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Audio Feature: Local television news ownership

Mar 06, 2017 12:05 am
At one time multiple television media voices were on the air from Albany, but now joint operating agreements mean that there are just three. WRGB and WCWN share facilities and content, My 4 Albany and NewsChannel 13 create the same newscasts, and WTEN, the ABC affiliate, and WXXA, the Fox channel, run the same newsroom. Here's a bit of background on each station's ownership, in the first of a series looking at who owns the local media. The owners of local television stations, for instance, give more to Republicans, but each have a local Democrat they send money.

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WRGB, Channel 6, CBS affiliate, transmitter in Schenectady.
WCWN, UHF Channel 43 (PSIP virtual channel 45), transmitter in Voorheesville.
Both stations are owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group that is based in Maryland. Sinclair political donations go mostly to Republicans (66 percent), but also to Democrats (34 percent), per OpenSecrets.org. Locally, Democrat Paul Tonko, who represents the area where there transmitter is located, got a $1,000 political contribution from Sinclair. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 163 television stations in 77 markets, according to Wikipedia. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 38.7 percent of U.S. television households.


WTEN, Channel 10, ABC affiliate, transmitter in located in Voorheesville.
WXXA, Channel 23, Fox affiliate, transmitter in Voorheesville.
WTEN is owned by Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group, and operates Fox affiliate WXXA-TV, which is owned by Shield Media, through joint sales and shared services agreements. The two stations share studios in the Bishop's Gate section of Albany. Nexstar runs 171 television stations across the U.S. Nexstar gives 36 percent of its political contributions to Democrats, and 64 percent to Republicans, per OpenSecrets. Democrat Paul Tonko, who represents the area where there transmitter is located, got a $1,000 political contribution from Nexstar.


WNYT, Channel 12, NBC affiliate, transmitter in New Salem.
WNYA, Channel 13, MYNetworkTV affiliate, transmitter in New Salem.
WNYT is licensed to Albany, and is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting as part of a duopoly with Pittsfield, MA-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYA that began in 2013. The two outlets share studios in Menands just outside Albany. WNYA My 4 Albany is licensed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Hubbard is based in St. Paul, Minnesota and runs 14 television stations in the U.S., and many radio stations. Hubbard's political donations in 2016 went to 18 Republicans and three Democrats. Hubbard donated $6,400 to New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, per Open Secrets.
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