Less Than Half Of Sinclair TV Stations Have Read Its 'Fake News' Promo So Far

Although Sinclair Broadcast Group has released its highly controversial “fake news” promo for all its stations, a majority have yet to run it.

Only 75 TV stations have aired the promo, according to iQ Media, a real-time TV measurement company. Sinclair, which has 193 stations in 89 markets, is the largest owner of U.S. TV stations.

The company says that from March 23 through April 03, the full statement -- in which local TV anchors appear in TV promos -- has been read 625 times. The 75 TV stations are in 62 markets.  

Sinclair has 59 Fox-affiliated TV stations, which include 41 for ABC; 30 for CBS; 25 for NBC; 47 for The CW; and 40 for MyNetworkTV. Reports say the promo has been labelled “must-run.”

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Many TV critics have been concerned about the context of the "fake news" promo, including why all its TV anchors are reading the exact same copy.

In reporting on the story, national news networks that have aired or read parts of the promo include: BBC News, The Blaze, CNN, CNN International, CTV News, Fox New Channel, HBO, HLN and MSNBC.

Fifty-four national news outlets have read one specific key phrase: "This is extremely dangerous to our democracy."

To accurately measure how many stations read it in full, iQ Media says it tracked the most obscure part of the statement: "We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced, and factual.”

iQ Media uses automated closed-caption text detection and image recognition technology. For the Sinclair promo results, it used closed-caption text detection.

1 comment about "Less Than Half Of Sinclair TV Stations Have Read Its 'Fake News' Promo So Far".
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  1. Nicholas Theodore from Self-emolyed, April 5, 2018 at 10:35 a.m.

    At least some journalists at some Sinclair stations had 'cojones'.

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