• by Wayne Friedman , July 11, 2019

With big political advertising revenues on the horizon, ramping up at the end of this year and going into 2020, Sinclair Broadcast Group is already seeing some strong results in a non-political period.

Sinclair preliminary second-quarter 2019 results are estimated to post $721 million in media revenues -- in line with the company's estimate of between $716 million to $725 million.

A year ago, for the second-quarter 2018, Sinclair posted media revenues of $695.9 million, up 9.2% from the same period in 2017.

Projections are in 2020, a presidential election year, a record revenue in political advertising will be spent, estimates which could total $6 billion to $8 billion -- a potential boon for many TV station groups.

In early-morning Thursday trading, Sinclair’s stock was up 2.2% to $58.62.

Sinclair also announced it has struck a multi-year distribution deal with Charter Communications -- the second0biggest U.S. cable TV provider -- for carriage of its TV stations and its cable network, Tennis Channel. The deal will add Marquee Sports Network when it launches in first-quarter 2020.

Sinclair owns, operates and/or provides services to 191 television stations in 89 markets.