ViacomCBS and Sinclair Broadcast Group have inked up multi-year renewal agreements across 13 CBS network affiliations for Sinclair stations, including four top-50s: WKRC in Cincinnati, Oh., WPEC in West Palm Beach, Fl., WWMT in Grand Rapids, Mi., and WHP in Harrisburg, Pa.
One of the largest CBS affiliates operators — and the second largest station group in the U.S. — Sinclair reaches 8% of the audience in the United States and serves 10 million households across 23 markets. Combined, the 13 market affiliates in the deal will reach about 5% of the audience in the United States (roughly six million households). Other CBS affiliates covered in the multi-year agreement include WRGB in Albany, N.Y.; KBAK in Bakersfield, Calif.; KFDM in Beaumont, Texas., KBOI in Boise, Idaho; KDBC in El Paso, Texas; KVAL in Eugene, Ore.; KTVL in Medford, Ore.; KPTH in Sioux City, Iowa.; and KIMA in Yakima, Wash.
“We look forward to providing our best-in-class news, sports and entertainment programming to millions of households in Sinclair markets through our valued and long-standing partnership,” Ray Hopkins, President, U.S. Networks Distribution, ViacomCBS said in a statement. “We are happy to have reached an agreement to continue to offer our viewers CBS content, including primetime and sports programming, which complements our stations’ valuable local news and syndicated content. The renewal is testament to the symbiotic relationship between a network and its affiliates,” Barry Faber, President, Distribution.& Network Relations for Sinclair, added in a comment.
Sinclair’s CBS affiliates will remain locally available to subscribers of ViacomCBS’ video-on-demand and live streaming platform, CBS All Access.
