TBD rebranding as ‘Roar’ in late April

TBD, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s multicast network targeted originally meant to draw in a millennial audience, will rebrand as “Roar” April 28, 2025.

Sinclair, which has Junkin Media handle the operations of the network, is planning to complete an ongoing shift in the focus of the diginet to comedy shows.

The network’s new brand features a bold violet logo spelling out its name, with the “O” replaced with a simplified version of a laughing face (without eyes or a nose). This element is placed slightly lower than the baseline for the rest of the letters, giving the logo a playful — or perhaps rolling — feel.

The rest of the logo features the remaining three letters of the network’s name in a sharp, italic typeface.

It appears that Roar is using the common English word in the sense of both the idea of people “roaring with laughter” and the sound of roaring laughter, as evidenced by its updated programming slate and laughing face element.

Without added context, it’s possible some viewers might mistake the name for a network sporting animal-centric content. 

Plans also include a matching on-air graphics and identity package. 

As is typical when using a generic, simple word for its name, the network appears to be stylizing the name in all caps when it is typed out — something that Fox and “Today” both do.

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TBD was originally launched in 2016. The initialism was meant to stand for “to be discovered,” although it also can be interpreted as the common abbreviation for “to be determined.” 

It originally focused on viral video and reality programming, but gradually started moving more toward the comedy arena that it will officially adopt April 28. 

So far, Sinclair has snapped up the rights to “Saturday Night Live,” “Whose Line is it Anyway?,” “Punk’d” and “Key & Peele” repeats to anchor the schedule. 

It has also inked deals with Fox-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Phoenix to carry the network over the air — a move that represents a stronger presence in these cities. The network is also available on select streaming and digital services.