Comet and Charge! are now available on CBS Affiliates in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco while TBD and The Nest can be seen on KCAL Los Angeles.
The additions to the diginets include Law & Order Criminal Intent, Grimm and The Laugh List.
Sinclair Broadcast Group has set a distribution agreement with YouTube TV to add carriage of Tennis Channel, T2, Charge! and TBD to YouTube TV’s service offerings. The agreement also extends […]
Sinclair Broadcast Group said its free, over-the-air multicast networks Comet, Charge! and TBD have made deals that will add 2.4 million TV households to their distribution footprint by the end of the second quarter. The added distribution reflects new broadcast affiliation agreements with Nexstar Media Group, Gray Television and Entravision in markets including San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego and Hartford-New Haven, Conn.
While many in the TV business are investing billions in subscription streaming services, big broadcasters are focusing on free over-the-air digital channels. Sinclair Broadcast Group has been investing in its digital channels — Comet TV, Charge and TBD — and is seeing a healthy increase in advertising revenue since getting ratings from Nielsen and upgrading their programming. In June, for example, Charge is adding CSI: Miami to its schedule. “What we’ve tried to do with these networks is level up the programming to make them general-market worthy,” Scott Ehrlich, Sinclair SVP, growth networks and content, said.
Exclusives
Obsesh Media, a digital platform for outdoor sports top athletes and high-profile lifestyle personalities to connect with fans through original video, has a deal to bring its original premium programming […]
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced “significant changes” to the content of three, company-owned multicast networks: Comet, Charge! and TBD. The channels, which are available to the vast majority of households across […]
Jukin Media, a global digital media company, has signed a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group to take over operations of the company’s TBD Network that specializes in bringing digital-first programming to broadcast television as well as streaming it on TBD.com and the TBD app.
Sinclair Begins TBD Diginet Rollout
Sinclair Broadcast Group has begun to roll out a first-of-its kind, over-the-air multicast network showing digital programming that’s designed to appeal to millennials. TBD will feature web series, short films, fashion, comedy, lifestyle, online video game competitions, music and viral content and will air on many of its stations in 81 markets.
The largest TV station group in the U.S. is ready to triple-down its status as multicast channel programmer, starting with a millennial-geared 24/7 showcase of Internet content. As Sinclair continues to build distribution, viewership and ad revenue for Comet TV, the science fiction network collaboration with MGM TV, open multicast space in a number of the company’s markets will be filled next month by TBD, a collection of short- and long-form web series supplied by various digital content makers.
Sinclair Broadcast Group says the new multicast network will be the first multiscreen TV network in the U.S. to offer premium internet-first content. Launching in early 2017, TBD will feature content curated from a range of digital producers.
Jim Brady, Journal Register Co. editor in chief and former TBD GM, on TBD and local news sites: “If you could make [TBD] work in DC, then the hope was that it might be replicable in other cities. I’m not sure whether that would have worked, though. Local sites are not easily scalable. For local sites to be good, you need local bodies. So while you can centralize some back-office functions, the core journalism can’t be easily scaled.”
Allbritton’s TBD brand change illustrates a struggle in local TV today. Brands built on call letters and channel numbers may not translate well to digital platforms if you’re striving to grow a unique online experience that goes beyond an extension of TV.
