Editing Sinclair Broadcast Group (section)

===Early roots===
The company's roots date back to the late 1950s, when electrical engineer [[Julian Sinclair Smith]] and his wife Carolyn B. Smith, owning 34.5% of the shares, along with a group of shareholders, formed the '''Commercial Radio Institute''', a broadcasting [[trade school]] in [[Baltimore]], Maryland. In March 1958, Commercial Radio Institute applied to build an [[FM radio]] station in Baltimore.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=For The Record {{!}} New Fm Stations {{!}} Applications |date=April 21, 1958 |magazine=[[Broadcasting (magazine)|Broadcasting]] |page=122 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1958/1958-04-21-BC.pdf |access-date=March 31, 2024 |via=worldradiohistory.com |quote=Baltimore, Md—Commercial Radio Institute Inc., 93.1 mc, 19.55 kw unl… Owners are Julian S. and Carolyn B. Smith (34.5%) and several small stockholders.}}</ref> In April 1959, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) granted the [[Construction permit#Broadcasting|construction permit]]{{snd}}for the estimated  {{US$|25964|link=yes}} ({{Inflation|US|25964|1959|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) construction project{{snd}}.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=For The Record {{!}} New Fm Stations {{!}} Actions by FCC |date=April 6, 1959 |magazine=[[Broadcasting (magazine)|Broadcasting]] |page=102 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1959/1959-04-06-BC.pdf |access-date=March 31, 2024 |via=worldradiohistory.com |quote=Baltimore, Md—Commercial Radio Institute Inc. Granted… April 1… Estimated construction cost $25,964…}}</ref> Sinclair's first station, WFMM-FM (now [[WPOC]]), signed on the air in February 1960.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Facilities of AM/FM Radio {{!}} U. S. stations directory, including am/fm profiles {{!}} MARYLAND {{!}} Baltimore |date=September 1962 |magazine=[[Broadcasting (magazine)|Broadcasting]] |page=B-78 [PDF p. 266] |issue=1961–62 Yearbook Issue |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1961-62/1961-62-BC-YB.pdf |access-date=March 31, 2024 |via=worldradiohistory.com |quote=WFMM-FM (Feb. 4, 1960)… 44 W. Biddle St. … Julian Sinclair Smith, pres & gen mgr}}</ref>

In 1967, Smith, as Chesapeake Engineering Placement Service, partly owned by the name-shortened Commercial Radio Inc., applied for and was granted, a construction permit for a new [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] television station in Baltimore, expected to be operating by September 1968 on channel 45, no call sign yet assigned.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=New TV Stations |date=October 30, 1967 |magazine=[[Broadcasting (magazine)|Broadcasting]] |page=46 |volume=73 |issue=18 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-10-30-BC.pdf |access-date=March 31, 2024 |via=worldradiohistory.com |quote=Channel 45, Baltimore, plans to go on air in September, 1968, with 243 kw visual, 48 kw aural from an antenna height of 552 feet above average terrain}}</ref>