Sinclair Further Downsizes Local TV News

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"Sinclair Broadcast Group is scaling back its News Central operation ... opting to seek out news share arrangements," reports Katy Bachman. "Beginning March 31, Sinclair will no longer feed live, anchored prime-time newscasts to its stations," though it will continue to provide some content and support "to the 20 of its 58 stations that produce local news." A statement from Sinclair explained, "Because the costs to produce high quality local news are so significant, moving to a news sharing partnership with a strong network affiliated station can provide an effective means to bring additional news coverage to the market." Bachman notes that under the new arrangement, "news operations are expected to close down at four of Sinclair's WB stations in Buffalo, Milwaukee, Tampa and Raleigh." Sinclair news director Joe DeFeo said, "Our local news staff at our WB stations should take pride in the solid and professional newscasts they produced."