Sinclair Offers Mediacom an Extension Through January 8, 2010

Sinclair Offers Mediacom an Extension Through January 8, 2010

BALTIMORE, Dec. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) , the "Company" or "Sinclair," today reported that the retransmission agreements between Sinclair and cable operator, Mediacom, that were to have expired today at midnight have been extended until midnight January 8, 2010.

Barry Faber, EVP and General Counsel of Sinclair, commented, "Our viewers are very important to us and we responded to their interest in being able to watch, via Mediacom, programs meaningful to them over the next eight days. We recognize that several of the impacted markets have college teams that will be playing in the BCS Bowl games. Although our stations are available for free over-the-air and from Mediacom's competitors, we thought it was important to ensure that our viewers had the opportunity to see those games without inconvenience.

"We also want to thank our viewers for their outreach to Mediacom over the past several weeks insisting they carry our stations. We have negotiated in good faith with Mediacom for the carriage of our owned and operated stations and even agreed to non-binding mediation at the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) request. It has been unfortunate that Mediacom has refused to pay fair compensation for our programming, which is much less than what they pay cable channels with far less viewers."

Mr. Faber continued, "Sinclair has consistently reached retransmission agreements with Mediacom's competitors, including satellite, telecommunication companies and other cable systems in markets served by both Sinclair and Mediacom. We applaud the FCC 's message to Mediacom not to expect government intervention if the parties are unable, through the exercise of good faith negotiations, to reach agreement during the 8-day extension."

About Sinclair:

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 35 markets. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 22% of U.S. television households and is affiliated with all major networks. Sinclair owns equity interests in various non-broadcast related companies.

The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information and can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.

First Call Analyst: Lucy Rutishauser
FCMN Contact:

Source: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Barry Faber, EVP and General Counsel of Sinclair,
+1-410-568-1500

Web Site: http://www.sbgi.net/

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Profile: International Entertainment