US television broadcasting company Sinclair Broadcast Group has joined forces with digital media firms Silver Chalice and 120 Sports to launch a new multi-platform sports network featuring a linear broadcast and digital offerings.
The three parties will be equity partners for the venture, which will be built through the merging of 120 Sports’ live studio operations, Silver Chalice’s Campus Insiders’ live collegiate games and Sinclair’s American Sports Network’s distribution and live collegiate games.
College sports network ASN was shut down by Sinclair last month and its existing linear network will now be rebranded and improved. The broadcast component of the new, unified network, upon its launch scheduled for later this year, immediately will reach millions of homes on Sinclair-owned multicast channels, both over-the-air and in turn through carriage by multichannel video programming distributors.
The overall programming offering will take advantage of the professional and collegiate rights held by 120 Sports and Silver Chalice to provide access to post-game highlights, news and original, long-form programming, as well as full game archives provided by various partners.
ASN holds rights to the Conference USA, Mountain West, Patriot League and West Coast Conference college sports series, according to the Awful Announcing website.
“With this incomparable set of strategic partners, we are evolving ASN into a vastly improved network with access to exclusive content and a combined linear and premium OTT offering that is the model for the future of television,” Chris Ripley, president and chief executive of Sinclair, said.
Additional announcements including a full programming schedule, new product offerings, network branding, distribution partners and sponsors will be made in the weeks ahead.