David D. Smith

Last updated

David D. Smith
Born
David Deniston Smith
NationalityAmerican
TitleExecutive chairman, Sinclair Broadcast Group
Political party Republican [ citation needed ]
SpouseJane Smith
Parent
Notes
[1]

David Deniston Smith is an American businessman who is the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI) since January 2017, having been its president and CEO from September 1990 to January 2017. [2] In 2024, he acquired majority ownership of The Baltimore Sun and its affiliated newspapers. [3]

Contents

Early life

David Deniston Smith [4] is the son of Julian Sinclair Smith (1921–1993), founder of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Carolyn Beth Cunningham. [5] He has three brothers—Frederick, J. Duncan and Robert. [5] As a child he lived in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, and attended Baltimore's City College High School, [6] graduating in 1969. [7]

Career

From 1971 to 1978, Smith worked at WBFF (run by his father), in charge of maintenance operations. [7] He devised a plan for "selling pornographic videos in Baltimore's red-light district during the 1970s." [8] He founded Comark Communications in 1978. [9]

In 1985, WBFF was rebranded, with two other stations, as Sinclair. [7] David Smith served as the chief executive officer and president of Sinclair Television Group, Inc. from 1988 to January 2017. [10] He "built Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. into the largest owner of television stations in the U.S.," [10] and he was profiled by The New York Times in 1998. [11] He has served as its executive chairman of SBGI since January 1, 2017. It has been reported that every news station under Sinclair's umbrella is required to syndicate commentary that comports with its owners' ideological views. [12]

In September 2013, his shareholding in SBGI was valued at $268 million. [5] His total calculated compensation was $5,206,439 as of fiscal year 2016. [9]

In an August 1996 prostitution sting, Smith was charged with committing an "unnatural and perverted sex act" (oral sex) in a Sinclair company vehicle. He was sentenced to community service, which was fulfilled by having Sinclair station WBFF produce reports on a local drug counseling program. [13] [14]

Prior to Ajit Pai's appointment as chairman of the FCC, Smith had met with Pai to discuss deregulation of the FCC's media ownership rules. This meeting, plus Sinclair having been granted additional access to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, resulted in accusations that Sinclair was currying favor with the Trump administration in exchange for deregulation of the industry. [15] [16] [17] David Smith met with Donald Trump during the 2016 election year, in which he told Mr. Trump, "We are here to deliver your message." [3]

In January 2024, he reached a private agreement to buy The Baltimore Sun from Alden Global Capital. [18] He is also the owner of more Baltimore-area news publications, like Capital Gazette papers in Annapolis, Carroll County Times, Howard County Times, Towson Times and several other Baltimore-area weeklies and magazines. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Baltimore Sun</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper in the US

The Baltimore Sun is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.

Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTTE</span> TV station in Columbus, Ohio

WTTE is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, airing programming from TBD. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group—owner of ABC and Fox affiliate WSYX —for the provision of certain services, and is operated from studios on Dublin Road alongside CW affiliate WWHO. WTTE's transmitter is located in the Franklinton section of Columbus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinclair Broadcast Group</span> American media company, founded 1971

Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, the company is the second-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations, owning or operating a total of 193 stations across the country in over 100 markets, and is the largest owner of stations affiliated with Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. Sinclair also owns four digital multicast networks, and sports-oriented cable networks. On June 2, 2021, it was announced that Sinclair had become a Fortune 500 company, having reached 2020 annual revenues of US$5.9 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBFF</span> Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Baltimore

WBFF is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group, alongside ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. Sinclair maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting, owner of CW affiliate WNUV, and a shared services agreement (SSA) with Deerfield Media, owner of TBD affiliate WUTB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNUV</span> CW affiliate in Baltimore

WNUV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF, for the provision of programming and certain services. However, Sinclair effectively owns WNUV, as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. Sinclair also operates TBD affiliate WUTB under a separate shared services agreement with Deerfield Media. The stations share studios on 41st Street off the Jones Falls Expressway on Television Hill in the Woodberry neighborhood of north Baltimore; WBFF and WNUV are also broadcast from the same tower on the hill.

Mark E. Hyman is an American political commentator and former television executive. He was vice president for corporate relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States, until 2005. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired on The Point—a controversial daily televised commentary presented by Hyman. In 2010, Hyman's commentaries returned to select Sinclair-owned stations under the title Behind the Headlines with Mark Hyman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KUNS-TV</span> CW affiliate in Bellevue, Washington

KUNS-TV is a television station licensed to Bellevue, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside ABC affiliate KOMO-TV. The two stations share studios within KOMO Plaza in the Lower Queen Anne section of Seattle; KUNS-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Queen Anne neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXNW</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

KXNW is a television station licensed to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, United States, serving Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Rogers-licensed NBC affiliate KNWA-TV and Fort Smith–licensed Fox affiliate KFTA-TV. The three stations share studios on Dickson Street in downtown Fayetteville, with a satellite studio in Rogers and a news bureau and sales office on Kelley Highway in Fort Smith. KXNW's transmitter is located on Humphrey Mountain near Garfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMAR-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland, US

WMAR-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road in Towson north of the Baltimore City–Baltimore County border. Its transmitter and antenna, which is on a landmark three-pronged candelabra broadcast tower, is located on Television Hill in the Woodberry neighborhood of Baltimore.

WUTB is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the digital multicast network TBD. It is owned by Deerfield Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF, for the provision of certain services. Sinclair also operates CW affiliate WNUV under a separate local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WNUV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The stations share studios on 41st Street off the Jones Falls Expressway in the Woodberry neighborhood of north Baltimore. Through a channel sharing agreement, WUTB and WBFF transmit using the latter station's spectrum from an antenna adjacent to the studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Bark</span> American baseball player (born 1968)

Brian Stuart Bark is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox in the 1995 season. Bark batted and threw left-handed. He serves as the acting EVP and Chief Information Officer for Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The Carroll County Times was founded on October 6, 1911, as The Times. Owner and publisher George Mather, whose father owned the once-prominent Mather's Department Store in Westminster, Maryland, sold The Times in 1947. The Times expanded and became the Carroll County Times in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNBW-DT</span> NBC affiliate in Gainesville, Florida

WNBW-DT is a television station in Gainesville, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by MPS Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with New Age Media, owner of High Springs–licensed dual CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate WGFL and low-power, Class A Antenna TV affiliate WYME-CD, for the provision of certain services. All three stations, in turn, are operated under a master service agreement by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The stations share studios on Northwest 80th Boulevard in Gainesville; WNBW's transmitter is located on Southwest 30th Avenue near Newberry.

Baltimore is a major media market, even though the city is only a 45-minute drive northeast of Washington, D.C.

Julian Sinclair Smith was an American electrical engineer and television executive. He was the founder of the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attempted acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group</span> Failed 2017 business transaction

The attempted acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group was a proposed broadcast media transaction between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media. Formally announced on May 8, 2017, the $3.9 billion deal would have resulted in Sinclair owning—or having operational control over—stations available in 72% of all households with a television set in the United States.

Capital Gazette Communications owned by Tribune Publishing through its subsidiary the Baltimore Sun Media Group, publishes the daily The Capital and the twice-weekly Maryland Gazette newspapers and the weeklies Bowie Blade-News and Crofton-West County Gazette. Its offices in Parole, Maryland, an unincorporated area of Anne Arundel County just outside Annapolis, were the site of the Capital Gazette shooting in June 2018. In August 2020, Tribune Publishing announced it was permanently closing the newsroom and would provide workspace as needed at The Baltimore Sun offices, acquired by David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Baltimore mayoral election</span>

The 2024 Baltimore mayoral election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Sloane (January 22, 2011). "Closet Secrets". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on April 4, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  2. ↑ "David D. Smith". Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Bowie, Liz; Sullivan, Emily; Boteler, Cody (January 16, 2024). "The Baltimore Sun media group sold to local businessman David Smith". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  4. ↑ "SBGI Company Profile & Executives – Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. Cl A". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Morrell, Alex (September 28, 2013). "Who Got Rich This Week: The Owners Of Two Family-Run Businesses With Decades Of Broadcasting And Retail Experience". Forbes. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ Ellison, Sarah (February 16, 2024). "Sinclair's Recipe for TV News: Crime, Homelessness, Illegal Drugs". The Washington Post.
  7. 1 2 3 Wofford, Ben (April 24, 2018). "Sinclair Broadcasting's Hostile Takeover". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  8. ↑ Hylton, Wil S. (November 6, 2005). "Not Necessarily the News". GQ . Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  9. 1 2 "David D. Smith: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. August 14, 2017. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Wilen, Holden (November 2, 2016). "Sinclair's David Smith to step down as CEO" . Baltimore Business Journal . Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  11. ↑ Carter, Bill (October 4, 1998). "Is Television's Future In This Man's Hands?" . The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  12. ↑ Levitz, Eric (March 8, 2018). "Local News Anchors Are Being Forced to Deliver Pro-Trump Propaganda". Intelligencer . New York . Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  13. ↑ Boehlert, Eric (October 22, 2004). "Sleaze and smear at Sinclair". Salon.com . Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  14. ↑ Hermann, Peter (August 15, 1996). "Broadcasting official charged in sex stakeout Sinclair president, woman arrested in company car". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  15. ↑ Battaglio, Stephen (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  16. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group Sets $3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Tribune Media". Variety . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  17. ↑ Johnson, Ted (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Will Come Under Scrutiny as It Seeks Approval for Tribune Merger". Variety. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  18. ↑ Mirabella, Lorraine (January 15, 2024). "The Baltimore Sun purchased by Sinclair's David D. Smith". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved January 15, 2024.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.