Sinclair Comments on Open Mobile Video Coalition

Sinclair Comments on Open Mobile Video Coalition

ALLIANCE TO PROMOTE MOBILE TELEVISON APPLICATIONS

BALTIMORE, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI), commented today on the significance of the newly formed Open Mobile Video Coalition whose role it is to promote and accelerate the development of mobile digital television. The Coalition was founded by nine of the largest U.S. television broadcast groups, including Sinclair Broadcast Group, FOX Television Stations, the NBC and Telemundo Television Stations, Tribune Broadcasting Company, Gray Television, Gannett Broadcasting, Belo Television Group, and ION Media Networks. These companies collectively represent over 280 television stations in 110 U.S. markets reaching 85% of the total television households. Since the Coalition is an open alliance for the benefit of the industry, all television broadcasters are encouraged to join.

"As a long-time supporter and advocate of mobile TV, we are thrilled that technological advances will now enable broadcasters to reach the portable and mobile device community," commented David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair. "No longer will a viewer need to be seated in their house to watch their favorite programs. The new standards will allow the population to receive broadcast television while walking, sitting in moving vehicles, or being at a location where a television set is not present but a video-enabled mobile device is. The technology enables the broadcast of the TV station's programming 24 hours a day, to such hand-held devices as cell phones, PCs, in- car entertainment systems, and personal media players and allows people to watch popular programs such as sporting events, news and entertainment shows in real-time rather than on a delayed basis. Mobile TV could also provide another venue by which other content providers can reach people on the move and law enforcement agencies can quickly reach out to a larger segment of the population with such information as terrorist or amber alerts.

"If you consider that the 100 million mobile video device units estimated to be sold in the U.S. in 2007 is almost equivalent to the number of total TV households in the country, then clearly there is significant potential for broadcasters to extend reach, keep the viewing audience tuned in to their favorite programs, and offer a greater array of programming options through mobile digital television. According to a January 25, 2007 article by Antone Gonsalves in Information Week, entitled, 'Consumers are Ready for Mobile TV,' commercial trials conducted in Italy, Finland and the United Kingdom revealed that 50% of wireless subscribers were willing to pay for mobile television. To put this into perspective, the same article references a white paper authored by Yoram Solomon, President of the Mobile DTV Alliance, in which he estimates that 'if a quarter of the subscribers of U.S. operators are willing to pay $20 a month for the [mobile TV] service, carriers would take in a total of $12 billion annually. At that rate, even if half of the revenue went directly to content owners ... there is still plenty of profit to share.' The exciting news is that the technology exists and consumer electronic manufacturers are forecasting for it to be ready for public consumption as early as next year.

Smith continued, "The Coalition has been formed to help accelerate the development, promote the uses, and educate the public on mobile digital television. We believe this technology, if fully-implemented, could create an entirely new revenue stream for broadcasters, while providing the public with viable methods to receive their favorite programs when away from home."

About the Open Mobile Video Coalition:

The Open Mobile Video Coalition is a voluntary association of television broadcasters whose mission it is to accelerate the development of mobile digital broadcast television in the U.S. Membership is open to all U.S. based television broadcasters. Members are committed to fostering open competition in the development of products and services related to television. The Coalition's charter includes serving as a forum for members and affiliates regarding product requirement and technology specifications; promoting the development of products, services and standards; and educating broadcasters, technology developers, consumers and regulators about the value, benefits and applications of mobile digital broadcasting. For more information, please visit www.openmobilevideo.com.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, currently owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 36 markets. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 22% of the U.S. television households and is affiliated with all the major networks. For more information, please visit, www.sbgi.net.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The matters discussed in this press release include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. When used in this press release, the words "outlook," "intends to," "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "achieves," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including and in addition to the assumptions identified herein this release, the development and implementation of mobile digital television, the impact of changes in national and regional economies, successful execution of outsourcing agreements, pricing and demand fluctuations in local and national advertising, volatility in programming costs, the market acceptance of new programming, the CW Television Network and MyNetworkTV programming, our news share strategy, our local sales initiatives, the execution of retransmission consent agreements and the other risk factors set forth in the Company's most recent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurances that the assumptions and other factors referred to in this release will occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: lrutisha@sbgnet.com

http://www.openmobilevideo.com

Source: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

CONTACT: David Smith, President & CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.,
+1-410-568-1500

Web site:

http://www.sbgi.net/

Company News On-Call:

http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110203.html

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