Christopher Ripley : I think what I’d add to that is that we expect that these changes will be — are permanent, right? These are not just onetime cost saves. This is us getting more efficient, us getting rid of things that we didn’t need, things of that nature. So we will continue. In fact, we think we will continue to improve all the investments that we’re making this year, which is quite significant and sound transformation, be it cloud, be it the unified ad platform, be it DDaaS, there’s a number of other smaller initiatives. They’re all geared around being more efficient with what we have, selling more with what we have, so either making more revenue or running the business on less expense. And so that drives greater efficiency will continue we won’t just stop after this year.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your next question is coming from Aaron Watts from Deutsche Bank.
Aaron Watts : Just a few questions for me. I guess, Chris, One more follow-up on the distribution side. You’ve highlighted that you have a majority of your sub base up for renewal over the next 12 months. We’ve seen a couple of notable blackouts between station owners and distributors and a couple of elongated ones even with the NFL ongoing. With that backdrop in post Charter-Disney, are you bracing for more abrasive negotiations as you go into these discussions at least compared to the past, are you approaching them any differently. And given that we all are on the outside looking in, is the base case that we should work with, is that these negotiations can get done without any prolonged blackouts?
Christopher Ripley : So I would actually, Aaron, challenge the notion that blackouts have increased. I just think people are paying more attention to them. Periodic blackouts have been a common occurrence for years. And I can remember plenty of times where we had much longer blackouts in the industry. But I’ll tell you, from a Sinclair perspective, we haven’t had a single blackout on the broadcast side for multiple years. And so I don’t think it would be accurate though I haven’t actually looked at the numbers myself to say that blackouts have increased. It’s all from the very start of retrans. It’s always been a battle and it continues to be one, one that’s fought in a friendly fashion. And with the — we both need each other.
And so I expect that to continue. I don’t see a meaningful change in how we interact with the for all the reasons I cited when I talked about the Disney-Charter deal that in terms of what’s available for distributors to secure and content, ours is the most desirable full stop. So if they’re — they want to be in the video business, which they all still want to be in the video business, I assure you that, they need our content. And so I don’t think the marketplace has really changed that much.
Aaron Watts : Okay. That’s helpful context. And then just secondly, around the core advertising picture based on your third quarter results and 4Q guide, it seems like heading in the right direction. Is it too early to say you may be turning a corner towards more sustainable positive ad trends going forward and rolling into 2024? Or is it a little too early to make that call? And I guess, can these early positive signs like national moving towards positive traction? Can they be sustainable?
Robert Weisbord : Yes, Aaron, it’s Rob. I would say that we’re cautiously optimistic. Auto has returned. Services is getting stronger. The legal category is strong. Retail and travel are strong. So I wish I had a crystal ball, but we are optimistic that we have seen this turnaround. We’ve gone through the pandemic recession, thought process. And now we’ve come full turn. I think that the election year makes it robust. And we’re excited because everything we’ve been building for the last few years, including our AI/ML pricing dynamic, pricing system will kick in to allow us to maximize our value of our assets.
Christopher Ripley : I also think this is a reflection of a continued shift, multi-platform strategy and digital is becoming a bigger and bigger portion of our total advertising pie, really has put a lot of work and Rob’s team has put a lot of work into transforming our sellers into marketing consultants. That’s starting to pay dividends.
