Affiliation agreements with ABC set to expire in 2014 and 2015 will advance ahead another five years for television group Sinclair. 13 markets are included in the deal.Three will continue through 8/31/19 and the rest through 8/31/20. Other terms were not released.
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 EVP and General Counsel Barry Faber added, “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
