Sinclair Broadcast Group has renewed its affiliation agreement with Paramount Global for continued carriage of its four digital broadcast networks, a deal that also includes new affiliations for certain networks on major-market stations.
The four networks — Comet, Charge, TBD and The Nest — will land on Paramount-owned stations in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Each channel offers off-network re-runs of hit programming.
Comet’s blend of sci-fi and fantasy shows and movies will now air on WCBS-TV (Channel 2.5) in New York City and KPIX (Channel 5.5) in San Francisco, while Charge will be offered on KCAL (Channel 9.3) in Los Angeles, WBBM-TV (Channel 2.5) in Chicago and KYW-TV (Channel 3.5) in Philadelphia.
Some of those stations were already carrying one or more of Sinclair’s other digital networks, including The Nest, which replaced Stadium on broadcast TV channels last year.
The Nest will be added to KCAL (Channel 9.2) in Los Angeles and KPYX (Channel 44.4) in San Francisco as part of the deal. Meanwhile, TBD will move to WBFS (Channel 33.6) in Miami, WPSG (Channel 57.2) in Philadelphia and KPYX (Channel 44.2) in San Francisco.
“We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our networks’ distribution and the strengthening of our impactful partnership with CBS, showcasing our commitment to delivering compelling content to a broader audience across the US,” Lee Schlazer, the Senior Vice President for Distribution at Sinclair, said in a statement on Thursday.
Sinclair’s digital broadcast networks were among the fastest-growing and most-watched on American television last year. Charge grew its audience 28 percent on a year-over basis, with an average of 102,000 viewers tuning in each day. Comet experienced a 2 percent audience lift during the same time frame, with 1an average of 01,000 people tuning in daily.
