krcrtv (carrying campaign framing)

U.S. right

Background

KRCR-TV signed on in 1956 as KVIP-TV, founded by William B. Smullin of California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc., initially as a primary NBC affiliate in Redding, California. The station adopted its current call letters in 1963 and switched to a full-time ABC affiliation in 1978, becoming the market's principal ABC outlet for the Chico–Redding area. In 1995, Lamco Communications of Texas purchased the station and rebranded it as News Channel 7, with day-to-day operations run by California Broadcasting, Inc. Bluestone Television, LLC acquired the station in 2004, and it later passed to Bonten Media Group before Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired Bonten's 14-station portfolio in 2017 for $240 million. Under Sinclair, KRCR became subject to the company's well-documented 'must-run' editorial mandates, including conservative political commentary from Boris Epshteyn—a longtime Trump surrogate—broadcast across Sinclair's national station group. In 2018, Sinclair drew national attention when it required nearly 200 of its station anchors, including those at local affiliates like KRCR, to read an identical script echoing Trump-era 'fake news' rhetoric about mainstream media. Media watchdog groups, academic research, and outlets including NPR and PBS have documented Sinclair's consistent pattern of pushing conservative viewpoints through its local stations. Sinclair's political donations have gone roughly 80 percent to Republican candidates since 1994, and its ownership of KRCR places the station within that broader right-leaning editorial framework.

Sources

1. KRCR-TV – Wikipedia
2. Sinclair Broadcast Group – Wikipedia
3. Sinclair Broadcast Group – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
4. Sinclair Broadcast Group Forces Nearly 200 Station Anchors To Read Same Script – NPR
5. How Sinclair Broadcasting Puts a Partisan Tilt on Trusted Local News – PBS NewsHour
6. Sinclair Broadcast Group – Britannica Money
7. KRCR-TV – FCC Public Inspection Files

Profile compiled 2026-06-28; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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