Sinclair in trouble

[arsbanned]

It has been noted in this forum that the campaign to boycott and punish Sinclair broadcasting for its un-American behavior would backfire and hurt the Democrats.
So far all of the evidence shows that only Sinlcair itself is taking a severe beating.
Check it:

Sinclair Broadcasting (SBGI) continues to feel heat from Wall Street as the company's 62 television stations prepare this week to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, a documentary critical of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's Vietnam-era activities.

Shares closed Monday at $6.49, down 55 cents since Friday ? and down 12% since Oct. 11, the first day of trading after the Los Angeles Times disclosed Sinclair's plans.

Lehman Bros. cut its 12-month price target to $9 from $10 as analyst William Meyers noted in a report that airing the documentary "has no upside and only multi-dimensional downside" for the company ? for example by alienating advertisers and regulators.

Ouch!
But that's not all.

Sinclair's financial woes were highlighted Monday in J.P. Morgan's decision to initiate coverage with an "underweight" rating that indicates it is expected to under-perform its peer group.
"In our conversation with management, we detected substantial frustration with the company's stock price," analyst Barton Crockett says. Sinclair's stock is down 56.7% year-to-date compared with the S&P 500's rise of 0.2% for the year. He adds that Sinclair may consider trying to go private but would be hindered by its debt.

Death Spiral? One can hope.

SINCLAIR BROADCASTING SHAREHOLDERS DEMAND OFFICERS RETURN PROFITS FROM INSIDER TRADING

Officers Who Ordered Stations to Show Anti-Kerry Film Also Sold Stocks at High Mark, then Drove Values Down
Famed shareholder attorney William S. Lerach will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. today to discuss insider self-dealing by officers of Sinclair Broadcasting, the Baltimore-based television chain that is forcing its affiliates to show a propaganda film that attacks presidential candidate John Kerry. He will release a set of demands aimed at making Sinclair executives disgorge millions of dollars in unjustified profits taken out of the firm when stock prices were high during the past 12 months. Yesterday the company's stock fell a further 8 percent after being down more than 50 percent from the year's beginning, as advertisers pulled back to avoid the station's self-generated political controversy. Lerach and Patrick Daniels, San Diego-based partners in Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman Robbins, the nation's most successful securities litigation firm, will discuss actions it will take against Sinclair. Lerach Coughlin is a 140-member firm with offices in nine cities that has prosecuted hundreds of shareholder class action and derivative lawsuits, recovering more than $25 billion for clients.

Sounds like shareholders aren't too pleased with Sinclair becoming the crazed right-winger bully pulpit.
Sources:
Here
and
here
Discuss.

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: arsbanned

Sounds like shareholders aren't too pleased with Sinclair becoming the crazed right-winger bully pulpit.

And no one's even seen the dratted show yet. I hope the shareholders aren't trying to create a crazed left-winger bully pulpit.

 

[arsbanned]

Business 101: Do not deliberately offend your customers and shareholders. It's just a bad business decision.

And no one's even seen the dratted show yet.

And nobody should see it. It's garbage. Unless they want to give equal time to F 9/11 and the Nightline show on all the Iraq dead commerical free on the same night. That would be fair.

I hope the shareholders aren't trying to create a crazed left-winger bully pulpit.

Yeah as we know, most stockholders are left-wingers. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
It's business. Don't fvck with someone's investment with a cheap political stunt.

 

[sixone]

Nobody should see it? Do you really think anyone's decision will be based on this show? Please.

 

[arsbanned]

Nobody should see it?

See my caveats above (which you failed to respond to)

Do you really think anyone's decision will be based on this show?

It's quite possible, given the demographic they are aiming for. Regardless, because there is no opportunity for a balancing program or rebuttal, it's un-American.

Please.

Thank you?

 

[sixone]

If Sinclair thinks the voters are missing important information, they should put it out for people to take or leave. They can aim for any demographic they want - that doesn't mean they'll score. Anyone dumb enough to base their vote on Moore's or on this documentary (and I use the term loosely) needs to get a grip.

John Kerry has refused their invitation to balance their program with a rebuttal. He's the one with the most to lose, if he doesn't mind, why should we?

 

[Ferocious]

hehe so much for principle.

Mess with a Republican's wallet....and they'll turn pro-choice in a heartbeat.

 

[0roo0roo]

sweet continue the boycott!!
stuff to boycott
http://www.boycottsinclairbroa....com/pages/2/index.htm

 

[arsbanned]

If Sinclair thinks the voters are missing important information, they should put it out for people to take or leave.

Thereby alienating advertisers and stockholders? Good business plan! And to define a propaganda piece "important information" seems disingenuous at best.

sweet continue the boycott!!

I've lost count of the number of people I've sent this stuff out to. It's so empowering!

 

[MonkeyK]

I mentioned shareholder problems in the earlier thread

If there was insider trading based on this, it not only proves my point, but makes Sinclair twice as slimey.

 

[arsbanned]

More good news: Newsweek article on the Sinclair story:
Furious over Sinclair Broadcast Group?s plans to air an anti-Kerry documentary on 40 TV stations, Democrats fought back?and won

Oct. 20 - It may have seemed nearly as improbable as the Boston Red Sox taking a playoff series from the New York Yankees. The Democrats, long derided for their reluctance to go for the political jugular, won a round of behind-the-scenes smash-mouth politics. Venting in a language that persuades even the most ideological Republican, they attacked the stock price of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The result: Sinclair caved in to pressure and decided not to air the anti-John Kerry documentary "Stolen Honor." Instead, the company said it will broadcast excerpts from the film as part of a news program, ?A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media...

The Hunt Valley, Md.-based broadcaster had reportedly ordered its 62 television affiliates to preempt programming and air ?Stolen Honor? beginning Oct. 21. That had Democrats breathing fire. ?If Sinclair runs that broadcast,? a senior Democratic official said a few days ago, there won't be a Sinclair by the next election. ?They've declared war on every Democrat in America, and what we're seeing is 80 million Democrats declaring war on Sinclair and whoever does business with them.? Sinclair didn't have to wait till a would-be Kerry administration was installed to start worrying about political payback.

Screw them, I've decided to extend my boycott for a year. Check it!


Linky dinky doooooodles

 

[ReiAyanami]

funny how Sinclair calls Kerry unpatriotic for serving his country while Shrub didn't even bother to serve at all. so when's the documentary on Shrub's unpatriotic-ness?

 

[Infohawk]

Looks like rabid bush lovers don't know business too well after all...

 

[daveshel]

What an interesting turn of events. It really is a bonehead move for any business to alienate half of its costomer base.

 

[Shelly21]

Most of the Sinclair channels are the local fox channels right?

 

[PingSpike]

What channels does Sinclair own?

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: arsbanned
Topic Title: Sinclair in trouble
Topic Summary: Stock price plummets, shareholders out for blood

Good, maybe Howard Stern can buy them out with all the money he got from the Satellite Radio deal.

 

[jpeyton]

[nelson] HA HA [/nelson]

Good riddens.

 

[chess9]

No, they have a mix of channels.

Personally, I think Sinclair sucks for pulling this stunt, but it's going exactly nowhere. Whether they show it or not few people will change their minds. Furthermore, the whole thrust of the film is on a very tangential issue-Kerry's post Vietnam conduct. People are more worried about what's happening in Iraq and with the economy. I would add that showing this film has got to be one of the dumbest things a broacaster could do in light of the demographics. They get nothing but the downsides and very little upside. This is what happens when you let politics guide a business decision. I suspect they think they have the same clout as Rupert Murdoch. Bad mistake. If you are a minnow, don't pretend you are a shark, because the real sharks will gobble you up.

The sad thing from a business angle is that now they can't even sell the stations and get out with their skins.

-Robert

 

[Moonbeam]

I hope this doesn't put a dent in the Right's fascist drive to monopolize the media.

 

[arsbanned]

BOYCOTT SINCLAIR BROADCASTING
Sinclair is violating campaign finance laws to force its local affiliates to air anti-Kerry lies just before the election. It is giving free campaign advertising to Bush with a libelous screed against Kerry and his heroic service in Vietnam. If Sinclair succeeds, the Bush Administration has promised it will lift monopoly restrictions that currently prevent Sinclair from buying up two, three, and four stations in order to stifle free speech nationwide.

You owe it to your country to protect free speech from the likes of Sinclair. You can begin by boycotting these Sinclair advertisers and letting people know WHY you are doing it.

If you're in a restaurant and they ask if you want a "Pepsi." The response is NO. I will never drink Pepsi again because they support Sinclair Broadcasting, a media company that is illegally financing the Bush Campaign in exchange for media consolidation. I support free speech in America. So I'll have Coke (or water).

Here are the companies. Pass around the boycott list! This is not a complete list. For more information, click here: Sinclair Advertisers and Phone Numbers

Warner Brothers (Many Sinclair owned stations are WB stations. There is a substantial amount of "African-American programming" on the WB. Thus, if Blacks and Black leaders urge the boycotting of Sinclair-owned WB, that would have a tremendous impact.)

FAST FOOD:
Pepsi
Mountain Dew
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Hardees
Taco Bell
Arby's
Miller Lite

AUTO:
General Motors
Ford Motor Company
Isuzu
Toyota
Lincoln Mercury
Pontiac

INTERNET:
Yahoo DSL
CNN.com
Zigzagzone.com

OTHER:
Century 21
Prudential
Geico
H&R Block

Halls Fruit Breezers
ITT Technical Institute
Titan TV
Iams
Ringling Brothers
Oak Express
ABC Solutions
Kentucky Lottery
Florida Lottery

The Sylvan Learning Centers used to advertise on Sinclair but has announced that it will stop advertising there to avert a boycott. Let's hope these other large companies feel the pain!

Sinclair is in heavy debt. A strong boycott might just harm them enough to destroy their company and protect free speech nationwide!

Here's a list of the stations Sinclair Broadcasting owns in alphabetical order by city. Turn them off.

WLOS 13, Asheville, N.C.
WBFF 45, Baltimore, Md.
WTTO 21, Birmingham, Ala.
WYZZ 43, Bloomington, Ill.
KBSI 23, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
KGAN 88, Cedar Rapids, Ia.
WICD 15, Champaign, Ill.
WMMP 36, Charleston, S.C.
WCHS 8, Charleston, W. Va.
WSTR 64, Cincinnati, Ohio
WSYX 6, Columbus, Ohio
WKEF 22, Dayton, Ohio
KDSM 17, Des Moines, Ia.
WSMH 66, Flint, Mich.
WUTV 29, Grand Island, N.Y.
WNYO 49, Grand Island, N.Y.
WEMT 39, Johnson City, Tenn.
KSMO 31, Kansas City, Kan.
KVWB 21, Las Vegas, NV
KFBT 33, Las Vegas, NV
WDKY 56, Lexington, Ken.
WMSN 47, Madison, Wis.
WVTV 18, Milwaukee, Wis.
WCGV 24, Milwaukee, Wis.
KMWB 23, Minneapolis, Minn.
WZTV 17, Nashville, Tenn.
WUXP 30, Nashville, Tenn.
WTVZ 33, Norfolk, Va.
KOKH 24, Oklahoma City, Ok.
KOCB 34, Oklahoma City, Ok.
WEAR 3, Pensacola, Fla.
WFGX 35, Pensacola, Fla.
WCWB 22, Pittsburgh, Penn.
WPGH 53, Pittsburgh, Penn.
WGME 13, Portland, Maine
WLFL 22, Raleigh, N.C.
WRDC 28, Raleigh, N.C.
WRLH 35, Richmond, Va.
WUHF 31, Rochester, N.Y.
KDNL 30, St. Louis, Mo.
KABB 29, San Antonio, Calif.
KRRT 35, San Antonio, Calif.
WICS 20, Springfield, Ill.
WGGB 40, Springfield, Mass.
WSYT 68, Syracuse, N.Y.
WTWC 40, Tallahassee, Fla.
KOVR 13, West Sacramento, Calif.
WXLV 45, Winston-Salem, N.C.

 

[arsbanned]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
What channels does Sinclair own?

See my post above for a listing of channels Sinclair owns. They also own CNN.com
I wondered why their polls have been so skewed.

 

[ReiAyanami]

i thought CNN.com was owned by AOL/Time Warner (well, just another reason to boybott but...)

 

[arsbanned]

I'll research that some more. I thought that too. With some of these mega-corporations, its probably hard to tell who all has a hand in it.

Here's some background on Carlton Sherwood, the so-called journalist who produced the piece trashing Kerry.
This guys is a piece of work. He's heavily involved with Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. *shiver*

 

[arsbanned]

Check out all of the adverising pullouts! w00000t.
http://www.dkosopedia.com/inde...roadcast_Group#Pullout