CircleSeven

Follow up regarding KSNB. The station filed a license to cover on its updated facility today. Now the station hasn't made any announcements, but when a station files a license to cover, that usually indicates construction has been completed and the new facility is now in operation. If that is the case, this will be the very first time OTA viewers in Lincoln can receive an "in-market" NBC affiliate on its primary DT1 signal.

I'll always remember her distinctive voice in those station promos/movie opens back in the day. May she rest in peace.

Gray is fetching another LP. This time it's in the Valley of the Sun. They're getting KPHE-LD from Lotus Communications. for $1.75M. Lotus owns several radio stations in the West Coast. It'll be interesting to see what Gray would use this LP for, given that they have that full power duopoly in KTVK & KPHO.......

That link doesn't work. But yes the Paperwork is now up. Here's the comprehensive exhibit & merger agreement. In regards to the Dallas situation, if you remember when Tegna bought KMPX from Estrella back in the fall of 2020, there was an option agreement in which Estrella can acquire WFAA (but only the VHF equipment (antenna, transmitter, etc.) and not the studio or programming) within five years after the original deal was completed. I don't expect post-transaction Tegna would keep the other Dallas station long term. But should the option be exercised, expect the callsign & virtual channels to be swapped, but viewers won't notice the difference once they rescan their TVs. Well, other than having WFAA on a stronger UHF signal.

And nearly one year after filing the petiition, it has now advanced to NPRM. They had to amend the original petition to provide further analysis that some of the lost coverage areas (after the move to UHF; mostly in the far-fringe areas) would be served by other CBS affiliates in the region (KDKA, WIYE, WOWK & WTRF) and also WDTV's signal would be simulcasted on subchannel of WVFX (which operates on VHF RF 13). Also, the six Scripps Montana stations have advanced to NPRM. KTVQ (10 > 20) KPAX (7 > 25) KRTV (7 > 22) KBZK (13 > 27) KTVH (12 > 31) KXLF (5 > 15) And one more petition posted late Thursday (3/10) Milwaukee station WIWN (owned by CNZ Communications) wants to vacate VHF-low 5 for VHF-high 7. Most folks know that RF 7 use to be occipied by Chicago's WLS, but they bolted to UHF post DTV transition (first to 44, then to 22 after the repack). But a low-power station in the city have now occups that allotment. And that's Venture Technologies' WCHU-LD. And should WIWN gets approval in the channel switch, then WCHU would have to either greatly-reduce its contour or be displaced to a new allotment since LPs don't get protection.

And to no surprise, two major cable industry groups filed their objections to this deal. The ATVA filed an informal objection, while the NCTA filed a petition to deny.

New M&A. Legacy Broadcasting, owners of Monroe, LA's MeTV affil KMLU (formerly KAQY), is acquiring Grenada, MS LP W13CS-D from Whitfield Media, LLC for $85K. It'll be interesting to see what they'll do with this station.

Can finally watch the live stream again. Thank the Lord!

Gray has been on the ball with acquiring these LPs. They're getting another one. And its in a college town. They're getting Tuscaloosa, AL's WJMY-LD from TTI, Inc. for $225K. ___________________________ I should also mention regarding Memphis, that WYMP-LD deal was completed last week. The question now is whether Gray will keep that signal at its current spot near the TN-MS border, or move the signal closer to Shelby County. That is going to be something to watch out for. But I feel something needs to be done in regards to WMC's signal woes. Your core viewers should be able to receive Channel 5 over the air. I know Gray is still pursuing to switch the full power signal to UHF. But I would file a new app to move that new LP to Shelby, and once its gets the greenlight, get that signal lit up quickly.

Looks like we have another hold up regarding one of the petitions. This is pretty much similar to what is occuring in Medford where the LP doesn't want to move away from their allotment. King Kong Broadcasting, which owns KGNG-LD (which operates on RF 26) filed comments opposing of Scripps' channel move of KTNV from VHF 13 to UHF 26. King Kong states that the KTNV's move "would eviscerate the outstanding broadcast offerings of" KGNG, since the station carries subchannels that are geared towards minority & underserved viewers. And yes, (just like what happened in Medford), King Kong has placed a "counter-proposal" to have a new full power signal on RF 26. On the reply comments (p.5), Scripps made an offer to King Kong to donate its old VHF 13 equipment and let King Kong temporary operate KGNG's signal from KTNV's downtown studio (at the expense of Scripps), while they build a brand new permanent facility. King Kong turned down that offer and filed that opposition. This placing a "counter-proposal" is nothing more than a "tactic" to delay KTNV's process to move to that allotment. Filing a new allotment petition (similar to what Gray did in Freeport last year) normally take years to do. And when it does get approved, they still have to wait until FCC start a new auction. That process could also be lenghty. But in the end, like I stated in the Medford situation, King Kong don't have any standing. KGNG-LD is a regular low power station (not a Class A). And LP don't have protection in their allotments. And if KTNV wants to move to that allotment, it can. KGNG just doesn't want to move again, after leaving RF 47 during the spectrum repack. It'll probably be lenghty, but I believe the FCC is going to greenlight KTNV's petition and throw that "counter-proposal" in the cellar.

Scripps has renamed one of its diginets again.... First known as Escape, then renamed Court TV Mystery. It is now named Ion Mystery.

Two PRMs have advanced to NPRMs. KSCW (12 > 28) KTVQ (10 > 20) Just a bit of history regarding KSCW. RF 12 was the allotment used by sister station, KWCH. After the DTV transition, folks complained they couldn't receive KWCH's signal. So former owner Schurz decided to switch facilities. KWCH moved to 19, and KSCW move to 12. Fast forward twelve years later, Gray wants the other station off of VHF.

I got a question. Why Apollo didn't include KENS 5? The four Belo Texas stations (with WFAA, KHOU & KVUE 24) have been commonly-owned since since 1999. Another thing is with that memo posted above, this pretty much confirms that WFXT is going to Standard Media's Tegna. When I read the article earlier this morning, they touted that WFXT was going to be the "anchor or a new station group". I thought they were talking about brand new company.

Seems that the amended changes have passed muster. The FCC issued an R&O, effectively greenlights WLMB's channel switch from 5 to 35.

Okay. The Tegna Standard Media deal talk is in this thread.

New M&A. Weigel is expanding its footprint to Arkansas. They're buying this unbuilt LP, K31PZ-D Clarksville, from Lowcountry Media for $68,500.

New M&A. Gray is getting another LP. They're getting KTEV-LD in Texarkana, AR from Buna Group, Inc. for $25K. And I look at the contour and see how small it is. It doesn't even serve all of the city of Texarkana. Like central part of the city and areas north of it. Should they get the greenlight, I wouldn't be surprised if Gray replaces the antenna and have it at a greater reach in that vicinity.

A big departure in West Central Florida. Longtime WTVT anchor Kelly Ring is retiring on May 25, after 37 years at the station.

Okay a couple of follow ups... KRIS 6 lit up UHF 26 earlier this week. It'll keep VHF 13 rolling for a brief period. Also..... FCC has announced the date of the auction. June 7, 2022. Also, there's a noticable change. It appears they've lowered the starting bidding prices of the allotments. For example, the Syracuse allotment (the biggest prize in this auction), the starting bidding price for that allotment last fall was $1M. They've knocked it down to $750K. And the majority of the other allotments, the start price for those were $200K. It's now $150K.

Gray is about to grow in Atlanta. Just two months after acquiring WGCL/WPCH from that transformative Meredith deal, Gray has struck a deal to acquire the Telemundo outlet WKTB-CD from Capital Media Group. The price was not disclosed in the article. But we will know once they file that paperwork..... EDIT 4:27pm/ET: And Lo and behold, the paperwork is up. $30M is the purchase price.

Some good news out of South Texas. Scripps is almost ready to light up KRIS 6's new UHF signal. The station has filed an STA to operate KRIS 6 on its new RF 26 allotment at 812kW (over 80% of its authorized power (1MW)). I wished they would've filed this last month, so they would've gotten approval and lit up in time for the Winter Olympics, which is already underway.....

Follow up. Allen completed the KIKU acquisition on Monday (1/31). Don't know when they'll get rid of the endless infomercials they currently air. But the sooner they get that new programming on air, the better...

A big departure out of NOLA. Longtime WWL anchor Karen Swensen is "retiring from local news" at the end of the Febuary books period.

A couple of notes. One R&O. WYMT (12 > 20) Also...... So follow up to this. The FCC has granted the State of Alaska a waiver of the the tolling rules and have extended the construction deadline for those 15 translators in the rural communities until July 11, 2022. The reasoning is given the state's climate and short construction period (during the summer months), and also needing more time to replace outdated equipment (and its not just the transmitter). I have a feeling they might have to extend that date again in the future.

WABC's President & General Manager Chad Matthews has been appointed as new President of the ABC Owned Television Stations. No word on who'll replace Matthews as GM of Channel 7.