Sinclair

KPNX, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Phoenix, and KECI, Sinclair’s NBC affiliate in Missoula, Mont., received Walter Cronkite Awards for their reporting in 2020.

KGAN, Sinclair’s CBS affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earned four awards from the Iowa Broadcast News Association at the association’s annual awards banquet on April 18th.

By day, Stephen Wise is an Addy award-winning creative services producer for WEAR in Pensacola, Florida. By night, he’s a film-maker and screenplay writer whose latest effort is winning awards at film festivals and the attention of potential investors.

Sinclair’s The National Desk, a three-hour morning news program, debuted today on Sinclair’s 190-plus stations. Promising commentary-free news coverage from both local and national perspectives, the program is based out of WJLA’s studios in Washington.

The inspiration for KTUL’s Shine A Light campaign is a touching story of a loved one no longer here. Luanne Stewart, KTUL’s the creative services director, saw it as a way to make viewers feel better about Covid restrictions.

TV stations owned by Weigel, Nexstar, Sinclair, Gray, Tegna, Hearst, and Sunbeam in markets all over the country are responding to help those in need in their communities with food, toys, clothing, rent assistance and even restaurants hit by the pandemic.

Their broadcast area was heavily damaged by an Aug. 10 derecho with 140-mph winds that lasted for 45 minutes.  There is extensive damage to cities, homes and agriculture stretching from the center of the state and east into Illinois. A 40-mile-wide path of destruction is so severe it can be seen from satellite images.

Five days. Five cities. One mission. To help feed hungry families in eastern North Carolina.

Sara Shouhayib, news anchor at KBAK Bakersfield, Calif., is the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who live in Michigan. Shouhayib’s sister and family were in Beirut when the blast occurred. “I wasn’t going to talk about my Lebanese connection, because we’re not supposed to do that as journalists, but my news director and I decided to.”

In a video interview with Steve Kazanjian, Promax’s CEO, and Rick Swanson, Promax’s VP of marketing and programming, they explain why this year’s virtual station summit might be the best one yet.