Sinclair and Mediacom finally reached a deal ? and Sinclair stocks are reaping the benefits.
After several months of fighting back and forth, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., a Hunt Valley-based broadcasting company, has entered a multiyear retransmission consent agreement with Mediacom earlier this month.
Since the agreement was reached, stocks of Sinclair have twice hit a 52-week high, most recently doing it on Feb. 7, trading at $12.58 per share. As of market close Friday, shares of Sinclair were trading at $12.74.
Going through congressmen, the Federal Communications Commission and a failed proposal for binding arbitration, Mediacom and Sinclair were certainly in the public eye as they battled over retransmission fees.
This isn?t the first time that Sinclair has garnered the public?s attention. Sinclair faces opposition from Media Matters for America, a liberal media group who claims the company refused to air an ad from the Democratic National Committee. The company also took heat from the group after airing a documentary about John Kerry?s Vietnam War record.
As for the future of Sinclair, the company is set to release its fourth-quarter and year-end results on Feb. 14. If Sinclair?s third quarter numbers were any indication of how the year will end, then it will be a happy Valentine?s Day for stockholders.
For the third quarter, Sinclair experienced a 2.2 percent increase in operating revenue, up to $152.4 million. For the year, Sinclair is up 1.6 percent in operating revenue, currently sitting at $464.1 million.
Nationally, Sinclair owns, operates and provides sales for 58 television stations in 36 markets.
Sinclair?s lawyer did not return any phone calls from The Examiner.
Sinclair is part of The Examiner Top 10, which follows stocks in the largest publicly held companies located in the Baltimore region.
