In a move the Baltimore-headquartered company says is emblematic of its increased news investment, Sinclair Inc. is immediately expanding its nationally distributed news program to time slots at a dozen TV stations where, until now, syndicated fare had been airing.
As such, starting today the 5pm time slot at Sinclair-operated TV stations across twelve markets will begin airing The National News Desk, anchored by Taylor Murray.
For Sinclair, this marks an expansion of its national and world news-focused offering, and is illustrative of how the company is adding programming and additional news hours across Sinclair stations in the following markets: Seattle; Nashville; Baltimore; Columbus, Ohio; Mobile; Wilkes Barre-Scranton; Flint, Mich.; Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; Greenville- New Bern; Reno, Nev.; and Chico-Redding, Calif.
To be clear, Sinclair is not reducing the amount of local news coverage at the stations. Rather, The National News Desk is gaining new afternoon and early-evening editions. In the Savannah DMA, RBR+TVBR independently verified that viewers at 5pm can tune to Gray Media’s long-dominant WTOC-11 for local news, in addition to Hearst Television’s WJCL-22 and Nexstar Media Group’s WSAV-3. Until now, Sinclair’s WTGS “FOX 28” has aired The People’s Court in the 5pm time slot. That changes with The National News Desk taking the time slot. WTGS already airs a 30-minute The National News Desk at 10pm, 10:30pm and at 11:30pm and between 7am and 9:30am weekdays; it does not have a local news department.
In Seattle, the Sinclair Inc. station is ABC affiliate KOMO-TV. Here, thirty-minute local newscasts start at 3:30pm and continue into the 5:30pm airing of ABC World News Tonight with David Muir. Now, the 5pm lead-in to Muir will be the Murray-anchored nationally distributed show.
At WZTV “FOX 17” in Nashville, The National News Desk replaces an episode of Jeopardy! and precedes a local 5:30pm newscast.
“The expansion reflects Sinclair’s continued investment in news and its strategy to provide audiences with more live, timely and
distinctive journalism throughout the day, drawing on the reporting and resources of Sinclair newsrooms across the country,” the company said in a statement distributed on Monday.
Additionally, Sinclair stations in Seattle, St. Louis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Grand Rapids, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Mobile, Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Omaha, and the smaller markets of Flint, Mich.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Tri-Cities, Tenn.-Va.; Reno, Nev.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Eugene, Ore.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Corpus Christi, Tex.; and Gainesville-Ocala, Fla., will be adding “daytime half-hour editions” of The National News Desk, anchored by Jan Jeffcoat.
This newscast also features “Live Desk” anchor Mark Boyle and National Reporter Angela Brown. Sinclair said this national offering will appear “within the afternoon programming blocks” at its stations in the aforementioned markets.
Sinclair Sr. VP of News Scott Livingston comments, “The expansion of The National News Desk gives us another opportunity to increase the amount of news programming we provide and serve viewers with timely reporting throughout the day. By leveraging the strength of our content centers and journalists across the country, TNND amplifies the local journalism our stations deliver every day and gives audiences greater access to reporting that goes beyond the headlines and helps inform and enrich their communities.”
Since its launch in 2021, The National News Desk has grown its Sinclair-based distribution to 90 broadcast stations. RBR+TVBR has requested a roster of the Sinclair stations by call letters that will be amending their respective program schedules for the new national newscasts.
The National News Desk can also be found at TheNationalDesk.com.
