MONTGOMERY, AL (September 2, 2016)…Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) will join other local television stations across the country in airing Louisiana Rising: A Benefit Concert to support Flood Relief on Labor Day, September 5, 2016, from 7-9 PM (CT) in 26 of their television markets. Sinclair’s participation will add an additional 15% reach of the U.S. The concert is to raise funds for the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts to help people affected by the Louisiana Floods.
Pat LaPlatney, President and CEO of Raycom Media stated, “This is the true spirit of local television, as different broadcast groups come together to help address a huge challenge in Baton Rouge. Local broadcasters all across this country make a difference in the lives of the communities we serve every day. Our desire is that this concert raises funds for and brings awareness to the need in Louisiana after this historic flood. We are very pleased that the Sinclair Broadcast Group has joined with us in that effort with a very large group of their stations.”
“Local television stations play an important role in every community in this country, especially as it relates to public service, emergency alerts and local news,” commented Arthur Hasson, COO of Sinclair’s Programming. “We are proud to join Raycom in support of the people of Louisiana. What we have seen in prior devastations is that local media can have a tremendous positive impact on the communities they serve.”
The August floods are responsible for the deaths of 13 people and damage to an estimated 154,000 homes. Tens of thousands of people need assistance. Thousands are still living in shelters. Early estimates put total damage at $20 billion and initial recovery efforts are critical. Louisiana Rising will benefit American Red Cross disaster relief efforts to help people affected by the Louisiana Floods, estimated at 35 to 40 million. The Red Cross says the disaster in Louisiana is the worst to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the Northeast in 2012.
Louisiana Rising: A Benefit Concert to support for Flood Relief is being hosted by Randy Jackson and Harry Connick Jr. More than a dozen well-known artists will play in the concert, including New Orleans-based Better Than Ezra. Hunter Hayes, Sonny Landreth, Chris Thomas King, MacKenzie Bourg, and Luther Kent have also joined the cause. Information is available at www.louisianarisingfloodrelief.com. Raycom Media’s Tupelo-Honey Raycom will produce the show, and Johnny Palazzotto, a fixture of the Baton Rouge music scene, will serve as music director. The show will be broadcast from Baton Rouge’s River Center Theater and will benefit the American Red Cross’s Louisiana Flood Relief fund.
Tupelo-Honey Raycom is producing the LIVE show. LaPlatney says the goal of Louisiana Rising: A Benefit Concert for Flood Relief is to raise awareness about the devastation caused by the floods, and to raise money to help the thousands of people who are still displaced with the resources to rebuild their lives.
Louisiana Rising: A Benefit Concert for Flood Relief will be broadcast LIVE across all Raycom Media television stations which reach more than 14 percent of U.S. television households and will be carried nationally on Bounce TV reaching 85 percent of the US. (Visit BounceTV.com for local channel information.)
Raycom Media, an employee-owned company, is one of the nation’s largest privately owned broadcasters and owns and/or provides services for 62 television stations in 42 markets and 20 states. Raycom Media owns or provides services for stations covering over 14% of U.S. television households and employs over 4,600 individuals in full and part-time positions. In addition to television stations, Raycom Media owns PureCars (digital ad platform for automotive), Raycom Sports (a marketing, production and events management and distribution company), Tupelo-Honey Raycom (a NY-based production company), RTM Productions (a Franklin, TN-based automotive programming production and marketing solutions company), WebStream Sports (an Indianapolis-based, live event production company) and Broadview Media (a post-production/digital signage company based in Montgomery, AL). Raycom Media is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.
Sinclair is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country. Including pending transactions, the Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 173 television stations in 81 markets, broadcasting 481 channels and having affiliations with all the major networks. Sinclair is the leading local news provider in the country, as well as a producer of live sports content. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple-platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital platforms. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.