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ABC being relegated to subchannel-only status in Miami of all places sounds like the biggest lateral move ever.

Their brand is far more (I know this is no longer reality) <Scott Chapin voice> 7 News </Scott Chapin voice> than anything else with the word Fox in it. So that’s not a huge deal. At the end of the day, when there’s an impasse with BH/WPLG and ABC, Mickey Mouse decided getting some money from an established Sunbeam WSVN operation on a .2 benefited them more than the cost of them establishing or supporting some other broadcast company scrambling for a solution for ABC to air on a much lesser known UHF OTA PSIP .1 and that station would be short on programming to fill off network hours. The network affiliate is a smaller piece of the viewership pie than it was, so Disney/ABC will take the money they can get from linear TV while it still has some value to them rather than spend to build their own as streaming tries to run out the clock in its fight against broadcast. Sunbeam saw a viable path to a second substantial South Florida revenue stream with minimal effort at least to start on a few months notice in a TV business reality of limited syndicated programming and less of it available every season. It’s an almost turnkey operation for weekdays if you just run ABC programming and 7news/Deco Drive simulcasts. I believe the only current gaps between the start of World News Now and the end of Nightline would be 3 to 4pm and 7 to 7:30pm. Even if they run the cheapest paid programming in those slots, it’s still revenue they weren’t generating before. WPLG’s plan come August is the most fascinating current unknown to the public part of this to watch moving forward.

I get the impression that all ABC cares about is WSVN's ability and willingness to pay the reverse compensation.

Along those lines, I wonder if ABC did pursue WSFL for an affiliation given the relationship between the Alphabet and Scripps. That said, good for WSVN if they can handle it, but we'll wonder long they'll keep ABC and Fox on their signal.

I don't live in Milwaukee (although I have some family there), I'm liking the new WDJT look that they're using. I don't honestly get the "anti-channel number" branding sentiment that some of y'all have, but to each their own. I'm still pretty much old-school when it comes to channel numbers, and yes, I'm well-aware of the current adage of the digital TV era and the technical aspects that come with it (RF vs. virtual), but there's still a segment of over-the-air viewers that still use and prefer the "traditional" channel numbers. I subscribe to cable, but I also use over-the-air as a backup of means, so please save your lecturing nonsense...I get it, but I still preferred the old-school method of tuning-in channels, beyond that you're being condensing, but whatever.

I’m old enough to remember when NBC tried to sell WTVJ to what was The Washington Post company at the time to form a duopoly with WPLG in 2008, which would have been the first top 20 with two of the big 4 English language networks under common ownership. That felt wild and ominous for the future of the business then. 17 years later the business model is so dramatically different this feels like a “yeah something like this was bound to happen in a market that size eventually” moment. Yet another network switch in a market where change has been pretty constant.

I do see this... the WPLG and WSFL news arrangement will be off come Aug. 4th since they'll want to move the 10pm news over to WPLG itself and restart the 7-9am block it once had. Add 6:30 news as well, finally bridge the gaps on weekends mornings, and this could be the story that finally gives WSVN a run for their money. I mean, they already have but this will take things to a whole new level.

What a big way to venture into WSVN's 70th year. I truly didn't see this on my bingo card for 2025 or for 2026.

Given the current financial situation at the Lighthouse, I could see Disney steering clear for calmer waters. If Scripps goes down, it's pandora's box who will end up with what. At least with WSVN they know what they are getting into.

Wow. I am STUNNED. WSVN is gonna carry two networks?! I mean, this is like a nuclear bomb dropping over us! I wonder what WSVN will do in terms of news output. There's no way WSVN will split it.

I assume WPLG wants to become WJXT South with this move.

Except... they've started it as a FAST channel (that's available online plus Roku, Fire TV and other places). It airs news plus docs from various Gray stations. Local News Live from Gray Media

I don't know if it was ABC being wary of Scripps or more that Scripps doesn't feel like forking over more reverse comp for another ABC affiliation.

WSVN has formally announced the adding of ABC to its affiliation lineup on the air. WPLG also announced the ending of its ABC affiliation on TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF4ISfI7QJU

They’ll probably have to lay off staff regardless as ad rates and retrans fees are likely to decline without ABC programming

ABC’s move to WSVN-DT2 will make Miami the largest market with a subchannel-only Big Four network affiliate, which is a weird thing to note considering that Big Four multicast affiliates are typically associated with sub-75 markets with nowhere near the number of stations that South Florida has. CMIIW, I think Atlanta (affected by the 1980 NBC/ABC switches and the New World deal), Baltimore and Denver (both of which saw all of their Big Three stations swap networks in 1995 as a result of the CBS/Westinghouse deal) are currently the only Top 30 markets where none of the Big Three networks has a “legacy” affiliate (i.e., a station that it has been affiliated with prior to 1980). Given that ABC stayed with WPLG during the 1989 switches, making it the only Big Four network not affected then, Miami will now join that list.

I kinda forget about Scripps' current financial issues, thanks for reminding me. I do agree, it's probably for the best that Disney/ABC looked for something more stabilized, even given the limited standalone options in Miami.

Just wow. It seems like April Fool's Day came twelve days early, but this is legit. South Florida has to prepare for another massive network affiliation switch, not counting WSFL dropping CW to go indie. Other than WTVJ, WFOR/WBFS, and obviously the Spanish network O&Os, WSVN and even WSFL have to be in play for the new ABC affiliation.

This assumes that this isn’t a negotiating tactic on WPLG’s part: walk away knowing ABC has no good options for a replacement affiliate (considering WSVN is most likely locked in with Fox, and six other stations are owned by the parents of the other major English- and Spanish-language networks), so that the network will have no choice but to crawl back and meet its offer, a gamble that’s incredibly risky (they’re dealing with Disney, after all). We know other station owners have been trying to claw back on the reverse compensation model for the same reasons why WPLG said no to ABC’s terms. WSFL is the only option (relying on its existing deal with Scripps, though that would necessitate Scripps building the market’s fifth English news department from scratch), unless Disney/ABC pulls what NBC did in Boston a decade ago and launches an O&O from scratch. If it goes through, none of the major English-language television stations in Miami will have been an affiliate of their network for longer than 36 years, a rarity for a top-20 market.

... What?

And it makes sense considering their overall competition is a Scripps disasterpiece in WRTV and post-Dispatch WTHR stuck in Tegnaization. Both stations have to deal with whatever corporate foists upon them, while WTTV is just bonus ratings and revenue and WXIN is pretty much left alone by Nexstar and has a solid news operation and coverage across the day. It's pretty much a "Luigi does nothing and wins" market as the others flail around. Same with Miami; outside WPLG and the Spanish stations, WTVJ and WFOR are subject to the whims of whoever's in New York. I will say though I'm impressed by WDAF's new presentation; the older one was fine but just never felt real cohesive, while the new package just feels big-market and more defined with a full theme. ETA - Forgot to account in WISH-TV which is fine, but being associated with Allen stations outstate trickles down to them and as an independent, they can only do so much to stay competitive. But at least they are compared to WRTV.

Mornings, with ticker

This move could be the future of television as we know it. If it can happen in Miami, it can happen anywhere. WSVN was the only logical choice since they are the only major station not owned by another network with a dominant news product. I don't think ABC was willing to gamble with a Scripps station that can't even handle a newscast, yet alone a CW affiliation. Probably the biggest irony of all is that ABC is pretty much going to force them to brand WSVN 7.2 as a network affiliate, unlike WSVN 7.1 being able to do for decades with Fox-less branding since losing NBC decades ago. Maybe WPLG will be the next home of the CW when Paramount gets cold feet with Nexstar...again!

I'm betting WSVN newscasts will be mostly simulcasted on 7.2.

ABC on Channel 7, it’s almost like it’s meant to be. I wonder if WPLG will make a play for the FOX affiliation when that agreement is up.

I did not have that on my bingo card.

Is there any syndication that isn’t currently airing in Miami? WPLG only has Kelly & Mark, Wheel, Jeopardy and 48 Hours. Yes, they’ll add a lot of news — like 7-9a and in primetime — but they are going to need to make several pickups to fill in the holes. (Hopefully no crappy Byron Allen court shows!)

Hell, if you want to get technical, those are the only stations that ABC or its corporate parent at the time has ever bought. CapCities did make an equity investment into Young Broadcasting, but Disney sold that interest in 1998. I feel like not enough is being said about what a bad, bad sign it is that WPLG is losing ABC because they literally can't afford to be an affiliate anymore. The fact that WPLG doesn't have scale to fall back on (anymore) is part of it, but still. If a station owned by Berkshire Hathaway cannot or will not cough up increasingly-onerous reverse compensation fees, how long will it be before the time bomb goes off for the big chains?

I don't pay too much attention about TV affiliates outside of the big 5 (especially Philadelphia) [yes, I know], but this legit shocked me. This network/affiliate relationship is one I know is one of the strongest and longest in the nation, so to see it end after almost 7 decades is pretty crazy.

Here's the WSVN side of the story... ABC Miami on WSVN 7.2. https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/disney-entertainment-and-sunbeam-television-corporation-announce-new-home-for-the-abc-television-network-in-the-south-florida-market/?FBWSVN&fbclid=IwY2xjawJJTKJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWIpSNEIDqDVeuvOu1Mk-s7TLKwZlyhOM-bu4kZc4cHaNldzLsPUBiODhQ_aem_B0JyRJKky81ge_aAjP29vg

We don't know that yet, it's just speculation. We've yet to hear from ABC about where they're going.

WSVN will be the new ABC affiliate carrying it on 7.2 while maintining FOX on the main 7.1 channel.

The package is ok-ish. I feels juddery to me. I like it better than the FOX O&O graphics. Over all... just as boring.

I already knew that WTVT has a weather program, SkyTower Weather NOW, on FOX Local. I didn't know WITI had one of their own too on FOX Local... Wisconsin Weather Experts. Here is one episode as an example:

WXYZ has added Jolie Sherman as a reporter. She came from WVIT in Hartford, CT.

I've sampled a bit of Gray's Local News Live through their various stations' news streams, and I'm kinda surprised at this point that they haven't turned it into a separate 24/7 FAST channel on its own; with the various stations that they own around the country, they have plenty of material they can pull from. I think they would be alright going that route, and do the simulcasts on their various stations.

No network affiliation...and near 50% share of all daypart viewers in the demo is damn impressive.

Swapping to a teal color for the brand was a choice. I’m surprised they paid to license the CBS brand music too. It’s a nice improvement that is sure to rocket them out of their distant fourth place spot. It’s just too bad they couldn’t do their own look, one of the few small companies left without a corporate style.

The CBS News Local graphics have come to Milwaukee ...to me, nothing to really write home about. It looks the same as the CBS O&Os, except it's in teal. But they got everything almost to a T with this.

This is a much better rebrand for the CBS O&Os compared to what they have currently.

Oops!!! My bad. I think the issue is that Fox 13 is/was using of hodge podge of graphics. If they were to, for example, follow Fox 32's lead and use the 'new' Good Day graphics across the board, maybe it would look better? I like the simplicity/'somewhat' uniqueness of WFLD and the bold/sharpness of WNYW. And agree the other Fox O&Os could/should adapt either one to their morning newscasts.

Several stations have shown more color and design flexibility, in recent months. That said, WNYW has already recently gone in a new direction with GDNY.

Yes, KTVN in Reno, NV did this first. Good to see WDJT rebrand their news to the market they cover unlike other CBS O&O's that just lazily brand to the state they're in.

Looks like WDJT is going to move from the old CBS O&O look to the new one tomorrow at noon. I think this makes them the second non-O&O to adapt this look, right?

It's a polarizing look, but I think the Chicago version works better, as there are simply more unique landmarks and imagery to use. Feels a little more fleshed-out. It's no coincidence that WFLD's current boss and morning anchor both came from Seattle.

So Dr. Phil is clinically stupid; that revenue and those reruns staying on the air from all that syndication and Pluto FAST is likely the only thing keeping Merit Street on the air and why he still has notability and not that 'whatever happened to' status right now. Hopefully they keep some FAST deals otherwise this could be a disaster.

Meanwhile, Dr. Phil (reruns) is exiting broadcast syndie after this season. All eppys will be exclusive to Merit TV. It appears the said reruns will end on OWN as well. https://tvnewscheck.com/programming/article/merit-tv-now-exclusive-home-to-all-21-seasons-of-dr-phil/

New Year, new acquisition completion. From this FCC Note, posted this morning (1/3/13), London Broadcasting has completed its acquisition of Fox Stations, KIDY in San Angelo & KXVA in Abilene and a few LPs from DuJuan McCoy's Bayou City Broadcasting. The deal was consummated on New Year's Eve. London now owns stations in seven Texas markets; including its flagship station, Me-TV Affiliate, KTXD in Greenville (serving the Metroplex).

Gray is purchasing WDON-LP in Dothan, AL from New Moon Communications... http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/64441/station-trading-roundup-2-deals-120000 At one time, they purchased several low powered stations around the country in markets where NBC did not have an affiliated station, with the intention of turning the stations into NBC affiliates. Methinks that Gray is going to follow through on the original plan to bring a low-powered NBC station to Dothan by way of WTVY, much like the way that Gray brought a CBS affiliate to neighboring market Panama City through the facilities of WJHG. WTVY in Dothan served as the CBS station for Panama City until WECP-LD's sign-on, and NBC has come in to Dothan by way of WSFA in Montgomery, and WJHG in Panama City.