Pressure of Truth
The news, with the spin made visible.
Outlet profile

KATU / KVAL (Sinclair Broadcast Group)

U.S. right

Owned bySinclair Broadcast Group (publicly traded; Smith family holds controlling interest), which acquired both stations from Fisher Communications in August 2013
FundingAdvertising revenue and retransmission consent fees paid by cable and satellite providers to carry the stations' broadcast signals; no public subsidy or subscription model
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

KATU signed on in 1962 as Portland's fourth commercial television station, built by Fisher Broadcasting, and became an ABC affiliate in 1964. KVAL launched in 1954 in Eugene and operates as a CBS affiliate. Both stations remained under Fisher Communications until August 2013, when Sinclair Broadcast Group completed its acquisition of the entire Fisher portfolio. Sinclair, founded in 1971 and controlled by the Smith family of Baltimore, has grown into one of the largest owners of local television stations in the country, operating more than 160 stations in over 70 markets. The company has a documented pattern of inserting corporate-mandated conservative content into local newscasts. A prominent controversy arose in 2018 when Sinclair required anchors system-wide to read a script criticizing social-media 'fake news'; KATU aired the script while two KVAL morning anchors publicly refused and Sinclair instructed KATU employees not to speak to the press about the episode. Sinclair also aired must-run political commentary from Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump aide and campaign surrogate, until the segments were dropped in late 2019. During Trump's second term, Sinclair-owned ABC and NBC stations carried a Trump primetime address in July 2025 after the ABC and NBC broadcast networks declined to air it on their own. Earlier in 2025, Sinclair also dropped Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its ABC-affiliated stations after Kimmel made remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Media Bias/Fact Check rates Sinclair as right-biased, and Center for Responsive Politics data show the company has directed roughly 80 percent of its political donations to Republican candidates since 1994.

Sources

  1. KATU – Wikipedia
  2. KVAL-TV – Wikipedia
  3. Sinclair Broadcast Group – Wikipedia
  4. Local anchors at Oregon TV station refuse to read Sinclair script – Georgetown Free Speech Project
  5. KATU Among Dozens That Aired Sinclair's Media-Bashing Script – Patch
  6. Two anchors at Sinclair-owned Oregon station refused to record news promos – The Hill
  7. Sinclair Broadcast Group – Media Bias/Fact Check
  8. Sinclair-Owned ABC And NBC Stations Carry Trump Primetime Speech – Deadline
  9. Sinclair Broadcast Group – History, Holdings & Political Controversies – Britannica Money
  10. How Sinclair Broadcasting puts a partisan tilt on trusted local news – PBS NewsHour
  11. Sinclair Broadcast Group drops Boris Epshteyn's must-run segments – Media Matters

Profile compiled 2026-07-18; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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