Earlier in the year, Sinclair Broadcast Group launched its AMP Sales & Marketing Solutions division, a new advertising sales and integrated marketing division for its companies that allow clientele to streamline results. Furthermore, the company also has a wide array of live sporting events across several networks and podcasts that reach consumers across the country. On top of that, Sinclair continues to invest in broadcast television through its sports and news genres. The new initiative is uniting all of its assets and operating under the slogan of “One Partner, Endless Possibilities.”
The event, which took place from the Moonlight Studios in New York City, featured a variety of advertising and media professionals on hand to see the new developments. This show had a primary emphasis on the sports genre, demonstrating the growing media portfolio that is composed of content spanning the audio and visual spaces. John Zeigler, the chief marketing officer of Sinclair, proffered how the company was essentially reintroducing itself and presenting its revamped and centralized product to the business community.
“This isn’t just a name change,” Ryan Moore, senior vice president and chief revenue officer of Sinclair, said to begin the event. “It’s really about reflecting who we are today. Yes, many people know Sinclair for broadcasting or the Tennis Channel. What they might not realize is we have No. 1-rated podcasts, we generate billions of impressions through our original social content channels, plus we reach over 90% of the U.S. population through our streaming business and create award-winning content activations and news.”
Eric Welles, senior vice president and chief digital monetization officer, announced a new local sports video podcast network that will compliment the national shows featuring personnel representing Ohio State (Cardale Jones, Beanie Wells), Texas (Mack Brown, Vince Young), Alabama (A.J. McCarron, Trent Richardson, Chris Stewart) and Notre Dame (Mike Golic Jr., Jessica Smetana). More announcements will also be coming soon pertaining to the states of Michigan and Oregon, along with Penn State.
On top of that, there will be an increased presence in the NFL space featuring shows surrounding the Green Bay Packers, Washington Commanders, Baltimore Ravens and more. MLS champion Landon Donovan was also on hand to discuss the Unfiltered Soccer podcast he is co-hosting alongside Tim Howard and the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The tournament will air on FOX affiliate stations across the country, 45 of which are owned by Sinclair.
“A key differential between our company and a lot of others is what we do from a local to national perspective,” Welles said. “Whether that be taking clips from The Triple Option, our national college football show and bringing it to the heart of America in Ohio, Michigan, Penn State, or any other markets in our country.”
Rob Weisbord, the chief operating officer and president of local media at Sinclair, articulated how the company has constructed a vast oeuvre of podcasts with compelling and entertaining personalities. Within his appearance, he conveyed how the company focuses on activating brands and giving them what they want through activations and back its promises.
Weisbord also recollected when the company bought Tennis Channel in 2016 for $350 million and divulged that it has locked up rights for events such as the WTA Tournament and ATP Tour as well. From there, he proceeded to discuss Jeff Blackburn, the new chief executive officer of Tennis Network, who was formerly announced to the new role on Wednesday. The company is also launching Tennis Enterprises with the Tennis Channel and assets as its media backbone with more details to come.
“Tennis Enterprises is your turnkey opportunity to engage with the sport of tennis in a frictionless way,” said J.R. McCabe, chief business officer at Sinclair. “This is only the beginning of major announcements that are coming from some of the biggest brands in the U.S. taking advantage of tennis in ways like never before.”
AMP Sports also talked about its women’s sports offering with legendary tennis star Martina Navratilova, who spoke about growth in tennis and advances that have been made in recent years. The company also spoke about the launch of Women’s Day for dedicated coverage of WTA matches on Tennis Channel 2. The company later revealed a forthcoming podcast with WNBA superstars Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston that will bring the authenticity and realness of being a basketball player and human being
“To be able to have honest conversations, talk about the hard stuff, talk about life after basketball, talk about being able to navigate while playing professionally,” Boston said. “Just being able to tap into those different things and really relate to us is super exciting to me.”
Jerry Ferrara and Matt Leinart, co-hosts of the Throwbacks podcast, appeared earlier in the event and discussed how the venture has grown since starting in the last year. Leinart explained how AMP Media takes good ideas and makes them great, and he drew a comparison to characteristics of championship teams. In addition, he highlighted how live events have helped the podcast stand out and serve as a means of differentiation, including working with Fanatics at its red carpet event ahead of Super Bowl LIX with guests such as Myles Teller, Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Costner.
“With AMP Media, helping us separate from the thousands upon thousands of other shows and what makes us different and special,” Ferrara said. “It’s only been eight months, but it feels like we’ve been doing it for eight years already.”
The podcast also co-hosted a crossover episode with The Triple Option from Green Bay, Wis. for the NFL Draft, working alongside Urban Meyer, Rob Stone and Mark Ingram II. All three co-hosts of the show appeared in person for the event as well, during which they talked about the proliferation of their endeavor that launched seven months ago. The trio are also colleagues at FOX Sports on Big Noon Kickoff, traveling the company on the college football pregame show. Meyer admitted that he was not sure he wanted to host a podcast at first, but the company allowed him to work from home and pick his partners.
“We sat down one meeting, and what they said to us, they’ve over-delivered,” Ingram added. “The team that we have behind us, the support that we have behind us, it’s been super impressive, and I’ve been so grateful to be a part of [it]. I’ve done a podcast before, and this has just been a completely different experience.”
Rich Cooke, the vice president of audio programming, acknowledged the success of AMP Media and how the company has been able to execute ideas in the space. Cooke later introduced Angel City FC striker Sydney Leroux, the co-host of the recently-announced BFFR podcast with teammate Ali Riley. Leroux conveyed how the podcast will go beyond women’s sports and speak about aspects of daily life such as mental health, parties and relationships, trying to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
“This is a show for anyone who’s ever been called ‘too much.’ Too loud, too real, too emotional, too honest-we’ve heard it all. But ‘too much’ is exactly the right amount,” Leroux said in a statement. “BFFR is where we get to be unapologetically ourselves-funny, bold, unfiltered-and say all the things we’ve been saying behind the scenes for years. If you’ve ever said, ‘I probably shouldn’t say this,’ we already did. Welcome to the chaos.”
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