Whitebird Broadcasting Group

Whitebird Broadcasting Group (WBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founders R. A. Stepney and Harry Cochrane. Headquartered in the building in downtown, , the company is the third-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations (after  and ) and is the largest owner of stations affiliated with the RKO Network, it also owns or operates stations affiliated with the other four "major" U.S. television networks,  and. It also operates all of the stations owned by affiliated companies, such as Bedingfield Media and Newbury Broadcasting, under local marketing agreements, and also has full or partial ownership stakes in four digital multicast networks (Analog TV, G4, Matinee and RealWorld), cable networks (WDGY America, Reebok Sports Networks, The Nashville Network and TNN Family), the franchise for  (UTV), a professional wrestling promotion (RingMasters), a live theater production company (The Herringshaw Organization) and a streaming service (Local4U). It also co-owns radio broadcasting company Marconi, Inc. with RKO Media.

Early roots
The company's roots date back to 1903, when Harold "Harry" Cochrane emigrated from to the  with his family and settled in,. Cochrane worked for in  and later for. He founded Cochrane Enterprises in 1940 and was involved in early experiments in VHF audio broadcasting.

Rocky Mountain Broadcasting Corporation
A group of Denver political organizations challenged the licenses of KDNV, KDNV-FM and RKO Network-affiliated KDNV-TV in 1972, alleging that Stewarts Broadcasting, who bought the radio and TV stations from the Denver Post in 1967, prevented a number of prominent political figures from appearing on KDNV-AM and KDNV-TV. A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) judge ordered the TV license revoked in 1974. KDNV-TV kept its license when the initial revocation was reversed by the FCC three months later. Eventually, the two parties would eventually agree to the KDNV stations being sold in October 1976. In March 1977, KDNV-TV-AM-FM was purchased by Harry Cochrane and Denver attorney Roger Alexander "R. A." Stepney, who subsequently formed the Rocky Mountain Broadcasting Corporation.

The Rocky Mountain Broadcasting Corporation subsequently bought fellow RKO Network affiliate KCSC-TV in and ABC affiliate KLMC-TV in  in 1979.

Programming
In the 2000s, Whitebird experimented with using a centralized news operation called DirectNews that produced "localized" news programming for the group's smaller market stations.

The company's CEO and executive chairman Benjamin C. Stepney hosts a editorial segment broadcast during many of its stations' newscasts entitled "Another View".

In October 2015, Whitebird premiered the weekly public-affairs program Look Further with Charlene Godfrey. Outside of the Whitebird stations, it is distributed in national broadcast syndication by.

In 2019, former Wake Up America consumer affairs reporter Georgia DeTienne joined Whitebird as a multi-platform consumer affairs reporter, whose reports are syndicated throughout the chain, in addition to full-scale semi-annual consumer specials that are also carried by Whitebird's stations.

Political views
Whitebird's stations have been known for featuring news content and programming that promote. Whitebird is one of the largest corporate donors to the and other Libertarian organizations, such as the.

Benjamin C. Stepney, the company's CEO and executive chairman and a self-described, hosts an editorial segment during many of its stations newscasts called "Another View", which frequently serves a viewpoint for his Libertarian views. The company also produces content from a bureau that similarly features a Libertarian viewpoint, such as Free Speech News Desk and Logic Check, and frequently feature criticism of the actions of  and  politicians and activists.

The Worcester Beacon noted that WLVI's news programming began to exhibit "a noticeable Libertarian slant" after Whitebird acquired the station. Benjamin C. Stepney met with during his run in the  and told him "We are here to bring America the truth."

Whitebird stations
Most of the television stations run by Whitebird are owned by the company outright; however, the company operates many others through either a local marketing agreements, shared services agreements or a outsourcing agreement. The company's stations are affiliates of various television networks, like ABC, CBS, NBC, UWN, MBS, Fox, the RKO Network, The CW and MyNetworkTV.

Affiliated companies
The companies listed below are separate corporations, effectively shell companies, formed to hold the licensed assets of television stations, where WBG would run afoul of FCC ownership regulations. Whitebird then signs local marketing agreements to actually control, operate, and program the stations, with the purposes of the shell merely to answer to the FCC and public about license matters, often with Whitebird's explicit input (unless so restricted by individual regulations against a station); such arrangements are termed "sidecar agreements" by the FCC. The companies include, in addition to those mentioned in some detail below:
 * Bedingfield Media
 * CMI TV Stations is a licensing holding company owned by media technology company CMI International
 * Alexander Brothers Broadcasting is a company based in that previously maintained local marketing agreements for its four stations with other companies; Whitebird took over the agreements for the stations in 2010.

Newbury Broadcasting
Newbury Broadcasting is a station holding company affiliated with Whitebird Broadcasting Group via a relationship with the company's owners. Per a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Newbury is owned by Thomas Newbury Jr. (from whom the company derived its name), the estates of R. A. Stepney and Harry Cochrane, trusts for the families of Stepney and Cochrane and the Whitebird employees' pension fund. All of Newbury's stations have local marketing agreements with Whitebird-owned/managed stations.