Pressure of Truth
Exposing the spin on all sides of the news.
Outlet profile

KOMO News

U.S. right-center

Owned bySinclair Broadcast Group (acquired from Fisher Broadcasting in 2013 for $373.3 million; Sinclair is controlled by the family of founder Julian Sinclair Smith)
FundingAdvertising revenue from local television broadcasting; operates as part of Sinclair's network of 163 television stations
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

KOMO has deep roots in the Pacific Northwest: the Fisher family founded KOMO radio in 1926 as the Fisher Blend Station, and the television station (KOMO-TV) signed on in December 1953 as an NBC affiliate on VHF channel 4. The Fisher family, Seattle flour millers and entrepreneurs, owned the station for roughly 60 years, making it the last locally owned TV station in the Seattle market before the family sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group in August 2013 for $373.3 million. The sale transformed KOMO's editorial environment: Sinclair, the nation's largest owner of local TV stations, requires its properties to air centrally produced 'must-run' segments that media researchers and journalism critics have consistently found to tilt conservative and favor Republican politicians, especially Donald Trump. In 2018, KOMO became a flashpoint when Sinclair mandated anchors read a script attacking 'fake news,' drawing national attention and internal staff pushback; the station's anchors ultimately complied. KOMO switched from NBC to ABC affiliation in 1985 and has remained an ABC affiliate since. Media bias trackers place it at right-center (Media Bias/Fact Check) to center (AllSides), reflecting a split between relatively straightforward local coverage and Sinclair's corporate-driven conservative commentary. Sinclair's longstanding relationship with Trump—including arranging favorable interview coverage during the 2016 campaign—carried into his second term, reinforcing a broadly supportive posture in Sinclair-directed content aired on KOMO.

Sources

  1. KOMO-TV – Wikipedia
  2. Turmoil inside KOMO News as conservative owner Sinclair mandates talking points – The Seattle Times
  3. How life changed at KOMO when Sinclair came to Seattle – Cascade PBS
  4. KOMO 4 News – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
  5. KOMO News Media Bias – AllSides
  6. Sinclair Broadcast Group – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
  7. KOMO: Deep roots in NW broadcast history – QZVX

Profile compiled 2026-07-24; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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