‘Good Progress’ Toward ATSC 3.0 Channel-Sharing in Dallas, Says Sinclair CEO

Sinclair will be “lighting up Dallas this summer” with ATSC 3.0 market trials through the Spectrum Co. consortium it shares with American Tower, Cunningham Broadcasting, Nexstar and Univision (see 1804080002), said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley on a Wednesday earnings call. “We are putting the finishing touches” on building a “construct for cooperation with other broadcasters” in Dallas, and participants in the Pearl TV-led Phoenix model market project are doing the same, he said, without mentioning Pearl by name. “That’s the main hurdle right now, is how do people cooperate within each market so that we can channel-share, and some stations can go to 3.0 and others can stay in 1.0.” Ripley reported “good progress has been made on that front.” The need to channel-share was “the primary reason that Phoenix was done, and we’re tackling that same issue within Spectrum Co.” in Dallas, he said. “I think in the back half of the year, you’re going to start seeing people execute on those transitions.” Pearl didn't comment.