Sinclair to Partner With SRP for 'Xploration Station' Starting Fall 2016

The Sinclair Broadcast Group has added Steve Rotfeld Productions’ Xploration Station to its weekend lineups starting in fall 2016, said Steve Rotfeld, SRP president, on Tuesday.

The three-hour block, produced and distributed by SRP, will air for five years on 38 Sinclair stations, including all 36 of the group’s Fox affiliates. The Xploration Station block of educational and informational programing premiered this fall on the Fox and Tribune station groups, covering 80% of the U.S. The programs — composed entirely of science, technology, engineering and math content — target kids 13 to 16.

“We’re thrilled that Sinclair has chosen Xploration Station,” said Rotfeld in a statement. “A few years ago, we set out to do something different in the E/I space by making quality, family friendly shows that can inspire kids to pursue careers in science and technology. Just one inspired teenager can literally change the world.”

The Xploration Station block currently runs for two hours and includes four series: Xploration Awesome Planet, hosted by Philippe Cousteau, grandson of legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau; Xploration Outer Space, hosted by Emily Calandrelli, Harvard scholar and former NASA employee; Xploration Earth 2050, a fascinating look at our future world; and Xploration Animal Science, nominated last year for a Daytime Emmy in the Best Children’s Series category.

SRP has been producing and distributing shows for broadcast stations and cable networks for 25 years. In addition to Xploration Station, it also produces and distributes Wild About Animals, hosted by Mariette Hartley, Awesome Adventures, hosted by Nicole Dabeau; Whaddyado, Sports Gone Wild, Sports Disasters and Wild Weddings on TLC, among other series.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.