BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced a new broadcast affiliate distribution agreement with Tegna that will expand the clearances for The Nest, Sinclair’s fourth multicast network.
As a result of the deal, the free, over-the-air, national network, will now be available on 35 additional channels, reaching 79% of all US OTA television households. The new affiliations include major market “big 4 network” VHF channel positions in Atlanta, Washington DC, Phoenix, Tampa, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Sacramento, Indianapolis, San Diego, New Orleans and more. With the addition of these markets, The Nest is now available in 44 of the top-50 markets.
The agreement also includes a significant station upgrade for Comet, Sinclair’s sci-fi and fantasy network, to the Tegna-owned CBS affiliate KHOU TV channel 11 in Houston, Texas.
The Nest, which launched in Oct ’23, offers “comfort food” programming, comprised of home improvement, true crime, factual reality series, and celebrity-driven family shows, joining Sinclair’s lineup of national broadcast networks, Comet, Charge!, and TBD. In 2023, the networks experienced unprecedented year over year growth, with Comet +17%, Charge! +37% and TBD. +10%* and continuing into 2024.
“Multicast broadcast TV continues to grow as audiences discover our group of unique, new, free over the air TV networks,” said Lee Schlazer, senior vice president of Distribution. “We’re excited to bring our latest network, The Nest, to TEGNA stations across the country.”
More information is available at https://sbgi.net/networks/.