Report: Sinclair To Branch Into Nonbroadcast Business

Media company Sinclair may be best known for its empire of television stations and local news programming across the United States, its founders’ conservative bent and its recent failed foray into regional sports network ownership, reports The Baltimore Sun.

Now, officials say the company’s future will become more tied to industries outside broadcast.

Instead of buying more television stations, the company is shifting its investment strategy to acquire growing, nonbroadcast businesses, Sinclair President and CEO Chris Ripley said in a recent interview.

Chris Ripley

It plans to pursue acquisitions of companies that stand to benefit over the next decades from trends such as the aging of the population, the expanding decarbonization of the economy, the increase in pet ownership and spending, and the “do-it-for-me” sector.

“Our core business and our legacy might be in media and broadcasting, but at the end of the day we’re looking to make Sinclair a success in any industry that it’s in,” Ripley said. “If there are better investment opportunities in other industries, then we should pursue those rather than just blindly saying we’re a broadcaster, and this is all we’re going to do.”

The nation’s largest owner of TV stations still believes in the future of broadcast. The company is investing $65 million this year alone in its broadcast division, in areas such as next-generation television, a broadcast standard designed to improve video quality, reception on mobile devices and interactivity.

But, “as we looked at our business, it became increasingly clear that from a regulatory perspective, broadcasting is not in a good position,” facing far-less-regulated competitors such as Big Tech and Big Media, Ripley said.