What Sinclair Digital does

Sinclair Digital is an internal technology division of Sinclair Broadcast Group — one of the largest television broadcasting companies in the United States — founded in 2014 and headquartered at 140 4th Avenue North, Seattle, Washington, with 51–100 employees. The division's function is to build and operate digital media products and experiences across web, mobile, and over-the-top (OTT) platforms for Sinclair Broadcast Group's portfolio, which includes 191 television stations in 89 markets, multiple national networks, and various digital properties. The division operates exclusively as an internal technology provider; no external enterprise customers are documented beyond advertisers served through the parent's sales infrastructure.

The company's core technology is StoryLine, a proprietary unified content management system that serves as the central backbone for all of Sinclair Digital's products. StoryLine consolidates video content, photos, and news stories contributed by producers, editors, and journalists across the country into a single archival platform. The product portfolio built on StoryLine includes the News Web single-template website system serving 90+ local news stations, 70+ mobile news applications on iOS and Android, the STIRR OTT streaming service, and platform support for national networks including Tennis Channel and Comet TV. The unified template architecture enables simultaneous feature updates across all news station websites, and the unified 'Watch' experience (launched 2018) delivers live broadcast notifications to users.

Sinclair Digital's revenue mechanics flow through three streams — advertising, digital content distribution (subscription/recurring), and broadcast services (licensing/royalties) — all of which are accounted for at the Sinclair Broadcast Group level rather than as a standalone division. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market is internal/enterprise field sales, with advertisers and businesses as the only externally referenced customer segment, reached through the parent company's owned broadcast, web, mobile, and OTT platforms. All identified end-user products (170 news sites, 70+ apps, Tennis Channel, Comet TV, STIRR) are owned and operated by the parent broadcasting group, making Sinclair Digital effectively a captive technology vendor to a single parent enterprise.

Name

Sinclair Digital

Legal name

Sinclair Digital

Website

https://sinclairdigital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sinclair Digital is the internal technology division of Sinclair Broadcast Group, building and operating digital media platforms — including StoryLine CMS, news websites, mobile apps, and the STIRR streaming service — that power 170 news sites, national networks (Tennis Channel, Comet TV), and 70+ mobile applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Broadcast Digital Platforms

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (51612), Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer News & Digital Newsrooms (Web/App-First) (MPAJADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

News Streaming Platforms (MPACAAAF), Sports Highlights, Clips & VOD Libraries (MPAKAOAF)

Keywords

• Broadcast digital platforms
• Content management system
• OTT streaming services
• Local news websites
• Mobile news applications

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: Sinclair Digital provides advertisers and businesses efficient means and value to connect with a mass audience through digital platforms and over-the-top broadcasting.
2. Digital Content Distribution: Distribution of news, entertainment, and sports content across web, mobile, and over-the-top platforms serving television, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital audiences.
3. Broadcast Services: Sinclair Broadcast Group provides sales services, programming, and operational support to television stations, generating revenue from advertising and licensing fees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Sinclair Digital is the technology division within Sinclair Broadcast Group that builds and operates digital media platforms — including the StoryLine content management system, News Web templated websites for 90+ local news stations, 70+ news mobile applications, and the STIRR over-the-top streaming service — to deliver news, sports, and entertainment content to U.S. audiences across web, mobile, and OTT channels. The division's products also power national networks such as Tennis Channel and Comet TV.

Product overview

Sinclair Digital is a division within Sinclair Broadcast Group that creates applications and experiences bridging traditional and modern media across web, mobile, and over-the-top broadcasting. The product portfolio centers on StoryLine, a unified content management system that serves as the backbone for all products, managing content from producers, editors, and journalists. News Web provides a templated website platform for 90+ local news stations with unified design. The company also powers national networks (Tennis Channel, Comet TV), the STIRR streaming service, and 70+ news mobile apps. Together these products serve local and national audiences with news, sports, lifestyle, and entertainment content across multiple platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• StoryLine: A content management system that serves as the backbone for all Sinclair Digital products, including news station websites, Tennis Channel, STIRR, and News Mobile Apps.

Products and services

• StoryLine A proprietary content management system (CMS) that serves as the unified backbone for all Sinclair Digital products, managing hundreds of hours of video content, countless photos, and news stories from producers, editors, and journalists. Powers 80+ news station websites, Tennis Channel, STIRR streaming service, and 70+ News Mobile Apps.
• News Web A templated website platform serving 90+ local news station websites with unified design, subscription/registration functionality, and a unified 'Watch' experience. Enables streamlined local news delivery and synchronized feature updates across all stations.
• STIRR An over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform delivering Sinclair's news, sports, lifestyle, and entertainment content to digital audiences, powered by the StoryLine content management system.
• News Mobile Apps A portfolio of 70+ mobile applications for iOS and Android that deliver local news content to audiences, all powered by the StoryLine content management system.

Quantifiable outcome

• Powers 170 news sites, 70+ News Apps, Tennis Channel, and Comet TV
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Arc XP: Arc XP provides a digital experience platform and CMS purpose-built for news publishers and broadcasters, used by major media companies to power websites, apps, and OTT properties — directly comparable to Sinclair Digital's StoryLine CMS and News Web offerings.
• WordPress VIP: WordPress VIP offers an enterprise CMS used by large media and publishing organizations to power high-traffic news websites and digital properties, with a similar template-driven, multi-site architecture to Sinclair Digital's News Web platform.
• Tegna: Tegna is a major US local TV broadcaster with significant in-house digital news, app, and OTT capabilities serving its own station group — a direct structural peer to Sinclair Digital as a broadcast-tied digital division, though Tegna operates the platform as part of its public company rather than a separately branded unit.

Broad incumbents

• Brightcove: Brightcove is a leading video infrastructure and OTT platform used by broadcasters and media companies to deliver live and on-demand streaming — comparable to Sinclair Digital's video and STIRR streaming capabilities, but at much larger scale across many external customers.
• Kaltura: Kaltura provides video management, OTT, and CMS solutions for broadcasters, media companies, and enterprises. It overlaps with Sinclair Digital's video CMS and streaming (STIRR) functionality but serves a broad external customer base across multiple verticals.
• Adobe Experience Manager: Adobe Experience Manager is an enterprise CMS widely used by large media companies to manage multi-site digital content and assets. It competes with StoryLine CMS in the same broadcast/publisher CMS category, but as part of a much broader enterprise marketing platform.

Emerging players

• Mux: Mux is a developer-focused video streaming and analytics infrastructure provider used by media companies and OTT platforms. It is comparable to the streaming infrastructure layer within Sinclair Digital's STIRR and Watch experience, though it does not provide the editorial CMS layer.
• JW Player: JW Player provides online video player, hosting, and monetization tools used by broadcasters and digital publishers. It is comparable to Sinclair Digital's video delivery and ad-supported streaming stack, though it focuses on the playback and monetization layer rather than editorial CMS.
• Graham Holdings Digital Media: Graham Holdings operates local TV stations (via Graham Media Group) and runs digital media properties (e.g., Leafly, Slate). It is comparable as a diversified broadcaster with internal digital publishing capabilities, similar in structure to Sinclair Broadcast Group's relationship with Sinclair Digital.

Others

• Operative: Operative provides advertising sales and order-management software purpose-built for TV broadcasters and media companies. It is comparable to Sinclair Digital's advertiser-facing revenue layer for the parent, though it focuses on the ad operations stack rather than content management or streaming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sinclair Digital