Sinclair Enters Into Long-Term Affiliation Agreements With The American Broadcasting Company
09.29.2014
News Release
Contact: Barry Faber, EVP & General Counsel
(410) 568-1500
SINCLAIR ENTERS INTO LONG-TERM AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS WITH THE AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY
BALTIMORE (September 29, 2014) — Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) (the “Company” or “Sinclair”) announced that it has entered into long-term agreements with the American Broadcasting Company (“ABC”) for the renewal of the ABC affiliations 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 markets being renewed are:
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
Peoria, IL
Asheville, NC
Charleston, WV
Chattanooga, TN
Columbus, OH
Dayton, OH
Greensboro, NC
Pensacola, FL
Champaign/Springfield, IL
St Louis, MO
Quincy, IL
About Sinclair: Sinclair is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, having affiliations with all of the major networks. For more information, please visit Sinclair’s website at www.sbgi.net.
Forward-Looking Statements:
The matters discussed in this press release include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. When used, the words “outlook,” “intends to,” believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “achieves,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Such forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ materially and adversely from those set forth in the forward-looking information as a result of various important factors, including and in addition to the assumptions set forth therein, but not limited to, STG’s ability to obtain the necessary approvals to close on pending acquisitions, the impact of changes in national and regional economies, the volatility in the U.S. and global economies and financial credit markets which impact our ability to forecast or refinance our indebtedness as its comes due, successful execution of outsourcing agreements, pricing and demand fluctuations in local and national advertising, volatility in programming costs, the market acceptance of new programming, the CW Television and MyNetworkTV programming, our news share strategy, our local sales initiatives, the execution of retransmission consent agreements, our ability to identify and consummate investments in attractive non-television assets and to achieve anticipated returns on those investments once consummated, and any risk factors set forth in the Company’s recent reports on Form 8-K, Form 10-Q and/or Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that the assumptions and other factors referred to will occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking information in the future except as required by law.
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