After two years of securing new channel positions on broadcast TV, refreshing schedules and revamping brand identities, Sinclair is ready to move into the next growth phase for its over-the-air multicast networks.
Later this year, the four networks — Comet, Charge, Roar (formerly TBD) and The Nest — will increase the availability of premium TV series to drive further viewership growth.
Charge, which previously offered a schedule that consisted mainly of retro law dramas, will lean further into its offering of more-modern, premium police procedurals with the addition of “Criminal Minds” and “Homicide: Life on the Street.” The shows join “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: New York” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”
Comet, the sci-fi and thriller multicast network, will add “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “The Outer Limits,” while continuing to offer hit TV series like “The X-Files” and “Grimm.” It will also increase the amount of premium films screened on the weekends, with “Spaceballs,” “The Terminator,” “The Matrix” and “Interstellar” airing in future months.
Two Jane Lynch-hosted game shows will air on Roar: “Hollywood Game Night” and recent seasons of “The Weakest Link.” Both previously aired on NBC, with The Weakest Link syndicated to Bravo. The shows will be part of a new game show block on Roar, which will continue to offer “Saturday Night Live,” “Key & Peele” and “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
The Nest will lean into a new brand identity of delivering premium, reality-based series that centers on “real people, real stories” with the addition of “Gene Simmons: Family Jewels” and “My Ghost Story,” which will join other series like “Cold Case Files,” “Ice Road Tuckers” and “Dog, the Bounty Hunter.”
Some of the new programs that Sinclair will offer, including Xena: Warrior Princess, will be upscaled to take advantage of widescreen, high-definition television, The Desk has learned. The new programs will start airing in September as part of the 2025-26 television season.
Sinclair’s multicast networks have experienced significant growth since the company began executing on a strategy to find more premium real estate on the dial. The strategy involved securing prominent placement on the digital sub-channels of major network affiliates, including CBS, ABC and Fox-owned stations.
The strategy allowed Sinclair’s multicast networks to take advantage of consumer “sampling” habits during major events like the Super Bowl, March Madness and the 50th anniversary celebration of Saturday Night Live, during which viewers searched across the dial for other things to watch before and after the events.
Viewers often landed on Sinclair’s multicast networks like Comet and Roar, which were strategically programmed to take advantage of highly-anticipated events happening on major broadcast networks.
In the top 10 markets, Sinclair’s programming strategy paid off: Viewership to Roar is up 40 percent compared to last year, while Charge has logged a 21 percent bump in audience during the same period. Comet’s audience has increased 17 percent.
“Sinclair’s multicast strategy is firing on all cylinder,” Adam Ware, the Senior Vice President of Growth Networks at Sinclair, said in a statement. “We’ve made bold moves — elevating content, expanding reach, and securing beachfront distribution in the nation’s largest DMAs – and viewers have responded, making Sinclair’s portfolio of multicast networks the fastest growing group in the rapidly expanding free TV sector.”
Sinclair’s multicast networks are available on broadcast TV in most parts of the country. Comet, Charge, Roar and The Nest also make their national East Coast feed available as a free online stream through their respective websites.
