{"id":4624,"date":"2017-05-09T00:22:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T04:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=4624"},"modified":"2017-05-09T00:36:01","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T04:36:01","slug":"roh-could-get-huge-boost-from-sinclair-tribune-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2017\/05\/09\/roh-could-get-huge-boost-from-sinclair-tribune-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"ROH Could Get Huge Boost From Sinclair – Tribune Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was announced today by multiple news outlets, from CNN<\/strong> to The Wall Street Journal<\/strong>, that Sinclair Broadcasting<\/strong>, the parent company of Ring of Honor<\/strong> and one of the United States’ biggest broadcasting companies, had purchased Tribune Media<\/strong>, the media conglomerate that owned the Chicago Tribune<\/strong> newspaper as well as another fleet of television stations, including superstation WGN America<\/strong>, Antenna TV,\u00a0<\/strong>WGN Radio<\/strong>, a stake in the Food Network<\/strong>, and 42 regional affiliates.<\/p>\n

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Photo: ROH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the Variety article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“The breadth of the combined company is eye-popping, even after two decades of consolidation of TV station ownership. The combined entity would own 223 TV stations serving 108 markets, including 39 of the top 50. The group\u2019s stations would reach some 72% of U.S. TV households. That\u2019s nearly twice the reach of its nearest broadcast competitors: Nextstar (39%), CBS (38%) and Fox (37%).”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In a press release today<\/a>, Sinclair President and CEO Chris Ripley<\/strong> said the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a transformational acquisition for Sinclair that will open up a myriad of opportunities for the company,\u201d commented\u00a0Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair.\u00a0 \u201cThe Tribune stations are highly complementary to Sinclair\u2019s existing footprint and will create a leading nationwide media platform that includes our country\u2019s largest markets. The acquisition will enable Sinclair to build ATSC 3.0 (Next Generation Broadcast Platform) advanced services, scale emerging networks and national sales, and integrate content verticals. The acquisition will also create substantial synergistic value through operating efficiencies, revenue streams, programming strategies and digital platforms.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: ROH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The purchase of Tribune Media could be a huge booster for Sinclair’s own foray into the world of professional wrestling, Ring of Honor. WGN America is available in nearly 70% of the televisions in America on cable television and satellite and could gain real traction. The possibility of putting Ring of Honor on more accessible television has got to be appealing – WGN America is more watched than Impact Wrestling<\/strong>‘s PopTV<\/strong> home and Impact is pulling in around 300,000 viewers an episode. Those numbers could match or even surpass Impact in ratings on WGN. Unfortunately, NJPW<\/strong>‘s television rights in the US are with AXS-TV<\/strong>, which is owned in part by rival broadcasters CBS. Although when that contract is up, they could be wise to bring NJPW to WGN as well, considering the partnership Ring of Honor is sharing with NJPW in it’s Great War against the WWE Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: DTV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another possibility is airing content on Antenna TV, a classic television station that airs shows from the 1950’s till the early 2000’s. They could alter the format a bit to air Ring of Honor on Antenna (possibly rebranding the channel all together), as Antenna reaches even more households, with 86% coverage (this is even\u00a0more\u00a0<\/em>coverage than the USA Network<\/strong> – home to WWE’s Monday Night Raw<\/strong><\/em> and Smackdown Live<\/strong><\/em> – which is only in 82.1% of US households).<\/p>\n

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Photo: ROH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the transaction and sale are finalized and the i’s dotted and t’s crossed, we’ll learn more details as the weeks unfold and Sinclair’s plans for WGN America and Antenna transpire and if Ring of Honor will benefit from these two huge cable stations. If it does, it could be just the boost that ROH and NJPW have been looking for.<\/p>\n

Looking at the Top 20 Markets in the US, @Sempervive<\/strong>\u00a0on Twitter shows a comparison of what they already had, and what they just locked down. Impressive.<\/p>\n

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Sinclair\/ROH already has 7. DC, 9. Boston, 10. Atlanta, 13. Detroit, 15. Minneapolis, 16. Miami, and 18. Orlando.<\/p>\n

— Fidel Sasstro (@Sempervive) May 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n