Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced that it has entered into long-term agreements with the ABC for the renewal affiliation agreements in 13 Sinclair markets that come up for renewal during 2014 and 2015. Three of the new agreements will expire on August 31, 2019 and the other 11 will expire on August 31, 2020. The markets being renewed are listed below and include six of Sinclair’s ten biggest ABC markets, including five of the top six ABC markets. Sinclair is the largest ABC affiliate with a total of 25 ABC affiliated stations. The Company’s remaining ABC affiliation agreements do not expire for several years.
Commenting on the transaction, David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair, stated, “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with ABC to renew these affiliation agreements for 5-year terms including a number of agreements that were not set to expire until 2015. The viewers in these markets will continue to receive the popular programming that ABC provides including, “Modern Family,” “Scandal” and “Dancing with the Stars, as well as top sports programming like the NBA and NCAA football. Furthermore, the ability to renew these affiliations on fair terms for periods ending as late as August of 2020 demonstrates that our interests continue to be fully aligned with those of the broadcast networks.”
Sinclair’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Barry Faber, who oversees both Sinclair’s relationships with its networks, as well as with the multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs) who retransmit Sinclair’s television stations, stated, “As expected, we will continue to pay ABC reasonable fees, which will be invested in high quality broadcast content that enhances the value of our stations. The long-term visibility provided by these agreements regarding our costs of network programming positions us to appropriately price our retransmission consent rights in our negotiations with MVPDs. We are confident our net retransmission revenues will continue to grow as the retransmission consent market continues to mature and normalize, bringing Broadcasters’ payments in line with their consistently dominant ratings among MVPD offerings and allowing Sinclair to realize the value of the programming offered by our stations and the networks with which we affiliate.”
The stations being renewed are KOMO in Seattle, KATU in Portland, Ore., WHOI in Peoria, Ill., WLOS in Asheville, N.C., WCHS in Charleston, W.V., WTVC in Chattanooga, Tenn., WSYX in Columbus, Ohio, WKEF in Dayton, WXLV in Winston-Salem, N.C., WEAR in Pensacola, Fla., WICD in Champaign-Springfield, Ill., KDNL in St. Louis, Mo., and KHQA in Quincy, Ill.
