CircleSeven

Another new affiliation launch is about to launch in just a few hours. WSOC is launching Telemundo Charlotte @ 6am this morning on subchannel 9.2. Laff moves to WAXN 64.4. Here's a channel & newscast lineup. The 5, 6 & 10pm are simulcasted on NBC/CBS, while the 5:30 & 9pm airs on Fox. The morning show is simulcasted on all three from 5:30-7am, then its Fox exclusively from 7-8am. Weekends, its 5 & 10pm on NBC/CBS and 9pm on Fox.

SagamoreHill was assigned to acquire KASW after Sander spun-off KTVK & KMOV to Meredith (KASW would eventually go to Nexstar). SagamoreHill had nothing to do with St. Louis.

They're the same folks that lit-up the NBC & Fox affils there as well.

Channel 9 is airing more live local news than CLTV these days, if you look at this lineup.

CLTV will FINALLY air an HD channel on Comcast systems, beginning June 1st.

Fox 29's local program The Q hosted by Quincy Harris will have a four-week trial in the month of June, airing on seven other O&Os including Fox 5 in NYC & Fox 11 in LA. The other stations are WAGA/Atlanta, WJBK/Detroit, KUTP/Phoenix, WFTC/Minneapolis, & WMYT/Charlotte. The Q is one of seven shows that will be aired under a trial basis on selective Fox O&Os throughout the summer.

On top of that, Tom filled in for Demetrius on the 4pm tonight.

What do you expect when their only other major TV station is a station in the Delmarva (WMDT)? They're just exchanging one small broadcaster for another to keep things a status quo.

It's been greenlighted.

Follow up. A communications VP at ABC wrote an email stating that the info relating to a hiring freeze was not true. But according to Scott, he said that two people who were looking for work at two separate O&Os, management from both stations said that they can't make any hires until the fall.

They move the desk and the video wall from the old set, into a different studio (across the hall?) as a temp spot. While their main studio where the old set was is being gutted for the new set. This is almost a similar practice that WLS & KABC did as well. WLS moved its old 2006 set to a different studio, but they had to first use a smaller replica of their old set (in another studio, that desk was small as hell) until the move of their "actual" old set was completed. Before KABC moved portions of its 2006 set to a temp spot, they used the station's newsroom (only for one morning). And I think (non O&O) WSB did it with their old set as well.

Erika Martin handles the weekend evenings, unless she's leaving (which I doubt). It took a while to fill that weekend slot after Brittney Shipp left and went to Cali. Who's handles the weekend mornings?

The 23rd GM change since the MG deal ended.

And guess who came back today? [MEDIA=twitter]866646011929931777[/MEDIA]

She'll be doing real estate segments on KPRC's weekend morning shows. Out of all people, why would they want to pick her to replace Tamica? I guess it's alright to put an annoying bimbo on to get viewers right? I'm hoping they'll find a true replacement soon. Tegna is blowing up the WWL morning team. First it was Buchtel, then Hoss and now Tamica. I wouldn't be surprised if Paulsen and/or Sally-Ann be next out the door before its all over.

The deal has now been approved. No word on when they'll move H&I & Retro to KJWP. Marantha should've bought WJLP while they're at it.

You don't think Jindra will shift to mornings? Or is Jindra leaving altogether?

I wish the stations that move to 1WTC keep all the backup/auxiliary transmitters at ESB.

Follow-Up. After over twenty-seven months after the announcement of this sell, The Broadcast Trust has withdrawn the application. With the recent reinstatement of the UHF loophole, could Ion end up buying these stations outright?

Follow-up. An amendment was made as they've now disclosed the purchase price of the KJWP deal. $25M.

Another Big Tegna Departure. Was mentioned in the shoutbox, but I'll mention it here. And it's not one, but two. KXTV has decided not to renew the contracts of its main anchors Cristina Mendonsa & Dale Schorack. No word on when the pair leave the station. Mendonsa has been at Channel 10 for 21 years, Schornack has been there for 19 years. That's a really nice way to kill what's left of your viewership. The bloodbath continues to roll at the Tegna outlets... Pitiful.

Ready for another deregulatory measure? Remember back in late 2015 when congress added a rider to the appropriations bill that grandfathered existing joint sales agreements until 2025. But that provision didn't include keeping the JSAs when the stations changed hands. And Wheeler still made stations unwind JSAs during transactions after the bill went into effect. Lawmakers were pissed. This new appropriation bill (mentioned earlier this week) modifies its provision to protect stations with existing JSAs from either unwinding or modifying them in relating to station transfers.

I've made a discovery while reading the Q1 earnings report this morning (this was before they'd announce they acquiring WCAX). So they did operate the outlets under an LMA on April 1st. No wonder why they launched the websites so early. But was surprised they didn't place the LMA on the paperwork, like they did with the Withers deal. Now they're keeping up with the same LMA practice with the WCAX deal starting June 1. Is Gray going to scrape up every other Independent entity in the country? Some of y'all mentioned the United stations. If I had my way, I would piecemeal it. Give Prather KEYC, and give Gray WWNY. But both Watertown & Mankato marekts are closer to the incumbent Prather markets (Utica & Rochester, MN) even though Plattsburgh, NY (which is in the Burlington market) and Watertown are both closer to the Canadian border. But should United sell its stations wholesale, then I would say Gray over Prather.

Longtime WRC anchor Jim Vance announced his cancer diagnosis on tonight's 6pm newscast. He didn't elaborate on the type of cancer he had, but said that he vowed to continue anchoring the 6pm news "when he can", while doing treatment. Let's hope he can recover from this.

Lots of paperwork this morning. First, some closings. Three names have now gone away in the broadcast TV world. Calkins have completed its sale its three stations on Sunday (4/30) (even though it was announced in a press release Monday (5/1), the 4/30 date was stated in the FCC closing papers). WTXL & WWSB went to Raycom, while WAAY went to Heartland Media. Withers completed its sale of WDTV/WVFX to Gray on Monday. Gray has operated the duo since last June. Withers owned WDTV since 1973. And Diversified has completed its sale of its two stations to Gray. The WCJB one was closed Monday, while the WABI one was closed on Tuesday (5/2), ending 64 years of family ownership of the TV outlet (and 68 years in broacasting altogether; it founded WABI-AM in 1949). Here's a little tidbit, this was the same firm that gave Perry Sook his first television station in 1996. And look how his company have ballooned since........ Diversified, Withers & Calkins. RIP to Horace Hildreth & Russell Withers. Now even though they're no longer in the TV world, they're involved in other businesses. Withers is not out of the broadcasting biz entirely, as it continues to own several radio stations in the Jackson Purchase region (southern IL, Paducah-Cape Girardeau). Calkins owns newspapers in Pennsylvania & New Jersey, and has recently launched some digital services, including OTT. And Diversified has a thriving convention/trade show business in the U.S., Canada & overseas. Second, the transaction of Laughlin, NV station KMCC by Cranston TV to Entravision was greenlighted yesterday (5/3). Finally, last month someone asked if the stations owned by Alaska Telecom, GCI (through subsidiary Denali Media Holdings) are included in the transaction to Liberty Media. Here's the paperwork for KTVA (that and the other Alaska stations are included in this sale). When the deal closes, the parent company General Communication Inc. will become GCI Liberty, Inc. but the Denali subsidiary and the licensee names will stay a status quo. This will be the first time in six years Liberty is involved in a television station. They previously owned the former CBS O&O WFRV from 2007 to 2011.