GoldenShine9

I agree 100% with that list, with the possible exception of KEYE given the size of the Austin market. If KLEW goes, would Boise, Yakima or Spokane lay claim to that area? Although the other central Washington area stations are all tied to Spokane stations, they could try to do more there too. In some of the other cases, another owner has dominant status and any missing newscasts otherwise they might fill for themselves (Gainesville, Columbia-Jefferson City, Lincoln-Hastings). For example, I could see KOLN/KGIN launch a new 9 pm newscast on their secondary station, or Gray could poach the Fox affiliation for themselves (I would have said the CW affiliation could be in some danger, but Nexstar is completely absent from Nebraska). North Platte has that and it's a much smaller market. In the case of Abilene (and San Angelo, by extension), that's an easy cut. I also think the CW affiliation there is as good as gone soon too. If those outsourced newscasts in Madison and Des Moines disappear, I'd think the station doing the heavy lifting might just decide to place those news on their own stations.

I know this is getting into Speculatron territory, but I have to wonder if they have a plan to make TND like a Newsmax on local television. Perhaps looking to hire Tucker Carlson for their newscast time availability?

I know KTIV is the ratings leader there, and I believe KCAU is well ahead of KMEG/KPTM as well.

I can think of at least 12-15 more markets where Sinclair runs a last-place news operation that I could easily see cut.

It appears KMEG/KPTH (Sioux City, IA) is also eliminating local news. https://kscj.com/2023/04/28/local-tv-news-to-end-on-cbs-14-kpth/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ&fbclid=IwAR0xyUYeYN2VfSMm-OJz2zidbydsdJv3Z12KOzIzOosHPHr6S5iG7msAkiQ

That leaves out Yuma though as Gray is not in that market. They could buy some smaller Imagicomm stations to help fill holes though (it would be fairly cheap too) and that gets them into Yuma, as well as markets like Pocatello and Greenville (MS).

I sense WPMI losing the NBC affiliation when it comes up...I could see WALA taking it back on 10.2.

Most Sinclair stations are very low rated, and the political slant probably has a role too. People - both conservative and liberal - don't watch local news for political talk. It might be an opportunity for KOBI/KOTI to bulk up, as they were the traditional dog station in the market but now would go up to #2 by default. I know they don't have a lot of money as an independent NBC affiliate, but if someone bigger took a chance on them, they could have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I think the ideal logo would be the gold "5" of old, combined with the font from that WBTV proposed design.

That may be more likely to happen now. I believe the plan is to completely eliminate local news on WGXA.

Many of their stations are very low rated too. They tend to be 3rd or 4th place in many of their markets.

Could that be some of the money burned by the Diamond Sports bankruptcy hitting their bottom line? Also most Sinclair stations are rated quite low in their market.

Having that WANF-esque font in the WCSC logo under the classic "5" would make for quite a nice logo.

Would that logo fit well with modern graphics? I agree it should be brought back. I know the change from the Raycom-era logo was a positive, but that would be another step upward.

There are 76 CW affiliates in Nexstar markets that the affiliation is currently owned by another company. Of them, 25 are owned by Gray (either on one of their own signals or a subchannel), 20 by Sinclair, while Allen, CBS, Hearst, Scripps and Tegna each have between 3 and 5 with isolated instances elsewhere. That's a lot that they would have to pick off at once without compensation.

Would this be a suitable graphics package in smaller markets? That would be an excellent large-market Gray package going forward, but is it too big for a market like Lake Charles, Twin Falls, Dothan or Binghamton?

Also in Texas, only Nexstar and Tegna have reach that comes anywhere near statewide. I agree, if it was the Bannon podcast, that would turn into Comedy Central once the Democrats respond. The other markets that are missing for Nexstar in the state are Beaumont-Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, Victoria and Laredo.

Yuma is a separate market, unless they are thinking of acquiring the Imagicomm cluster...

Macon is the only market in Georgia that Gray is absent in. Maybe, just maybe, they could swipe a major network. I'm sure they would have loved WMAZ, but that is off limits to them except via a trade, and what would they give Tegna in return? Also, KNIN is pretty useless for Gray. Scripps does all the heavy lifting there, and Gray has no realistic path into that market either for a news producing station (plus it's too small for 4 such stations).

I wonder how long it will take to install them in 113 markets (that assumes that Gray doesn't get into any more markets in that timeframe). There are a few stations I believe still with legacy graphics from nearly a decade ago.

WFLA will be very angry, as they literally run themselves on streaming coverage and online specials, especially during hurricane season.

They'd get eaten alive by the competition in that situation.

Could be a combination of that as well as the fact that odd-numbered years are very lean for stations without the political ads. (A few exceptions do exist, as KY, LA and MS have state races, but otherwise it's quiet.) Also, the Super Bowl is on Fox, which Gray is a little leaner with (they have far more CBS and NBC affiliates).

All the other major TV companies are in the same position. Ironically, they had Tegna in the best shape, despite the proxy wars and attempted sale.

That hour might end up with station owner-produced programming as well, instead of newscasts, on some stations, according to what executives are thinking.