Several weeks after a massive ransom-ware attack, the company that owns the region’s two CBS TV affiliates is still struggling to get all its systems back up and running. And it’s still not saying a lot about what happened.
Sinclair Comunications, the owner of the largest number of TV stations in America, is publicly traded and had its 3rd Quarter Conference Call with stock alnalysts today. Sinclair leaders declined to answer any specific questions about the company’s recovery or its impact in local markets. They issued this statement:
“While the Company has taken significant steps to contain the incident, the event has not yet been fully resolved, and certain disruptions to its business and operations remain,“ the report said. “The Company is working diligently to restore operations quickly and securely. As the investigation is still on-going, the full extent of the impact on the Company‘s business, operations and financial results is not known at the present time.”
Sinclair owns WSBT-TV 22 in South Bend and WWMT-TV 3 in Kalamazoo. Social media has been buzzing the past several weeks as viewers complained about disruptions in local news and weather, and particularly in popular syndicated programs like ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’. It appeared the Sinclair computer hack affected the South Bend facility to a greater degree than Kalamazoo, but that has not been confirmed by any official sources.
Mid-West Family’s South Bend radio stations formerly shared a building with Sinclair on Douglas Road in Mishawaka. However, the radio stations moved to a separate facility on Monroe Street, South of downtown South Bend this Summer. Mid-West Family facilities were unaffected by the hack. MoodyOnTheMarket.com is owned and operated by Mid-West Family.
