Leaderboard

So, I actually think there might be something here. Maybe. It's a hunch. Maybe I'm wrong! But, allow me to speculate for a moment. WSVN is in a very unique situation right now. They have plans to build a brand new facility, and their current owners are developing the real estate for both the current facility and the future one. They own the land at both sites, in fact, the future facility is on empty land they've held for years, and the current facility is on land they want to develop into expensive condos. The condo development wouldn't be planned if they didn't think it would make money, and it will probably make enough to pay for the new WSVN facility several times over. This whole new facility project has always had the underlying motive of Sunbeam wanting the station off the current land because they see the value in it, and they have a lot of empty land in Miramar that they can plop it on, to get it out of the way. The common saying is "Disney doesn't buy stations", but there should be an asterisk there. Disney doesn't buy stations because Bob Iger is convinced most are overpriced. Sunbeam has a very interesting position here. Their primary business is, at this point, property development. Building a building just to lease it out is what they do. It seems to me, like they could be in a position to sell WSVN at a "discount", with the remainder being more or less made up via a long-term lease on the new facility. This would be a huge win for Sunbeam. They can develop land that has sat idle for years, and have it immediately start making money, from a tenant that you really wouldn't have to worry about going bankrupt. They'd still make money off the station for years to come, and best of all, it'd be a predictable amount. It is notable that, despite the project being announced some time ago, the parcel the new facility will sit on was untouched as late as October of last year, over a year after it was announced and approved by the city. What's the delay? The fact we're hearing about this now means there's probably been talks about this for months. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that Sunbeam put the brakes on the project in order to provide the ability to any possible future owner (I think FOX is also in play here) to make changes before the construction begins. I'm not sure we're done hearing about this "deal"... I don't think Disney would settle for a .2, if there weren't other things in the works. I've been saying since the new facility was announced that this seems ripe for them to sell the station and make money off the lease, and this seems to be the perfect opportunity to do so.

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

Good Lord, this whole discussion is not worth the webpage it's printed on. There's no grand conspiracy here. You have a brand new building, you show it off. Corporate paid for it, so why not? Heck, The View did a drone fly-through of the building on day 1, showing everything, including this atrium space. Beyond that, the end of March "eviction" for Live is the likely case, but Lord knows delays happen. I'm sure their plan was to be in the studio for the start of this month, but they couldn't, so they came up with a creative, reasonably attractive stopgap measure. Credit to the staff for making this work. I doubt there's anything more to it than that.

CBS has its challenges as do all of the networks, but cutting loose a show at 12:30 am isn't exactly the sign of the apocalypse.

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

If you're of a certain age, you can remember the glut of first-run syndicated dramas, sitcoms, and musical/talent shows that were around during the 1980s and '90s...a lot of that had to do with more TV stations signing on the air during that aforementioned time (thus needing the programming, besides old off-network reruns and whatever live sports they could cobble up), and already-established stations having more control over their programming inventory. Over time, with the launch of Fox, and later The WB and UPN, plus the growth of cable TV (both in terms of subscribers and the number of networks), a lot of these same kind of shows that would be meant for first-run syndication eventually migrated to those outlets, and now 25-30 years later, much of that same type of content has migrated to streaming. The more I think about it, these local stations (including the likes of WPLG) may have to try "re-invent the wheel" in order for them to survive in the long-term...going wall-to-wall news (like a certain CW station in my home city) may not cut it everywhere.

Instead, they'll live off of syndicated crap game shows or garbage programming. Hey, someone has to push the trash talkers and court shows on the unwashed masses. (Also, are there actually twelve episodes of Family Feud every day?) Scripted programming is not in the past; it just often ends up on streaming services because the broadcast networks generally only want shows that have the broadest appeal. Sports and reality shows succeed at that, partly because they're focused on physical ability (sports), competition (most reality shows on the networks), or relationship drama (the farmer wants a wife? Good for him, but absolutely none of my business). On the scripted side, these means a lot of procedurals, both police/crime-solving (CSI, NCIS, the entire Dick Wolf multiverse) and medical (The Pitt, Doc, House, etc.). The more intellectually-stimulating scripted shows wouldn't have a chance of being picked up by the broadcast networks, and cable channels are not grabbing as many of them as they used to as they themselves are dumbing their content down to widen their appeal. (Why do you think BBC America shows Law & Order repeats?)

First Coast News uses Good Morning Jacksonville despite the NBC station being their lead product which simulcasts on ABC. WABC calls its 10am newscast Eyewitness News Mornings at 10, despite Mornings being CBS's AM branding. While it's common practice for local stations to brand their morning newscast in line with the national AM newscast, I don't think it's a requirement or an expectation.

The Times Square location never made sense as they never took advantage of the location. The show could be broadcasting from a basement in Kansas for all we know. Might as well not waste money using expensive real estate if there's nothing to gain.

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.

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.

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 assume WPLG wants to become WJXT South with this move.

Yeah, no idea where you got that September 1st idea from. @That 00s Show As a new member, please be more discerning and responsible in future posts.

Couple problems: 1) the article is from last year and 2) it says nothing about the CW moving from KFMB-DT2 to KUSI in the timeframe mentioned in the thread title. In another thread (which I believe linked to said article), another user stated that KFMB’s CW contract didn’t lapse until 2026, so unless Nexstar confirms the affiliation will move to KUSI on September 1 (terminating the KFMB contract early), this thread was created prematurely.

WRAL's streaming strategy is a big firehose with multiple services rather than just limiting it to certain websites and services (and times... *cough* Perry Sook ), including an open stream of their WRAL+/WNGT-CD service on YouTube, so this isn't a surprise; just another means to get their news out there. I wouldn't worry about any takeovers; this is just a broadcasting company that remembers the 'broad' part of the name and Fox letting them do so through that affiliation agreement, the same way they carry WAGA's audio on an HD2 radio subchannel through Audacy, and I'd expect this will be the first of many FoxLocal streaming deals (or perhaps a part of the upcoming cord-cutting app in planning).

Nexstar has entered the must-run game. Why? So they can try and own more stations. https://thedesk.net/2025/04/nexstar-fcc-must-runs-ownership-caps-deregulation/ No thanks. They have enough stations as it is. And their tactics of delaying web streams and shaking down viewers for a dwindling pool of retransmission cash is bad enough.

It was reported here a couple months ago WCAU's studios at the Comcast Technology Center suffered water damage with the sett having to be demolished. Today at 11AM they debuted a new set in the repaired studio: Watching the replay of the newscast on Peacock, there's a lot of elements that remind me of the NBC Sports RSN set. Like the set it replaces, a seamless 4K screen features as the backdrop behind the news desk. Weather is done in front an almost equally large touch screen. Not sure yet if there is a full weather set. We'll see. Update: so they can change the set colors on the fly. Also there's tons of standup pods around the studio. Finally my question about the weather center was answered. The one from the previous set actually survived and is behind the frosted glass the weather screen is mounted on. You can make it out when they pan in on the screen and you can also catch it in the timelapse.

Not a moment too soon, because I think they ran out of breaking news in the 8am hour this morning.

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.

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.

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

Zoomed out view of the portion of the part of the set that the floor and background can be adjusted. Posted by Ryan Field.

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

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.

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.

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.

Which would be suicidal and I'm sure the local folks will try to talk New York out of it, but we're talking about a company that utterly refuses to kill a cable channel even as nobody is watching them and subscribers plead with providers to force them to die to get even $4 of relief on their bills. Les Moonves is a jerk and his personal life sucked, but he literally only seemed to be the only adult in the room that could get through to the Redstones and the Viacom board and deal with every CBS division with an iron fist. I would expect next go-around if this sticks, Sony seals a deal with ABC-Disney for distribution and streaming and that if not Netflix, Hulu already has a head start to start streaming the shows just based on Sony/ABC's overall relationships regarding the show alone. Every single negative thing Les feared about a re-merger has come true.

One has nothing to do with the other. No viewer cares a whit that they prerecord shows. They don’t get remotely hung up on the name of a show. What does matter is it’s a stable, reliable performer that brings in the cash via the syndication arm of the Disney octopus. The idea you’d deprioritize something that has worked well on your owned stations over a production schedule change is illogical. Not going to happen in the near future. Not going to happen then either. The situation is not comparable to NBC and the path forward isn’t replicating that in the near term.

There was probably a vacate date of March 31 so it was something they literally could not wait for, and Disney wants to showcase their new building and spaces in a unique way. No harm, no foul here.

KTVI and KDVR would be great candidates for this package... Nexstar has some big FOX stations in larger markets that would make them stand out

57 years at one TV station? It is unheard of now these days in this business. Yet, longtime KARK camera operator Morsie Eagles did just that. Today, he finally retires at The Morsie Eagles Studio (named in 2018) at KARK. https://www.kark.com/news/kark-4-today/kark-4-news-longtime-camera-operator-morsie-eagles-retires/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJX1BhleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHS0eLyTCFzdcloLYtNqauQLYZANUA2F69eToVGruBf2P6KCN2ZX8MbUz7A_aem_9QydHpk2FLzzGMCPCj9e3Q

WPTZ News 5 intro mid 80's Classic WMC ID it says 1985, but I'm sure it's older than that. KMPH TV 26 "Get to know us" presentation 1979. WEAR Gulf Coast News 3 1984 WTAE 4 News 1994 WTVN Action 6 News 1985 Intro

I don't think it has anything to do with Fox News. They started de-emphasizing network branding when NBC bought WTVJ, and I assume they've stuck with that approach ever since then because it's worked for them.

I'm looking forward to a time when the national anthem plays and broadcasts end for the day because it's too expensive to run anything anymore. Remember, RFK is implementing a rule which wouldn't allow big pharma to advertise. This is a what I primarily see as the advert stream for evening newscasts. So the era of network evening newscasts may just end.

Just announced last week. They're moving to the Evening News set later this year.

We're getting closer to the days when the local affiliate is no longer necessary for network television. Case in point, my local CBS and CW stations are not on YouTube TV at the moment (but still on the air otherwise). YTTV just pops up a network feed that fills in the local slots with CBS News programming and PSAs, and on the CW, their eastern feed. Given the garbage that passes off as network television these days, I'd prefer a hyper-local station that doesn't have to pre-empt things for whatever crap sports or garbage programming is being sent to the affiliates to run.

I'm just going to throw this out there..... With the current state of our government and it's concentration of the financially elite (and the maxed-out state of our current TV ownership situation with their regulatory and financial limitations) Billionaires tied to the FCC could go after TV stations and groups to start pushing out state-controlled propaganda, or through "favorable" companies despite any past indiscretions? It's a potential disaster that could very well happen at this rate. Once they weaken the FCC or bow to their demands, it's all over folks.

Bingo. Correct. I believe WSVN started their morning news in 1983 as Today in Florida at 6:30 a.m., six years before they would later lose NBC.

Yeah, this feels like a stopgap measure. A bandage, even.

When WSVN does air a FOX News package for national news, the reporters towards the end always say 7 News, not FOX News. They only showcase and say the FOX brand when FOX is on.

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.

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.

Fox Kansas City (WDAF) has switched to the graphics that was first debuted by Fox Indianapolis (WXIN) last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbehyeetv0

I wouldn't say "lazily". Strategic might be a better descriptor. Here in Minnesota (for when WCCO uses the CBSMN branding), greater MN is simply different Minneapolis/St. Paul- the communities are different, the politics are different, the people are different, and 'CCO has KCCW in the northern part of the state that serves a great deal of viewers OTA who are 3-4 hours from Minneapolis; and for what it's worth also does a decent job in balancing the stories and wx between the metro and Greater MN. That made "Minnesota" smarter for them to use than Minneapolis-St. Paul in this case. Even the major newspaper, the Star Tribune, just rebranded late last year as "The Minnesota Star Tribune" (and it's the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Wild... The list goes on). Then you have the O&O's in the markets that LOVE their city and much of the region revolves around what's happening in said city- Philly, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore instantly popped into my head as examples for that.