sinclair bought rival WPGH-TV (channel 53), but continued to operate the station under a local marketing agreement before buying the station back outright in 2000.

The initial capital was supplied by Carolyn Smith, wife of Sinclair founder Julian Smith and mother of current Sinclair CEO David Smith. Carolyn Smith also controlled 70% of Glencairn's stock. However, Glencairn held itself out as a minority-owned broadcaster (Edwards is African American), gaining instant favor with the Federal Communications Commission.

Glencairn's initial purchase set the stage for its future dealings. In late 1993 or early 1994, Sinclair Broadcast Group merged with Abry Communications, which owned WNUV (channel 54) in Baltimore. WNUV had been the principal rival to Sinclair's flagship station, WBFF (channel 45). Sinclair could not keep both stations because FCC rules at the time did not allow common ownership of two television stations in a single market. Accordingly, Glencairn bought WNUV from Sinclair, and the latter took over WNUV's operations under an LMA. However, due to the Smiths' controlling interest in Glencairn, Sinclair effectively had a duopoly in Baltimore – and had all but emasculated its principal rival.

Glencairn eventually bought ten more stations, and Sinclair controlled all their operations via local marketing agreements. Due to Glencairn's financial structure (the Smiths eventually bought 97% of Glencairn's stock), Sinclair effectively had duopolies in all 11 markets in violation of the FCC media ownership rules at the time. Among the more notable purchases:

  • As part of the Abry merger, Sinclair also acquired WNRW-TV (channel 45, now WXLV-TV) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It simulcast its programming on separately-owned WGGT-TV (channel 48) in Greensboro. Glencairn bought WGGT from its previous owner Act III Broadcasting, discontinued the simulcast and turned WGGT into an affiliate of the fledgling United Paramount Network as WUPN-TV (now MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYV).
  • In 1995, Glencairn bought WRDC-TV (channel 28) in Raleigh, North Carolina and turned over control of its operations to Sinclair via an LMA. Sinclair already owned WLFL (channel 22) in that market. In effect, Sinclair now had duopolies in two of North Carolina's largest markets.
  • In 1996, Sinclair merged with River City Broadcasting, which owned ABC affiliate WSYX (channel 6) in Columbus, Ohio. This initially posed a problem for Sinclair, as it already owned that market's Fox affiliate, WTTE (channel 28). Sinclair decided to keep the higher-rated WSYX and sold WTTE to Glencairn. Sinclair continued to operate WTTE through an LMA. River City also owned WLOS (channel 13) in Asheville, North Carolina and satellite station WAXA-TV (channel 40) in Anderson, South Carolina. Sinclair sold WAXA to Glencairn, who ended the simulcast and turned WAXA into an independent station, later changing its call letters to WFBC-TV and later WBSC-TV.
  • In 1997, Sinclair purchased the broadcasting properties of Heritage Media, which included ABC affiliate WCHS-TV (channel 8) in Charleston, West Virginia. Sinclair already owned the market's Fox affiliate WVAH-TV (channel 11), but opted to keep the longer-established WCHS and sold WVAH to Glencairn. Also that year, Glencairn bought KRRT (channel 35, now KMYS) in San Antonio, Texas, which already had an existing LMA with KABB (channel 29, which Sinclair had acquired the previous year as part of its purchase of River City).
  • In 1998, Sinclair and Glencairn teamed up to buy five stations from Sullivan Broadcasting. Glencairn simply bought the licenses while Sinclair bought the stations' other assets. Sinclair then leased the non-license assets back to Glencairn.

= The 1999–2001 dispute =

In 1999, the FCC finally relaxed its ownership rules and allowed one company to own two stations in the same market starting in 2001. Ironically, this development brought the Sinclair-Glencairn arrangement to light for the first time. At the time, Glencairn was getting ready to buy Sullivan-owned KOKH-TV (channel 25) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where Sinclair already owned KOCB (channel 34). When the FCC relaxed its rules, Sinclair simply replaced Glencairn as the buyer for KOKH. Glencairn then announced plans to sell five of its stations to Sinclair outright.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140610193409/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20938729.html PUSH pushing FCC over Sinclair/Glencairn.(Rainbow/Push Coalition; Sinclair Broadcast; local marketing agreements)], Broadcasting & Cable, July 13, 1998.

The move led Jesse Jackson and others to file challenges to the proposed transactions. In the course of subsequent hearings, it emerged that Edwards did not know how much debt Glencairn would assume when the deals were finalized. This led FCC Commissioner Michael Copps to question the deal's integrity, as well as Glencairn's decision-making process. It later emerged that Glencairn was to be paid for the proposed purchases with Sinclair stock and that the Smiths controlled almost all of Glencairn's stock. Eventually, the FCC placed a $40,000 fine against Sinclair for illegally controlling Glencairn. However, it took no further action, leading Copps to blast the decision as a backhanded endorsement of Sinclair's tactics.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140610193407/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54266781.html Glencairn's dicey LMAs], Broadcasting & Cable, March 29, 1999.

[http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/news-articles/fcc-fines-sinclair-glencairn-control/90604 FCC fines Sinclair for Glencairn control], Broadcasting & Cable, December 10, 2001.

= Glencairn becomes Cunningham =

In 2001, Glencairn attempted to merge with Sinclair outright. However, the FCC rejected the deal because six of Glencairn's stations – WNUV, WVAH, WTTE, WBSC, WRGT-TV (channel 45) in Dayton, Ohio and WTAT-TV (channel 24) in Charleston, South Carolina – were located in markets where Sinclair could not legally have duopolies. The reasons stated:

  • WNUV: Baltimore has only seven full-power television stations. The FCC requires a market to have eight unique station owners once a duopoly is formed, not counting low-power stations.
  • WTTE: Sinclair-owned WSYX is the third-rated station in Columbus while WTTE is the fourth-rated station. FCC rules do not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. In addition, Columbus has only seven full-power stations – too few to allow a duopoly in any case.
  • WBSC: The FCC already permitted Media General, owner of WSPA-TV (channel 7), to buy LMA partner WASV (channel 62, now WYCW) in 2002, and a Sinclair purchase of WBSC (now WMYA-TV) would leave only seven unique owners in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville market.
  • WVAH: Sinclair-owned WCHS was the second highest-rated station in the Huntington-Charleston market, while WVAH was fourth at the time.
  • WRGT: Dayton has only seven full-power television stations – too few to allow any duopolies. In addition, Sinclair already owned WKEF (channel 22), the third highest-rated station, while WRGT is the fourth highest-rated.
  • WTAT: Charleston has only six full-power stations – too few to allow any duopolies. WTAT was nominally a junior partner in an LMA with WMMP (channel 36), which Sinclair had acquired in a group deal in July 1998. In 2020, this was resolved when Cunningham began to operate WTAT directly, ending relations with WCIV outside of a news share agreement.

Sinclair, however, was able to buy five of Glencairn's stations, and Glencairn subsequently changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting, named after the widow of Sinclair's founder, Carolyn Cunningham Smith.{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/baltimoresun/obituary.aspx?n=carolyn-beth-cunningham-smith&pid=158138071&fhid=9958|title=Obituary for Carolyn Beth Cunningham Smith|access-date=22 September 2018}} However, nearly all of Cunningham's stock is owned by the estate of Carolyn C. Smith, which controls the trusts of her and Julian Sinclair Smith's four sons (one of whom is the chairman of the board of Sinclair and previously its CEO), and so Sinclair still effectively owns Cunningham.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25406-2004Oct11.html |title=Family's TV Clout in Bush's Corner, Howard Kurtz and Frank Ahrens, Washington Post, October 12, 2004, Page A1 |publisher=Washingtonpost.com |date=2004-10-12 |access-date=2014-01-04}} This situation led Sinclair Media Watch, a grassroots organization based in Asheville, to file informal objections when WLOS and WBSC's licenses came up for renewal in 2004. However, the FCC has taken no further action against Sinclair or Cunningham.{{cite web|url=http://www.sinclairwatch.net/WBSCIO2FCC.pdf |title=Sinclair Media Watch challenge to WLOS and WBSC licenses |access-date=2014-01-04}}

Current stations

  • Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Stations owned by Cunningham Broadcasting

! scope="col" | Media market

! scope="col" | State

! scope="col" | Station

! scope="col" | Purchased

! scope="col" | Network affiliation

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

BirminghamAlabama

! scope="row" | WDBB

| 1995

The CW{{efn|Satellite of WTTO.}}
ChicoReddingrowspan="2" | California

! scope="row" | KCVU

| 2017

Fox
Eureka

! scope="row" | KBVU

| 2017

Fox{{efn|Semi-satellite of KCVU.}}
PeoriaBloomingtonIllinois

! scope="row" | WYZZ-TV

| 2013

Fox{{efn|Operated by Nexstar Media Group.}}
PortlandMaine

! scope="row" | WPFO

| 2017

Fox
BaltimoreMaryland

! scope="row" | WNUV

| 1994

The CW
Bay CityFlintrowspan="3" | Michigan

! scope="row" | WBSF

| 2013

The CW
Sault Ste. Marie

! scope="row" | WGTQ

| 2013

ABC{{efn|Satellite of WGTU.}}
Traverse City

! scope="row" | WGTU

| 2013

ABC
Elkorowspan="2" |Nevada

! scope="row" | KENV-DT

| 2018

TBD
Reno

! scope="row" | KRNV-DT

| 2018

NBC
GreenvilleNew BernNorth Carolina

! scope="row" | WYDO

| 2017

Fox
Columbusrowspan="2" | Ohio

! scope="row" | WTTE

| 1997

TBD
Dayton

! scope="row" | WRGT-TV

| 1997

Dabl
rowspan="2" | JohnstownAltoonarowspan="2" | Pennsylvania

! scope="row" | WATM-TV

| 2016

ABC
scope="row" | WWCP-TV

| 2016 || Fox ||

Charlestonrowspan="2" | South Carolina

! scope="row" | WTAT-TV

| 1995

Fox{{efn|Operated by Cunningham directly.}}
GreenvilleSpartanburg

! scope="row" | WMYA

| 1997

Dabl
KingsportTri-CitiesTennessee

! scope="row" | WEMT

| 2017

Fox
DallasFort WorthTexas

! scope="row" | KTXD-TV

| 2018

Merit Street Media
CharlestonHuntingtonWest Virginia

! scope="row" | WVAH-TV

| 1997

Catchy Comedy

{{notelist}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}