KTUL, Channel 8, a Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will soon produce its news out of Oklahoma City.
“Beginning December 11, we will be making changes to the way we produce news in Tulsa and refocusing our resources, establishing a regional content center to super serve the Tulsa and Oklahoma City television markets,” KTUL said in a statement shared on Facebook. “This will allow hyperlocal news and weather content from both markets, as well as regional content, to be included in every newscast.”
For several years, Sinclair has been cutting back on how many stations offer local news to reduce costs as cord cutting continues to grow in popularity. Local stations are facing increasing challenges to remain profitable in a soft ad market.
This year alone, Sinclair struck a deal with Hulu to keep its ABC affiliate stations on the streaming service after a month-long blackout. Around the same time, Sinclair said several of its smaller local news stations like NBC 24 in Toledo and CBS 10 KTVL in southern Oregon would be replaced with a national show called The National Desk. The show will feature national and regional news, but not local news.
In a release, NBC 24 said The National Desk would offer “an alternative choice for news and provides an opportunity for local news cut-ins.”
Similar instances occurred in 2019 and 2021 when Sinclair reached deals with AT&T, Sling and DISH, respectively, to keep hundreds of local stations on the services.
The news was reported earlier by Tulsa World.