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As the relationship between networks and affiliates simmers towards a boiling point, Chris Ripley sees the latter camp as being better leveraged than ever before.
The president and CEO of Sinclair sees more equilibrium at the bargaining table, all down to how much money affiliates are bringing to it. That’s leverage that will be critical as reverse comp fees rise and retrans inches towards a plateau.
In an exclusive interview with TVNewsCheck, Ripley speaks to some of the most urgent issues facing broadcasters today — the outlook for spot in a post-political 2025, the proximity of the retrans plateau and the prospect of affiliates wrestling back vMVPD negotiating rights from the networks. He addresses the dynamics underpinning a stalled M&A market for stations, when the profitability plane may finally lift off NextGen TV’s long runway and how generative AI may reshape news production, including the prospect of diminishing newsroom headcounts.
An edited transcript.
Michael Depp: Looking around the market, one sees a number of stations for sale, including some of Sinclair’s, and yet there’s no real M&A activity going on. This is an industry with a long history of buy and flip, so what’s happening that buyers aren’t interested in these stations anymore?
Chris Ripley: Well, first off, in terms of our stations, that’s just been media speculation that they’re for sale. We’ve not announced anything. But in terms of the M&A market, more generally, you know, there are stations out there that are for sale. And the reality is, with this FCC, which, is