Sinclair multicast networks see ratings bump from football, other major events

(Stock image via Pixabay, Graphic by The Desk)

It has long been known that the National Football League (NFL) is a massive driver of viewership to major broadcast network affiliates. But, as more Americans switch from expensive pay TV packages in favor of over-the-air television, a new trend has emerged: Football pulling in an audience for digital-only multicast networks.

Such was the case in January when two NFL championship games lifted the ratings of Sinclair’s multicast networks distributed on by CBS and Fox stations in key markets across the country, according to viewership data shared exclusively with The Desk.

On Fox, a sizable chunk of the 44.2 million people who tuned in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles clinch the National Football Conference (NFC) title and a Super Bowl slot moved down the dial to watch comedy network TBD, which Fox-owned stations began carrying on a digital sub-channel last December. In four key markets — including New York and Chicago — TBD saw a 229 percent lift in the first hour after the NFC Championship game compared to the preceding hour, the Nielsen data showed.

Likewise, over on CBS, a good portion of the 57.7 million viewers who watched the Kansas City Chiefs clinch another American Football Conference (AFC) title and the second Super Bowl slot for the year made their way down to sci-fi and thriller network Comet, which is carried on a digital sub-channel of CBS-owned stations in several major markets. The network saw a 168 percent lift in viewership during the first hour after the AFC Championship game compared to the first hour in New York, Chicago and two other markets, the data revealed.

Adam Ware, the Senior Vice President of Growth Networks at Sinclair who oversees the development of the company’s four multicast networks, attributed Comet and TBD’s higher viewership to a combination of factors, including an uptick in homes ditching cable and satellite in favor of antennas and streaming services and Sinclair’s deliberate programming strategy around key events.

Data released by Nielsen last year claims the number of American homes using an antenna to watch free broadcast TV — including premium sports, like NFL games carried on the major networks — is nearly 23 million. A breakdown of market-specific data reviewed by The Desk showed the number of homes using antennas in major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco has grown at a steady pace over the past three years after a sharp increase during the pandemic, when most Americans were stuck at home with little more to do than watch TV.

In recent years, antenna adoption has primarily been driven by rising cable and satellite costs — a trend that has started to afflict one-cheaper streaming cable TV replacements, too. As bills go up, TV enthusiasts — and sports fans, in particular — look for lower-cost ways to watch local and national programming.

“The idea that viewers have now discovered these very low-priced antennas that can go in your house, and that penetration and sheer number has increased, shows that they are looking at lower-priced options,” Ware told The Desk in an interview earlier this week. “And that’s the punchline — antennas are legit.”

Ware theorizes that, as more Americans use antennas to watch high-profile events like NFL games, they’ll channel surf after the game is over. When they do, he wants to make sure his multicast networks are as close as possible to major network affiliates, especially in the big markets, increasing the likelihood that they’ll land on one of his channels.

That strategy is not new — Sinclair began employing it about two years ago, when the company forged a deal with Paramount to move Comet to CBS-owned television stations in major markets like New York, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco. Following the AFC Championship game last year, Ware noticed that viewership of Comet increased following the game.

The same thing happened after other key events that were aired on broadcast networks, including the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention and the presidential debates. When those events were over, Comet benefitted from increased viewership in markets where the channel is distributed by a major network-owned affiliate, as did TBD, which started airing on digital sub-channels of major-market ABC-owned stations last year.

Ware said the channels benefit from proximity to other major broadcast network stations and affiliates, too. In New York and Chicago, Comet is distributed on a digital sub-channel of the local CBS-owned station (WCBS Channel 2 and WBBM Channel 2, respectively), which is just one channel number away from each market’s NBC-owned station (WNBC Channel 4 and WMAQ Channel 5). He hypothesizes that the placement between two major broadcast networks gives Comet increased exposure to viewers who move down the dial from CBS or up the dial from NBC — and, to Sinclair, that is premium television real estate.

“Channel surfing as the best form of discovery is not a particularly new concept,” Ware said.”When they have big events on, you should make you sure you have your best programming on.”

Sinclair has leaned hard into programming around certain events: Two weeks ago, when the AFC Championship game ended on CBS, Comet was in the middle of a multi-hour block of “The X-Files,” the paranormal drama that proved to be a hit for Fox in the 1990s and is one of Comet’s top-rated shows. After the NFC Championship game on Fox, TBD began airing re-runs of “Saturday Night Live,” with each episode hosted by an athlete, or having some connection to sports.

With Fox airing the Super Bowl on Sunday, Ware said TBD intends to repeat that programming strategy — the network is airing another mini-marathon block of Saturday Night Live, starting with an episode hosted by Woody Harrelson that features Kendrick Lamar as its musical guest. Lamar is performing at the halftime show, and TBD is scheduling the episode to run close to the end of his performance. Likewise, around the scheduled end of the Super Bowl, TBD will air an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Ware admits the reaction of viewers to the Kelce-hosted episode will largely depend on whether the Chiefs are able to achieve their third consecutive Super Bowl victory — something that no NFL team has done before — but he believes the repeat will achieve good ratings for TBD, given its distribution on Fox-owned stations, regardless of the outcome of the game.

TBD is also planning a 50-hour marathon of Saturday Night Live to coincide with the show’s 50th anniversary celebration. The marathon starts February 14 and will end at the precise moment that Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary show begins airing on East Coast NBC stations.

In addition to Comet and TBD, Sinclair also operates Charge!, a multicast network that distributes police procedurals and related shows, and The Nest, a network that offers a mixture of reality-based programming.