HUNT VALLEY, Md.—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced that it will carry Tennis Channel’s T2 as a free, streaming, virtual channel in all of its markets nationwide that have deployed the new NextGen Broadcast standard, aka ATSC 3.0. Currently, Sinclair is using the NextGen Broadcast standard in 43 markets.
Carriage of T2 as a broadcast-enabled virtual channel coincides with Sinclair’s recent offer to carry public broadcast stations as virtual channels in its markets where the public station is not part of the initial over-the-air NextGen Broadcast deployment. This effort is geared to ‘prime the pump’ for later broadcast carriage to all viewers, Sinclair reported.
T2 is Tennis Channel’s second television network and includes matches from the men’s and women’s professional tours and team-cup competitions, as well as the French Open (Roland Garros), one of the sport’s four majors. Other programming includes original series, short-form features and documentaries exclusive to T2. The T2 virtual channel will be available via Sinclair NextGen Broadcast stations.
Carriage of a broadcast-enabled virtual channel involves transmitting programming data within the NextGen Broadcast service allowing over-the-air viewers with a connected NextGen TV to see and select the channel in their programming guide while the channel is delivered over the Internet.
The NextGen TV capabilities also mean that the T2 programming will use Advanced HDR by Technicolor. HDR presents the viewer with better contrast, higher brightness, and a wider range of colors, creating a more realistic and immersive visual experience.
“With this new NextGen Broadcast platform that Sinclair is leading the way in introducing, people all over the country will have more ways to watch live, top-tier professional sports around the clock, with the best players in the world, all year long,” explained Tennis Channel president, Ken Solomon. “This means hours and hours of daily, continuous play and original programming that only exists on T2.” Mike Kralec, Sinclair’s Chief Technology Officer, added, “We are excited to expand the reach of T2, improve the viewer experience with HDR, and extend our flexible cloud distribution strategies. Delivering high quality programming via connected smart TV provides an initial path for distribution that can precede that same programming eventually being received over-the-air.”
