broadcastfan9751

Deborah Collura has been named the general manager of Gannett's WCNC Charlotte. Collura was previously vice president of news at KPRC Houston. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/deborah-collura-named-gm-of-wcnc_b120361

Raycom has cancelled "America Now" after four seasons. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/74216/raycom-says-no-more-america-now

Fox has cancelled "The X Factor" after three seasons. http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/x-factor-cancelled-fox-simon-cowell/

Chrys Peterson is leaving WTOL after 20 years. Her final newscast will be February 28th. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/chrys-peterson-signs-off-from-wtol_b112310

TVNewsCheck is reporting that Nexstar has agreed to purchase the two stations in Panama City and Grand Junction that are being spun off by Gray in the Hoak deal.

CNBC is reporting that Comcast is exploring a bid for Time Warner Cable should TWC choose to sell.

TVNewsCheck is reporting that Excalibur Broadcasting has agreed to purchase WQCW in Charleston, WV from Lockwood Broadcasting and will enter into an SSA with Gray's WSAZ. Maybe Gray can produce a decent newscast on WQCW,

ABC has signed an affiliation agreement with Gray to make KGNS-DT2 the ABC affiliate for Laredo, TX beginning in February 2014. No word yet on what happens to The CW, which currently occupies KGNS-DT2. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/71776/gray-to-air-abc-on-kgns-subchannel

Tom Wheeler has been confirmed as the new chairman of the FCC. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/71597/tom-wheeler-confirmed-as-next-fcc-chair

One other thing to note is that Palm Springs is in close proximity to Los Angeles which results in all of the stations in the market except KESQ and KMIR being low-power to avoid interfering with the LA stations. And that, combined with the area's mountainous terrain, results in Palm Springs having a relatively high cable penetration (80.5% according to Wikipedia). So one other possibility is NPG decides to join the party and sells KESQ and its sister stations to a speculator and Palm Springs gets merged into the LA market. But then again, we'll have to see what happens to KMIR post-auction.

Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that Michael Dell's OTA Broadcasting has agreed to buy Journal's KMIR and KPSE in Palm Springs. Not sure what this means for its future, since OTA Broadcasting is believed to be a spectrum speculator. And KPSE, as a low-power station, isn't allowed to participate in the incentive auctions.

That will be the first CW affiliate for Gannett, before the Belo deal.

Cowles could actually purchase Beartooth NBC outright, since the Max Media station in Helena is a low-powered station.

Max Media also operates WPFO in Portland, Maine and WMEI in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Those two stations are owned by Corporate Media Consultants Group, which is 49% owned by Max Media. If Max Media wants to sell it's remaining properties, here are my predictions: WNKY: Excalibur Broadcasting (the new shell formed by Gray for KJCT). WPFO: Cunningham Broadcasting or Deerfield Media (since Sinclair's WGME already produces newscasts for WPFO). WMEI: Unsure, maybe a speculator (Puerto Rico does have a lot of stations, so it could definitely free up some space on the airwaves for the wireless companies).

The FCC has released a shutdown plan in case the House and Senate remain deadlocked on the budget and the government is forced to shut down.

The Santa Maria Times reports that Cowles will retain KCOY for now but that there will be a shared services agreement.

Fox has renewed MyNetworkTV through 2016. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/70539/fox-stations-reup-mnt-through-2016

This will make it even more interesting if Nexstar buys Granite, because all five major network affiliations in Binghamton would be controlled by one company, similar to what would happen in Peoria.

This sale makes sense in a way, since this station has been in receivership for over a year and the Rio Grande Valley has a large hispanic population. But most Telemundo O&O's are located in top 50 markets, and the networks have been divesting smaller-market stations in recent years, so i'm not sure why NBC would want a station in such a small market.

Lockwood appears to be starting to make some changes at WSKY, even though it hasn't completed the sale yet. It has named John Cochrane as general manager. He was previously the general sales manager at WCSC in Charleston, SC and director of sales at WAVY and WVBT in Hampton Roads, VA. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/70350/john-cochrane-named-gm-of-wsky

They have also granted the KGWN/KSTF application.

She will be a morning anchor at KMGH. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/kellie-patterson-to-join-kmgh-in-denver-as-morning-anchor_b102714

They'll probably update the graphics once they reach a deal to acquire the Granite stations and they consolidate WIVT's operations into the WBNG facility.