Sinclair Broadcast Group named Todd Bernstein station manager of WJLA and WJLA 24/7 News in Washington, D.C.

Bernstein is the station's director of sales and he will continue reporting to senior VP and general manager William Fanshawe. The station manager position had been vacant. 

“As director of sales, Todd has done an outstanding job leading the department. With over twenty-five years of broadcast, digital sales and sales management experience, he is the ideal candidate for the station manager position,“ Fanshawe said. ”In his elevated role, Todd will continue to oversee the sales department as well as have oversight of Government Matters and Good Morning Washington.” 

Bernstein joined WJLA in 2005. He started his media career as an account representative at Harrington, Righter & Parsons responsible for Sinclair stations. 

“I’m both humbled and honored to take on this important management position. I feel like I’ve been preparing my entire career for this leadership role, and I’m thrilled to lead the best team in the Washington region,” Bernstein said. ■

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which announced a new streaming rights deal with the National Basketball Association and an agreement with creditors that would pump $600 million into its Diamond Sports unit, said that its direct-to-consumer business should generate as much as $2.87 billion by 2027.

Sinclair put its latest projections for its sports business in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

With the NBA and financing deals in place, it appears Sinclair is set to go forward with plans to build a direct-to-consumer business based on the regional sports networks it acquired in 2019. Those networks were rebranded as Bally Sports networks last year.

According to the filing, the new DTC business would have three types of users: ones who get the product for free as a TV-everywhere service, features-only subscribers that get betting-related app features but not live games and streaming subscribers getting live games directly even without a TV subscription. Sinclair did not disclose how much it plans to charge paying subscribers.

In the filing, Sinclair laid out three scenarios. In the most bullish scenario, Sinclair sees free subscribers growing from 6.7 million in 2022 to 9.6 million in 2027, while features-only subscribers goes from 235,000 to 6.4 million and streaming subscribers grows from 975,000 to 9.7 million subscribers in 2027. For 2023, Sinclair expects to have 8.2 million free subscribers, 1.3 million features-only subscribers and 2.98 million streaming subscribers.

In its best-case scenario, Sinclair said the DTC business is expected to generate $279 million in revenue in 2022, jump to $859 million in 2023 and hit $2.87 billion in 2027.

Expenses would grow from $280 million in 2022 to $606 million in 2023 and reach $1.3 billion in 2027.

The business would lose $36 million in 2023, but have adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $150 million in 2023. EBITDA would grow to $1.03 billion by 2027.

In the least bullish scenario, the business would have 7.7 million free subscribers in 2022, growing to 9.6 million in 2027, 67,000 features-only subscribers in 2022, growing to 2.4 million in 2027, and 309,000 streaming subscribers in 2022, growing to 3.4 million in 2027.

Revenue would be $111 million in 2022, rising to $1.29 billion in 2027.

Expenses would be $224 million in 2022, increasing to $849 million.

Sinclair forecasts losses of $125 million in 2022 and $14 million in 2023 before turning EBITDA positive in 2024. EBITDA would be $81 million in 2024, rising to $307 million in 2027.

In announcing the financing deal, in which Sinclair is giving up $400 million in management fees over five years, Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said “the transaction as contemplated in this agreement demonstrates the support of both our creditors and Sinclair in positioning Diamond for success for the long term.”

Ripley said that the additional liquidity and the rights deals Sinclair secured enable the company “to proceed with our plans to launch Diamond’s direct-to-consumer offering, which is important to its future state. The platform will offer a more personalized and interactive viewing experience that we believe will appeal to a wider audience and better engage viewers while offering additional revenue streams for Diamond, driving growth in the business in the years ahead.”

Analyst Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo said that while the deal with creditors removes an overhang among Sinclair investors, they’re probably not thrilled with the TV business giving up its management fees.

“While ... DTC success still feels like a flier, the headline risks are arguably dialed down significantly,” Cahall said. “We thus reiterate how important DSG DTC execution will be on the future narrative.” ■ 

Sinclair Broadcast Group said it will be expanding its The National Desk news programming to evening news time periods on 68 of its stations, including all of its MyNetwork TV and CW affiliates, starting Sept. 27.

The National Desk newscasts will also stream on Stirr, Sinclair’s free over-the-top streaming platform and on Sinclair’s news websites.

Sinclair launched The National Desk in January in the morning on those 68 stations.

Also Read: CEO Chris Ripley Likes Sinclair’s Gamble on Local Content

Nexstar, another large station group last year launched NewsNation, a national newscast built on its local news operations. NewsNation launched on Nexstar's WGN America cable channel, which has since been rebranded as NewsNation.

“Across the board, both in audience research and organically from viewers, we have received exceedingly positive feedback that frequently cites the remarkable, unique value of The National Desk,” said Chris Ripley, president and CEO of Sinclair. “Going beyond reporting the news, The National Desk offers audiences firsthand coverage that is not always available online or on the national level, and we have found that people are eager for this content. Sinclair cannot wait for The National Desk to transform evening news after the success we have seen with its morning launch.” 

The National Desk replaces syndicated programming on the national

Also Read: Sinclair Unifies Linear, Digital Ad Management on Operative Platform

Sinclair said Mike Garber, news director at KUTV, Salt Lake City, will lead the launch of The National Desk’s evening coverage. In June, he will become director of content, overseeing all of The National Desk, including its morning, late and digital programming.

The anchors for the evening editions of The National Desk have not been selected yet.

The evening editions will air from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the West Coast. 

Also Read: Sinclair RSNs Face 'Tumultuous’ Period, Analyst Says

The National Desk currently runs daily, from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ET.

Sinclair, which has a controversial reputation because of conservative commentaries it forced its stations to run, said The National Desk was intended to provide commentary-free news from national and local perspectives, taking advantage of the news operations and reporters it has at stations around the country.  

“Whether you are looking for the day’s biggest headlines, or what’s happening right next door, it is imperative communities small and large can access the news they need anytime, anywhere,” said Scott Livingston, senior VP of news at Sinclair Broadcast Group. 

“We have seen The National Desk do exactly that, and this is why our viewers value its content with such high regard. We look forward to The National Desk’s coverage highlighting even more groundbreaking news morning and night, every weekday,” said Livingston, who oversaw the launch of The National Desk.

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s regional sports networks relaunched under the Bally’s Sports Networks brand Thursday, but while a lot of work has been done, there are still many innings to go.

The rebrand coincides with the start of the baseball season and all 14 teams Sinclair has deals with will be in action on day one.

Getting ready for opening day meant, changing signage in stadiums, reskinning about 74 studios and creating new graphic packages.

Also Read: Bally Sports Networks Strike Out with Streamers on Opening Day

“We have a lot of dedicated employees and they’ve done a lot of hard work,” said Rob Weisbord, president of broadcast and chief revenue officer at Sinclair. But the work has only begun on what Weisbord calls the RSN 2.0, which means not just show games on cable, but having engaging, interactive programming 24 hours a day all year long on all platforms.

Sinclair acquired the 21 Fox-branded RSN from The Walt Disney Co. for $9.6 billion in 2019. That investment put the company under financial pressure when the pandemic cancelled games, wiping out viewership and ad revenue.

In 2020 it made a deal with Bally’s, getting Bally’s stock while agreeing to integrate Bally’s programming into its stations and RSN as more states approve legalized sports betting.

Also Read: CEO Chris Ripley Likes Sinclair’s Gamble on Local Content

New graphics during ballgames will be the first change most viewers will notice, Weisbord said. Sinclair’s priority is to strengthen the game broadcasts, which are the tentpoles around which the networks are built. Next Sinclair will launch shows in conjunction with Bally’s that will be interactive and bring a full programming lineup to its RSNs over the next 12 months.

A richer programming lineup would make the channels more attractive to distributors. Some distributors such as Dish Network and virtual multichannel video program distributors like YouTube TV and Hulu have decided RSNs are too expensive to carry.

With baseball season starting, Weisbord said Sinclair’s distribution team is in talks with MVPDs. “We’re trying to figure out how to get to a deal,” he said. Eventually, the RSNs will have some sort of direct-to-consumer offering, so fans who want to watch games will have access to them, he added.

Also Read: Dish Adds MASN to Potential RSN Chopping Block

“The apparent weakness of [RSNs] them was the fact that they have a tent pole, which is the live teams which deliver strong ratings--so does the pre- and post game--but after that, it basically became a non-watched channel,” he said. “And so the best way to build an audience and build programming is to have a tent pole--and we already have the tentpole. So we think we can build a programming lineup off of the live games.”

The new programming will have gaming elements, to attract younger viewers raised on XBox and Fortnite. Sinclair is talking to some of the teams it works with now to do some predictive games to get their fan bases participating by giving them chances to win merchandise or tickets.

Once viewers are used to the free-to-play games where they can win prizes, they’ll move on to fantasy sports and then to live gaming.

For now, some leagues and teams have restrictions that will keep the RSNs from putting point spread in news tickers, for example Eventually those rules will loosen and there will be shows about odds, discussions about propositions and inside information for people considering wagering on a team or game.

At some point the Bally’s Sports might produce two game telecasts, a traditional one plus one for people interested in gaming “You can’t take the game away from the purists,” he said.

Sinclair has other programming ideas. Some involve going inside the team’s training facilities to look at advances in health and data science, staging a three-on-three hockey tournament or a “Hockey University” show that would help teach viewers the sport’s rules.

Sinclair will take a crawl, walk, run approach to new programming, trying it out at one of its RSNs before rolling it out to the entire group.

A key to Sinclair’s new approach to the RSN’s is a new app that should be ready to go in a week or so, Weisbord said. The authenticated apps will let users watch games and other video and play interactive games. Users will have to shift to a Bally’s app to make bets.

Other gaming companies, such as FanDuel and DraftKings, will be able to advertise on the RSNs as well, Weisbord added.

In some ways, Sinclair plans to nationalize its RSN operations. “We are a company of scale. In the past, these have been treated as one-offs. We look at it as a whole ecosystem,” Weisbord said.

In addition to the RSNs, the sports programming Sinclair develops could also run on its CW and MyNetworkTV affiliated stations, he said.

Sinclair It is building a Network Operations Center in Atlanta to replace the Fox master control set up.

There may also be national programming on the RSNs. It has studios in Chicago and Santa Barbara, Calif. It owns the digital sports network Stadium, which also has studios in Chicago.

Weisbord mentioned Shams Charnania, Stadium’s NBA reporter, as possible talent for a national show.

The RSN’s sell ads on a local, regional and national basis. National ads are sold through HTS, the rep firm that handled the RSN when they were owned by Fox.

All together, Sinclair assets generate 12 billion sports impressions a year,” Weisbord said. “When advertisers are looking for that national scale and local reach, we’re able to activate them through our House of Brands sales group,” he said. “We will eventually go into the branded content world as well.”

Sinclair also owns pieces of YES Network, which carries the Yankees in New York, and Marquee Sports Network, the Chicago Cubs' new flagship. Those networks  will also be involved in program development and could participate in programming and advertising initiatives.

On opening day, Weisbord said he will be test-watching all of the games on Bally’s Sports app to see how close it is to going live.

“I’ve got to make sure everything's working properly before I think I could feel comfortable being out of pocket, he said. “Because if I go to a game, I really want to go enjoy the game.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group reported higher fourth-quarter profits despite lower revenue.

Sinclair, a big owner of local stations and regional sports networks, said net income was $467 million, or $6.27 a share, compared to $44 million, or 47 cents, a year ago. 

Excluding $16 million in one-time costs related to transactions, COVID, litigation and regulation, operating income increased to $641 million from $322 million a year ago.

Revenue dropped 7% to $1.512 billion. Ad revenues were $554 million,  up from $456 million a year ago. Political ad sales hit $205 million compared to $23 million a year ago. 

Distribution revenue was $917 million, down from $1.1 billion.

Sinclair said that for the first quarter of 2021, it expects core ad revenue to be between $347 million and $362 million and for total revenue to be in the $1.462 billion to $1.485 billion range. EBITDA is forecast at $59 million to $80 million.  

Sinclair also said that it acquired the 73% interest it didn’t already own in ZypMedia, a demand-side platform specializing in local media campaigns. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Certainly 2020 will be a year not soon forgotten,” said CEO Chris Ripley. “The year was remarkable for its hardships, such as the pandemic that had a significant impact on people’s lives, the economy, and professional sports, and also its bright spots, such as the record political ad spending which helped offset weakness in core advertising caused by the pandemic.”

Ripley added that “2021 is shaping up to be another important year for Sinclair with the upcoming launch of a new, enhanced streaming app for our regional sports networks (RSNs), ushering in a new paradigm for how viewers can watch and interact with major local sporting events.”

The streaming app will add gamification of the viewing experience, making viewing more engaging for fans as they tune in to watch on the company’s RSNs, which are being rebranded under the Bally Sports name.

“We will work with Bally’s on exciting new programming and other initiatives to help drive growth,” Ripley said. “Along with other actions planned for the year, including the broader deployment of NextGen TV and the recent launch of our national news initiative, The National Desk, we are optimistic about the future of Sinclair.”

While it hopes to one day reach the nation’s mobile consumer with ATSC 3.0-based “one-to-many” broadcast technology, Sinclair Broadcast Group wants to program smart phones in the here and now.

The broadcaster has launched OTT platform STIRR, which will bundle a collection of about 20 news, sports and entertainment channels with its own aggregated programming channels.

The service will be available on iOS and Android mobile devices, as well as popular living-room OTT platforms Roku, Apple TV and Amazon FireTV. Users can also access it via personal computers at www.STIRR.com.

“We are entering a new era of broadcast television and our number one priority at Sinclair is to help advance the industry and increase access to broadcast content in the midst of a digital age,” said Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley, in a statement. “With the launch of STIRR, we intend to offer audiences an easy, convenient and free way to watch live local and national channels, as well access a deep selection of on-demand programming.”

Channels included in the STIRR bundle will include BUZZR, Charge, Cheddar, Comet, CONtv, Dove Channel, DUST, FailArmy, Futurism, Gravitas, Mobicrush, MovieMix, NASA TV, Outdoor America, The Pet Collective, SOAR, Stadium, TBD, The Tennis Channel and World Poker.

Using content from its nearly 200 stations, Sinclair will also create for STIRR several aggregated channels themed around news, sports and entertainment—STIRR Movies, STIRR Sports, STIRR Live and STIRR City.

STIRR City delivers a curated 24/7 program lineup based on where a viewer lives. The new channel lineup includes live local news, local and regional sports, entertainment and city-focused lifestyle programming provided by the local Sinclair TV station in that city.

“Despite the explosive growth of new national over-the-top (OTT) services, local TV station’s programming, especially local news, has remained some of the most popular and desired content to audiences and advertisers alike,” said Adam Ware, STIRR’s general manager. “By creating the STIRR City channel format, local TV stations can now extend their programming strength to OTT. STIRR will offer viewers both a new local channel and an extensive local on-demand library relevant to the place they call home.”

Last week at CES, Sinclair unveiled system-on-a-chip hardware that will allow smart phones and other devices to receive ATSC 3.0 signals. The broadcaster hopes to one day deliver a national mobile programming platform through ATSC 3.0 rather than streaming.

“When all of us want to watch the same program at the same time, you’re delivering on a multiplicative basis a file which may be many gigabytes in size,” Sinclair’s top technology executive, Mark Aitken, said in an interview with MCN at CES last week. “In unicast, I have to deliver, for example, a 1 gigabyte file to everybody. Multiply that by thousands. With [ATSC 3.0] broadcast, I deliver just one 1 gigabyte file, and everybody’s got it. You have this growing warehouse of spectrum that’s coming into the hands of the carriers. But we seem to have the same problems all the time. Just try to watch the Super Bowl on your cell phone. it’s very simple. Our job is to get in front of the largest population as possible. The one-to-everyone approach is a distribution technique that’s much needed in today’s telecommunications environment.”

Comet TV, a science fiction broadcast network from Sinclair Television Group and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, has launched apps for Apple TV (fourth gen) and the current batch of Roku devices.

Those apps will include Comet TV’s live broadcast feed, plus an integrated program guide.

In addition to those apps, Comet TV is still offered on over-the-air broadcast TV in more than 100 markets, as well as on the Web at www.comettv.com.

Comet TV, which debuted on Oct. 31, 2015, features a library of sci-fi fare that includes films such as The Crow, Gattaca and Labyrinth, classic Japanese Godzilla films, and TV series that include Mystery Science Theater 3000, Stargate Atlantis, and The Outer Limits. Stargate: SG1 is set to return to Comet TV in April.