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All of KBOI would be a prime candidate. It's been a dog for years. It's KTVB's market, and KIVI gets the scraps. KBOI also has the disadvantage of not being in Twin Falls.

KLST runs KSAN (NBC). I'm sure they would have loved to had another big four network, but, apparently, they couldn't get one. I sure it didn't make financial sense to just be a CBS affiliate in that small a market.

Nexstar’s CBS affiliations for 13 of their CBS stations expired in December. I’m assuming WJMN is one of them. They’re likely working on a renewal, but since WJMN is one of their smallest CBS affiliates, is a semi satellite, and doesn’t have a second big four network, Nexstar probably told CBS it wasn’t a big deal if they gave it to someone else.

Red River owns the KQDS studio building, which is very tiny. I would think that Forum would move them into the larger newspaper building at some point.

I believe the response says that Gray moved CBS to the LD after meeting with FCC staff. It’s close to guaranteed that Gray won’t pay the $500K fine. This will eventually end up in a federal courtroom, where the FCC has a terrible track record. Gray will end up paying nothing or a tiny fraction of the original fined amount.

I'm sure Cowles would find it much easier to have ABC/FOX throughout the entire state, but they're not touching KSVI/KHMT. Billings sits at the base of the Rimrocks, which run along the city's eastern border. Both KULR and KTVQ have their towers on top of the Rimrocks, as close to the edge as possible. It's the only way you can actually see the entire city. KSVI and KHMT share a tower, which would be okay except that KHMT is licensed to Hardin, MT, 45 miles east of Billings. The only way you can run both stations on the same stick, while legally covering both Billings and Hardin is to be farther away from the edge of the Rimrocks. In the case of KSVI/KHMT, the tower is 10 miles east of the edge. Since the tower can't see most of Billings, the signal simply flies over the city. KSVI/KHMT have to run multiple translators to fill in the gaps. Since the FCC is unlikely to ever allow KHMT to change its city of license from Hardin to Billings, this is always going to be an issue. That's why Cowles is not going to trade one very good station for two bad stations.

Nexstar isn't touching those stations with a hundred foot pole. They will never have a chance against KTUU/KYES because the few people who advertise up there aren't going to put their ads on a duopoly that gets virtually no viewership. You know why Nexstar has KSVI/KHMT? They never really wanted it, but it was part of the Quorum package, so they had to take it. They have tried to sell those stations, but no one wants to buy the third and fourth stations in a two station market. It's the same fact in Anchorage. If GCI's cable leverage and multi million dollar investment couldn't dent Gray and KTUU, nothing will.

That's not going to happen. Nexstar renewed their affiliation agreements with Fox in September. https://www.nexstar.tv/nexstar-media-group-and-fox-broadcasting-company-renew-affiliation-agreements/

Adults 25-54 is the most important to the sales department, because it helps them with advertising rates. People in that age range have the most disposable income. Nevertheless, winning anything in the July book is about as meaningful as winning a preseason NFL game.

I'm not sure if it's true now, but WSBT was the market leader for years under Schurz's ownership.

KMTV has been lost for years. The problem is that WOWT and KETV are able to pad their Omaha market viewership, and ad revenue, with significant viewership in the Lincoln market (due to relatively weak affiliates), while KMTV gets major pushback from KOLN.

It’s the only full power allocation for Riverton. The FCC won’t let them give it up unless someone else operates it. Legacy argued that no one would operate the station as a stand-alone because it’s not financially feasible. Thus the conundrum.

It's not DOJ. The problem was the FCC held up the last piece of the deal, the sale of KFNB/KFNE to Legacy. The FCC wanted the two stations to be independent operations, instead of KFNE being a satellite of KFNB. Legacy has argued there is no way KFNE can operate as a standalone operation, especially since it's Riverton signal doesn't reach the majority of the market population in Casper. Yes, Gray lost the chance to control all the stations in the market, but they'll probably still end up with CBS on their LD in Casper. I'm sure Mark Nalbone isn't happy about losing his $25 million payday.

While the challenge in the KDLT deal is directed at Gray, the challenge in the KCPM deal is directed at the seller, G.I.G. KRDK is arguing that G.I.G. cannot sell the license to Gray, and thus profit from the transaction, because the station has been off the air for more than 12 months, which, according to FCC rules, means the license has expired.

Yes. The affiliation agreement for KMTV is much older and doesn't expire until September 2020. The affiliation agreement for WTVF was set to expire this month. My guess is that the KMTV agreement is more station owner friendly. Scripps probably isn't in a hurry to renegotiate that deal.