According to Nielson Media Research figures, Hyman – who broadcasts daily editorials called "The Point" – reaches 1.8 million people over the age of 18 every day; that compares with O'Reilly's 2.5 million-per-day audience reach, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Granted, Hyman's several-minutes-long editorials are broadcast more than once per day.

But given his numbers and Sinclair's smallish size, Hyman – a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer who is now a captain in the naval reserve – is sort of like the Fox News Channel versus CNN: Fox isn't in every market like CNN, but routinely outpaces the Atlanta-based network founded by Ted Turner.

In short, a recent profile in the Baltimore Sun explains that Hyman is quickly becoming a success, and he's doing it despite not being part of a major media empire.

What appeals to programmers, as well as many Americans, is Hyman's style. It's a breath of fresh air and, according to one media relations consultant, not a parroting of Washingtonian ideas.

"He's interesting and fun to watch, somewhat refreshing in his approach to things - in the sense that not all original thoughts originate in Washington. I like that," John Bilotta, a media relations consultant with government clients, told the Sun.

Bilotta met, got to know and became friends with Hyman when the latter was a foreign correspondent for United Press International in London in the late 1980s, the Sun reported.

As for Hyman, he admits to his conservatism, but he doesn't march in lockstep with anyone. "I'm pretty conservative," he told the Sun, "but I'm a pragmatic guy."

And he's not afraid to mix it up, either – to call things as he sees them. Like, for instance, when he made the national spotlight for criticizing Ted Koppel of ABC's "Nightline" when the latter read the names of every American soldier killed in Iraq (up to that point).

Hyman says it was a blatant political stunt aimed at hurting the Republican White House of President Bush. And his network even pulled Koppel's broadcast from the seven ABC affiliates it owns, which prompted outcries from a number of newspaper editorial writers and some lawmakers as well.

Fox News has a reputation – many say ill-deserved – of being a television network for Republicans. With Hyman at the helm of providing conservative-oriented commentary, is Sinclair little more than GOP-TV?

In fairness, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, led by CEO David D. Smith, is controlled by the Smith family, which has been generous to Republican causes and leaders, such as President Bush, the Sun reported.

And, says the paper, "this year Hyman served as the chief speaker at a fund-raising dinner for Anne Arundel Republicans," at which Maryland Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. – whom Hyman just interviewed – was the featured guest.

But for his part Hyman says he'll speak to any group that asks, though Democrats rarely do. And many of the affiliate stations owned by Sinclair broadcast decided liberal content.

"We're not our here to be provocateurs or anything, but if we're not making a difference one way or the other, why do it?" Carl Gottlieb, who joined Sinclair in 2002 from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a Washington-based think tank, told the Sun regarding another of Hyman's broadcasts, "a highly stylized format of fast-paced news laced with edgy takes on politics and popular culture" called News Central.

"You can get bland, middle-of-the-road targeted news anywhere - I dare say, right here in Baltimore," Gottlieb said. The News Central program is a newscast for 16 stations at present, but that number is growing.

Editor's note: