Sinclair to advertisers: "Broadcast is back"
As cable and satellite prices increase, more Americans are installing antennas and turning to broadcAs cable and satelliteast TV for entertainment. Sinclair is ready for brands to tap into that trend.
At a time when Americans are ditching traditional pay television platforms and picking up more free entertainment options, Sinclair wants advertisers to know that many viewers are rediscovering broadcast TV — and the company is eager to do business.
That was the overall message Sinclair presented to current and prospective advertisers during the company's UpFront presentation this month, one that could be distilled into three simple but powerful words — "Broadcast is back."
Broadcast TV, as a medium, never really went away. But gone are the days when Americans had just three networks to watch. Over-the-air channels now compete in the attention economy with a staggering amount of options — from free streaming linear networks on platforms backed by hardware developers, to on-demand apps that let viewers watch premium shows and movies on their schedules.
And, yet, broadcast TV remains the most-accessible and lowest-cost option of the bunch. You don't need a broadband connection to watch dozens of free, digital TV channels — you just need a $20 antenna plugged into the back of a TV set.
Many Americans are doing just that. Around one in five American households now has a TV antenna installed to watch free, over-the-air broadcast stations, according to measurement data reviewed by The Desk. The reasons for installing an antenna are innumerable. Local news remains widely available on broadcast TV, as does premium sports from the National Football League (the most-popular sports brand in the country) and Major League Baseball. Local broadcasters have also recaptured live sports rights from the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association, and inked new distribution agreements to offer women's professional sports and college-level athletic events on their channels and networks.
Sinclair's digital broadcast networks target viewers who watch TV for another reason: To be entertained. Its core offerings — Comet, Charge and Roar (formerly TBD) — are genre-based networks that comprise "the Stack," a portfolio of Nielsen-rated broadcast networks that have grown their audience over the past few years.
As previously reported by The Desk, a major reason for Sinclair's multicast audience growth has been its approach to crafting unique brand identities and scheduling its broadcast networks accordingly. Comet, for instance, serves up sci-fi and thriller series like "The X Files," "Grimm" and "Stargate: SG-1," as well as movies like "Gargoyles" and "Sharknado" that fit the bill. Charge airs repeats of top police procedurals like "CSI" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," while Roar serves up sketch comedy like "Saturday Night Live," "Key & Peele" and the CW variant of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" that break from the conventional "setup-punchline" format of a joke to deliver laughs in unexpected places.
Programming and brand identity is one part of the strategy. Distribution is another. Over the past few years, Sinclair has worked to forge new affiliation deals for the Stack that puts its multicast networks on the digital sub-channels of broadcast stations owned by Fox Television Stations, Nexstar Media Group, the Walt Disney Company and Paramount Global, among others. By placing Sinclair's multicast networks in closer proximity to major network affiliates, Sinclair expects new viewers to sample across the broadcast TV dial, and eventually land on one of its networks.
That strategy has resulted in viewership dividends so far. During championship NFL games this season, Sinclair's multicast networks saw a bump in audience in key markets where CBS and Fox stations distribute one or more channels from the Stack. The same was true for the Super Bowl and the NCAA March Madness tournament; on Roar (then TBD), a 50-hour marathon of "Saturday Night Live" timed to coincide with the debut of NBC's 50th anniversary special for the show, also resulted in an audience lift for Sinclair's network.
"The rise of over-the-air broadcast television is unmistakable, and Sinclair is at the forefront of this shift," Adam Ware, the Senior Vice President of Sinclair's Growth Networks, told The Desk by e-mail. "Our multicast networks — Charge, Comet, Roar, and The Nest — with their lineups of premium programming are experiencing significant growth as viewers increasingly watch more broadcast TV."
Sinclair is building on that momentum by acquiring new content for all four of its multicast networks, including The Nest, which will join the Stack as a Nielsen-rated network in the near future. The broadcaster is expected to reveal a slate of newly-acquired, premium TV series that will be added to Comet, Charge and Roar's schedules in the coming weeks; in the meantime, Sinclair has already announced ways to further engage viewers across some of its networks.
This week, Sinclair said it will launch a new initiative called Charge Con (stylized as CHARGECON), which will see mini-marathons of "CSI: New York" and "CSI: Miami" over a two-day period later this month. The initiative will include behind-the-scenes featurettes that show how the hit CBS cop drama was made over time, as well as exclusive interviews with franchise creator Anthony E. Zuiker, who will hand-select certain episodes for broadcast.
The initiative is similar to one called CometFest, an in-person event that Sinclair has conducted over the past few years to reach fans of certain sci-fi and thriller series. This year, Comet Fest will return with a salute to the Jurassic Park franchise; next year, Comet Fest will spotlight the Matrix, and will bring the Matrix film trilogy to broadcast TV.
Comet is also adding more moves to its schedule through 2026, including "Spaceballs" in celebration of Mel Brooks' 100th birthday; several "Star Trek" films, including "The Wrath of Khan"; the hit motion pictures "Interstellar," "Minority Report," "The Running Man," "Conan the Barbarian" and "Terminator,"; and two films each from "Robocop," "Jeepers Creepers" and "Species."
At Roar, the schedule will expand to include more shows that incorporate comedic elements, while The Nest will grow its roster with reality-based programs that entice audiences with good storytelling.
Across all four networks, Sinclair's current and future show offerings will be edited for time and content, making them safe for viewers to leave on throughout the day and giving advertisers confident that the inventory is brand safe.
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A version of this story first appeared at The Desk.