Sinclair Broadcast Group has signed up its ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates to be carried in their respective markets when YouTube TV launches in those markets.
Per the new deal, YouTube TV will also carry Sinclair’s Tennis Channel to its subscribers, and the companies said they expect YouTube TV to also carry Sinclair’s CW and MyNetwork TV stations, as well as its 24- hour science-fiction channel, Comet TV.
“We are excited to announce this agreement with YouTube TV which is quickly expanding to cover more cities across the country and includes popular local, network and sports programming," said Barry Faber, executive vice president for distribution and network relations at Sinclair, in a statement. “We believe that our viewers want the ability to access content on any screen and having this relationship with YouTube will provide value to not only our viewers, but our advertising relationships as well. We appreciate that Google, the owner of YouTube TV, recognized the importance of carrying all of the local broadcast affiliates in their effort to attract subscribers to this new service."
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Sinclair’s expanded YouTube TV deal comes after earlier this summer the company announced a renewed distribution deal with CBS for four affiliates that includes distribution on YouTube TV, Hulu and “future new entrants.”
"Expanding distribution on these new platforms together with our affiliates has been a part of CBS' long-term digital strategy, and I am very proud we have reached this agreement with our affiliate board," said Ray Hopkins, president of television networks distribution at CBS, in a statement. "No broadcaster has made preserving the network-affiliate model a core tenet of their strategy like CBS. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our affiliates, and as these new forms of distribution continue to grow, including CBS All Access, so will our revenue together."