CircleSeven

The FCC has partially lifted the "quiet period" among the broadcasters. The lifting of the hush period, broadcasters can now communicate amongst themselves on post-auction issues such as repacking. But this will also open up the floodgates for new M&As. Full write-up from the FCC.

I think WJW is just "Cleveland's Own". But KWGN's slogan was "Colorado's Very Own" for years too; now just "Colorado's Own".

And the "E" stands for?....

Okay. So remember about three years ago, the FCC (under Wheeler) made a public notice to scrutinize transactions involving stations with sharing arrangements (LMA/JSA/SSAs and the like)? Well new Chairman Pai's FCC has rescinded that provision today. And Commissioner Clyburn wasn't pleased. Remember because of this notice, Sinclair had to modify its deal to acquire Allbritton several times.

Another one of the greats is going away. That's a shame. All the best in his new endeavor.

Yeah. I thought that same way when WSYR with News Station after the Newport deal. And look what happened months later... We'll just have to wait and see. Anywho, Nexstar has (finally) closed its acquisition of West Virginia Media Holdings today (1/31). Its only publication The State Journal, was acquired by a local firm called NCWV Media back on December 1. WVMH.

I've mentioned it last month about Frank Mickens' arrival @ WTTV. At that time, they didn't say if Doty's was also leaving the station, but that appeared to be the case. Lyles left the station right around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Yeah. Gray acquired Schurz, but kept the incumbent WNDU and spun-off WSBT to Sinclair (which it swapped WLUC for it). Then later, Sinclair & Quincy swapping affils in SB/Peoria, and placing them on their subs. My thinking is just like what Quincy did with their new set design, I think Gray did the same thing in buying this design in bulk. And the hire-ups at 16 probably wanted an opportunity to get that set while its being installed on other Gray stations. It is very rare for a market this size to change sets in a short period of time.

Gray has owned WNDU for over a decade. Many Gray stations have went with this set design recently.

WCVB's weeknight newsmagazine reached a milestone this week. Chronicle reached its 35th anniversary on Wednesday.

Tribune Media's President & CEO Peter Liguori is stepping down from his post in the next couple of months.

New M&A. It appears that the SagamoreHill is buying another LP. They're buying KGLU-LD in Ottumwa, IA from DTV America for $71K. No telling what there'll be doing with this new LP.

38.9%. They're basically stuck like Sinclair & Fox, unless they try to lobby to raise the 39% cap. And they would have to get approval from Congress. The FCC greenlighted the WVMH stations back last August, but Nexstar didn't close it, probably waiting for the greenlight for the MG transaction. Since the MG deal is done, it shouldn't be too long before they close this one out.

That deal has not closed yet.

Yeah. It was suppose to be separated, thanks to Wheeler's original JSA attribution rule (which got shut out by the courts last year). Then in 2015, Congress place a rider on a bill that grandfathered the current JSAs until 2025. Wheeler's JSA rule was brought back after completing the 2010/2014 quadrennial review. But stations that had legacy JSAs can keep them for another 8 years. Another thing to point out. If you were a former Emmis station that didn't get sold from them LIN, but was sold by Montecito, you've already saw ownership changes more than FIVE times within the last decade. Emmis > Montecito (SJL) > New Vision > LIN > Media General > Nexstar

Yet another prominent name in the broadcasting industry has gone away. Media General. RIP. And RIP to J. Stewart Bryan. Oh. And RIP to LIN, Young, New Vision, Spartan, Park, ComCorp, Grant, Newport, Quorum. All the former names that have now been absorbed to the new Nexstar Media Group.

Get ready for another diginet. Sinclair and MGM is launching an Action-related diginet called Charge!. It'll launch within Q1 of this year. Also MeTV has a new affiliate in the Atlanta market. Marquee Broadcasting's WGTA will be the primary affiliate of the MeTV Network, replacing Cox-owned WSB, effective March 25. But here's the issue. WGTA use to be former CBS affiliate WNEG in Toccoa, and its signal doesn't reach the immediate part of metro Atlanta. So people who don't have cable or satellite, (or have an outdoor antenna pointing to the east) won't be able to receive MeTV programming in Atlanta. I strongly thought Cox have a group deal with MeTV, since they carry it on their other stations (WPXI, WHIO).

Follow-up. As of eight day ago (1/9), the FCC has greenlighted the Gray Fairbanks deal. And since announcing the deal, the CBS station has changed its calls again to KXDF-CD.

Longtime WKRN anchor Anne Holt will be stepping down from the anchor desk at the end of the month, after nearly 37 years. She's not leaving the station entirely, as she'll be involved in other on-air & community projects for Channel 2.

An end of an era in the Northwest. It's lights out for NWCN. Video courtesy of Derek Austin from YT

Another Tegna departure. WWL's morning anchor Mike Hoss will be leaving the station after over 27 years. He announced his exit on his Facebook page on New Year's Day.

So WOLF-TV's Sinclair-produced "so-called" in-house newscasts has started. The reporters are reporting the news from PA. While the main anchor is anchoring from WSBT, which led to this giveaway..... [MEDIA=twitter]815035033228550146[/MEDIA] [MEDIA=twitter]815039787614740480[/MEDIA] [MEDIA=twitter]815042564277600256[/MEDIA] So this leads to this question. Are they're pre-taping this 10pm show on WOLF-TV? Or are they're doing it live from separate studio. Because WSBT also produces its own 10pm program on its Fox subchannel.

Any other NBC affils airing "Chi-Town Rising" after NBC's NYE coverage? The only two I saw from the guides are WTMJ & KXAS. COZI is also simulcasting as well.

As we're coming towards the second anniversary of the CBS Indy switch, there's already been changes to the morning talent. Indianapolis Business Journal stated yesterday that WFMY reporter & anchor Frank Mickens has been hired as a new anchor of WTTV's morning newscast. He'll start early next year. This comes after the late fall departures of morning anchor Marianne Lyles, and traffic reporter Katie Solove. Solove became the new morning anchor at Lexington's WTVQ; while Lyles took a corporate communications job at a firm outside of Chicago. The station has also dealt with abysmal ratings in the mornings. During the November books, it was ranked last among the five local AM shows in the A25/54 demo; while its sister WXIN was on top.

And this article I just read from The Washington Post says it all.........