Sinclair Stock Price, News & Analysis

Sinclair and NBC have announced a comprehensive multi-year renewal of affiliation agreements covering 21 NBC affiliates, reaching nearly 7 million U.S. television households. The agreement encompasses 14 stations directly owned and operated by Sinclair across various markets, including San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Providence.

Additionally, the renewal includes five markets where Sinclair provides services under joint sales or master service agreements through partnerships with Cunningham Broadcasting Group, Deerfield Media, Howard Stirk Holdings, MPS Media, and Roberts Media.

The deal ensures continued broadcast of NBC's programming, including Sunday Night Football, TODAY, and The Irrational, as well as upcoming content like the NBA's return, Saturday Night Live's 50th Anniversary, and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Sinclair Television Group (SBGI) has entered into a Transaction Support Agreement (TSA) with secured creditors to enhance its financial position through debt recapitalization. The agreement includes lenders holding approximately 80% of STG's outstanding loans and noteholders representing about 75% of Existing Secured Notes.

The transactions include establishing a $650 million first-out first lien revolving credit facility and refinancing options for various term loans. Key elements include exchanging existing term loans into second-out first lien term loans and offering exchanges for secured notes. The refinancing is expected to extend the company's closest meaningful maturity to December 2029, with a weighted average maturity of 6.6 years.

The deal aims to reduce first lien net leverage and improve financial flexibility, allowing Sinclair to pursue deleveraging opportunities while enhancing returns for stakeholders.

Sinclair and Tennis Channel have launched Sinclair Cares: California Wildfires Relief, a fundraising initiative in partnership with the Salvation Army to support disaster relief efforts in Southern California. The campaign aims to provide critical aid, shelter, food, fresh water, and support for wildfire survivors and first responders in Los Angeles.

All donations collected through the initiative will be directly channeled to the Salvation Army's wildfire disaster relief efforts. The partnership demonstrates Sinclair's commitment to supporting communities during times of crisis.

EdgeBeam Wireless, a new joint venture formed by four major broadcasting groups (E.W. Scripps, Gray Media, Nexstar Media Group, and Sinclair), aims to provide nationwide wireless data services using ATSC 3.0 technology. The venture will leverage existing broadcast infrastructure to deliver data services across multiple industries.

The company targets three main markets with significant revenue potential: automotive connectivity ($3.7B/year), content delivery networks ($3.65B/year), and enhanced GPS ($220M/year). EdgeBeam will deliver data to any civilian or military device with an ATSC 3.0 receiver, including vehicles, drones, marine vessels, and mobile devices.

The partnership creates a nationwide spectrum footprint that individual broadcasters couldn't achieve alone, with plans to partner with additional broadcasters for expanded coverage. The service could also provide a backup to existing GPS capabilities, helping secure the U.S. economy.

Sinclair has appointed Jon Kramer as Vice President/General Manager of WMSN FOX 47 in Madison, Wisconsin. Kramer, who previously served as the station's General Sales Manager since 2019, brings extensive experience in advertising strategies and revenue maximization. Rob Weisbord, Sinclair's Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media, highlighted Kramer's expertise in developing innovative advertising strategies and his background as a research analyst.

Before joining Sinclair, Kramer held executive leadership positions at Capital Newspapers and their digital agency Amplified, including Director of Sales Development, Digital Business Developer, and Market Research Analyst. His experience spans both linear and digital media. Kramer, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, is also the founder and president of the Wisconsin Billiards Hall of Fame.

Nashville PBS and Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ: SBGI) have launched WNPT-VC, a new virtual ATSC 3.0 channel broadcasting on virtual channel 8-11. The channel mirrors Nashville PBS' main channel content while utilizing NEXTGEN TV technology, which combines over-the-air broadcasting with internet capabilities.

The new service offers enhanced features including:

• Higher-quality video with HDR capabilities
• Immersive audio
• Improved accessibility through closed captions
• Interactive program guides

This launch represents the first NEXTGEN implementation in Nashville and the second nationwide under Sinclair's agreement with America's Public Television Stations (APTS) to provide free carriage of APTS member stations in markets where Sinclair has deployed ATSC 3.0.

Sinclair has announced a significant network distribution agreement with FOX Television Stations to expand TBD TV's reach. Starting January 15, 2025, TBD TV will be available on FOX affiliates in five major markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Phoenix, adding 22 million TV households to its coverage.

TBD TV, known for comedy programming and being the second youngest multicast network, will feature daily broadcasts of 'Saturday Night Live' in NY, LA, and Chicago, where SNL traditionally performs above NBC's national average. The network has shown strong growth, achieving its highest ratings in November with a 114% year-over-year increase in Total Day ratings for P25-54.

NewsON, a leading local news streaming service, has launched an upgraded app on Roku featuring enhanced user interface and new features. The service provides ad-supported access to local news content from over 285 TV stations across 135+ markets, covering more than 90% of the U.S.

Key enhancements include: interactive weather features with radar maps and forecasts; a Trending Stations Map for breaking news navigation; 'What'sON' - a new original series with daily themed content; and mobile-specific features for iOS and Android including short-form content, polls, user commenting, and push alerts. The service remains free to download with no login required across multiple platforms including Roku, Amazon FireTV, Samsung, Android TV, VIZIO, Web, iOS and Android, with an LG app in development.

Airtasker (ASX: ART) has secured $12 million in media capital through partnerships with Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ:SBGI) and Mercurius Media Capital LP. This brings Airtasker USA's total media capital raised in 2024 to $21.75 million.

The partnerships include $6 million in advertising inventory from Sinclair, accessing 185 TV stations across 86 US markets, and $6 million in premium advertising inventory from Mercurius. These deals follow earlier $9.75 million partnerships with iHeartMedia and TelevisaUnivision.

Since September, Airtasker's Los Angeles market has shown significant growth with +172% in posted tasks, +223% in GMV, +98% in user sign-ups, and +66% in Tasker sign-ups. The company reports 3M Taskers across US, UK, and Australia, with US completed tasks up 306% YoY.