Sinclair Broadcasting Rewrites TV Station Business Model

The bounder Iamp8217m alluding to is Sinclair Broadcast Group with more than 150 stations nationwide affiliated with all five major broadcast networks ABC CBS The CW Fox and NBC and Fox39s MyNetwork TV weeknight service Sinclair39s reach includes Baltimore Minneapolis San Antonio Pittsburgh Nashville Cincinnati St Louis and Las Vegas along with plenty of midsizesmall markets mostly around the South Midwest and Rocky Mountain states Through a pair of corporate decisions and the closing of an acquisition deal over these summer months Sinclair is in position to impact the nature and quality of what viewers will see on their stations from here on inThe deal having quick nearterm impact is forming American Sports Network which will offer live coverage of football basketball soccer baseball and other sports from several college conferences led by NCAA football power player Conference USA Also involved are the Colonial Big South and Southern conferences and the Patriot League Disclaimer I went to school at American University a Patriot League member and this year39s basketball tournament championNCAA tournament qualifierIn a few weeks ASN will provide weekend and weeknight football from these conferences on Sinclair stations mostly The CW and MyNetwork carriers because both services don39t program on weekendsIn areas where Sinclair doesn39t own a station ASN will syndicate its games to other broadcasters for display on their outlet or multicast services or through regional sports networks carried on cable and satellite Whatever way the syndication path goes ASN boosts Sinclair39s revenue by selling time to national sponsors while Sinclair stations get spots for local saleWith broadcast net affiliates on the hunt for more ways to cough up reverse compensation revenue for the networks they affiliate with ASN stands as a big help We just witnessed the consequences of resisting a network39s bark for more reverse comp via CBS39 termination then switch of affiliation involving Indianapolis station WISHOur second Sinclair pathway to bigger things is the completion of its 985 million buy of Allbritton Communications operator of WJLA in Washington DC and other stations In with that deal NewsChannel 8 the awardwinning cable service covering the DC metro area Ever since that deal was announced last year Sinclair management has hinted they have a grand strategy for NewsChannel 8 once they get it One idea is to make NewsChannel 8 a national broadcast cable andor satellite alternative to the newsinfo service marketplace Another is making NC8 the de facto DC bureau for all Sinclair stations nationwide providing live reports and features as needed A third is the formation of a news cooperative with nonSinclair stations to offer material on an ongoing basis We should hear more about what directions will Sinclair takes with this venture by the end of the yearThe latest and perhaps most consequential strike is the formation of an original programming unit believed to get Sinclair into the scripted TV business just as broadcast station rival Tribune has organized over the last year via former Chicagobased superstation WGN America Tribune is twofortwo on scripted so far with amp8220Salemamp8221 renewed for season two and amp8220Manhattanamp8221 winning raves as one of summer39s best new dramas plus pundit buzz on contention for next year39s Primetime Emmy Awards All Sinclair is saying for now is that the unit will create weekend afternoon and evening series for its CWMyNetwork affiliates and explore alternatives for national and international distributionShades of the 1980s and 90s when many independentlyowned stations filled their weeknightweekend time periods with such original hours as amp8220Herculesamp8221 amp8220Star Trek The Next Generationamp8221 amp8220Baywatchamp8221 amp8220Xenaamp8221 amp8220Relic Hunteramp8221 etc If Sinclair can capitalize on the boom in original scripted TV get a few notable series creators or top feature filmmakers to hoist anchor with them as TribuneWGN America did as early as next fall the results could be transformative for the broadcast station universeMeredith Raycom and Scripps have succeeded in varying degrees with their respective inhouse efforts for original daytime and early evening syndicated series amp8220Betteramp8221 amp8220Right This Minuteamp8221 amp8220Let39s Ask Americaamp8221 Sinclair39s threeway content drive if successful can push these station groups and others into more ambitious content territory That can be an extremely valuable push if the broadcast networks aim for a bigger chunk of reverse compensationretransmission consent money to compensate for less ratings and advertising income in the seasons aheadUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Sinclair Broadcasting Rewrites TV Station Business Model

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