Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley “Very Bullish” On Regional Sports Streaming, Vows “Soft Launch” In Spring; Battered Stock Drops On Soft Q4 Numbers
deadline.comUndaunted by headwinds, Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley reaffirmed plans to launch direct-to-consumer streaming versions of the regional sports networks controlled by the company.“We think it’s going to do great things in the future,” he said of Diamond Sports Group, the consortium-backed entity that operates the 21 Bally’s Regional Sports Networks. “We’re very bullish on that position.” Before rebranding, the networks were run by Fox before the Disney-Fox deal required them to be sold.Ripley’s comments came during a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss Sinclair’s fourth quarter results.
The numbers undershot the Street’s expectations, mainly due to the relative absence of political advertising compared with a record 2020 as well as a cyberattack on the company.
Sinclair swung to a loss of $1.18 per share, compared with earnings of $6.27 in the same quarter a year ago. Total revenue slipped 2% to $1.48 billion, missing analysts’ consensus forecast for $1.56 billion.Sinclair’s stock dropped 6% on the results, to $25.34, mid-way through the trading day.
It has shed 6% in 2022 to date and is well off its 52-week high of $39.60.While Sinclair is the No. 2 owner of local TV stations in the U.S., it has attempted to diversify since having its planned acquisition of Tribune Media scuttled by regulators in 2018. (Nexstar leapfrogged Sinclair to become the top station group after it swooped in to buy Tribune in 2019.) Sinclair, which has gained experience in sports by owning the Tennis Channel and incubating digital outlet Stadium, spearheaded the $9.6 billion purchase of the former Fox RSNs in 2019.
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