Travel to the Pennsylvania city of Altoona, and you’ll find an ABC affiliate serving the cities of State College and Johnstown. It’s owned by Palm Television L.P., but thanks to permissible FCC regulatory policy is operated via an LMA with Cunningham Broadcasting, which in turn struck a Time Brokerage Agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group.
This explains all of the trademarks of a Sinclair station, with The National Desk on the lineup alongside a 6pm local newscast. Perhaps if this station enjoyed ABC exclusivity in seven communities that also receive a Hearst Television-owned station, the growth prospects would be stronger.
Sinclair will soon find out, as four of those communities will be losing MVPD access to WTAE-4.