T.L. Hughes 753 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox have agreed to an affiliation agreement extension to allow Sinclair's 19 owned or managed Fox affiliates (KABB/San Antonio, KBSI/Cape Girardeau, KDSM/Des Moines, KOKH/Oklahoma City, KFXA/Cedar Rapids, WDKY/Lexington, WMSN/Madison, WPGH/Pittsburgh, WRGT/Dayton, WRLH/Richmond, WSMH/Flint, WSYT/Syracuse, WTAT/Charleston, SC, WTTE/Columbus, WUHF/Rochester, WUTV/Buffalo, WVAH/Charleston, WV, WYZZ/Bloomington, WZTV/Nashville and company flagship WBFF/Baltimore) to continue carrying Fox programming through 2017. What's special about this deal is that it includes an option (exercisable between July 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013) for Sinclair to purchase MyNetworkTV affiliate WUTB from Fox Television Stations (which would create a duopoly with WBFF), while giving Fox the option to buy six Sinclair-owned CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates in Raleigh (CW affiliate WLFL, itself a former Fox affiliate and MyNetworkTV affiliate WRDC), Las Vegas (CW affiliate KVCW and MyNetworkTV affiliate KVMY), Cincinnati (MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR) and Norfolk (MyNetworkTV affiliate WTVZ, also a former Fox affiliate). Sinclair would pay Fox $52.7 million for its affiliation renewal for WBFF and the WUTB option; however, if Fox exercises the options to buy any of the six Sinclair stations in other markets, Sinclair's affiliation payments to Fox for the WBFF affiliation would decrease to $25 million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox have agreed to an affiliation agreement extension to allow Sinclair's 19 owned or managed Fox affiliates (KABB/San Antonio, KBSI/Cape Girardeau, KDSM/Des Moines, KOKH/Oklahoma City, KFXA/Cedar Rapids, WDKY/Lexington, WMSN/Madison, WPGH/Pittsburgh, WRGT/Dayton, WRLH/Richmond, WSMH/Flint, WSYT/Syracuse, WTAT/Charleston, SC, WTTE/Columbus, WUHF/Rochester, WUTV/Buffalo, WVAH/Charleston, WV, WYZZ/Bloomington, WZTV/Nashville and company flagship WBFF/Baltimore) to continue carrying Fox programming through 2017. What's special about this deal is that it includes an option (exercisable between July 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013) for Sinclair to purchase MyNetworkTV affiliate WUTB from Fox Television Stations (which would create a duopoly with WBFF), while giving Fox the option to buy six Sinclair-owned CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates in Raleigh (CW affiliate WLFL, itself a former Fox affiliate and MyNetworkTV affiliate WRDC), Las Vegas (CW affiliate KVCW and MyNetworkTV affiliate KVMY), Cincinnati (MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR) and Norfolk (MyNetworkTV affiliate WTVZ, also a former Fox affiliate). Sinclair would pay Fox $52.7 million for its affiliation renewal for WBFF and the WUTB option; however, if Fox exercises the options to buy any of the six Sinclair stations in other markets, Sinclair's affiliation payments to Fox for the WBFF affiliation would decrease to $25 million. Very interesting. I'm curious to see if FOX would make more deals like this with other media companies that have FOX affiliates, namely Tribune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 753 Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 Very interesting. I'm curious to see if FOX would make more deals like this with other media companies that have FOX affiliates, namely Tribune. Who knows? Also, the purchase option that Fox has with the CW/MyNetworkTV duopolies in Raleigh and Las Vegas would most likely lead to WRAZ and KVVU being displaced as affiliates of the network. On one hand, WLFL could potentially wind up a Fox affiliate once again if the option is exercised (it was a charter affiliate from 1986 to 1998). On the other hand, KVVU would be at risk of losing its Fox affiliation and it is also a charter affiliate of the network, which begs the question, how bad a loss would KVVU's Fox affiliation be for that station? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3471 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 If this deal would go through with WUTB, I could see WLFL/WRDC and WTVZ potentially being sold to Fox, because of their former status as charter FOX affiliates, and potentially having more clout than their current affiliates in the market. Every other market would ba a trade-down for FOX, especially in Cincinnati and Las Vegas, where the FOX affiliates are well-established and have very strong ratings. The only way I could see this becoming viable is if Raycom and/or Meredith blow their affiliation deals like Nexstar did last year, and FOX taking matters into their own hands by default. I doubt FOX would want these stations with no intention of running FOX programming....let alone running their sister network MyNetworkTV. They certainly wouldn't want any part of running a CW affiliate...would they? Of course....if Sinclair gets their hands on WUTB, that would make another triopoly for them, since they own WBFF and manage WNUV (through Cunningham). With WLFL, they could re-start a news department. I think FOX could make it work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I'm not quite sure, but doesn't FOX run its O&O's master control from a hub in Las Vegas? They might have some interest in the Las Vegas market, but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdcnow 14 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 ^^ Exactly. I've heard that the hub in question is KVVU-TV itself, or at least the hub is ran out of the same building as KVVU. If that's the case, then regardless, Fox is essentially married to KVVU, as a Fox affiliate. But again, who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper550 268 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 ^^ Exactly. I've heard that the hub in question is KVVU-TV itself, or at least the hub is ran out of the same building as KVVU. If that's the case, then regardless, Fox is essentially married to KVVU, as a Fox affiliate. But again, who knows... Actually, I thought the Fox O&O hub was at WTVT (which makes sense, since it was the origination place of the new look to begin with) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtmclaug 43 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Actually, I thought the Fox O&O hub was at WTVT (which makes sense, since it was the origination place of the new look to begin with) That's sort of true. FOX bases all the graphics for its O&O's at WTVT, but WTVT is not the hub for the O&O's. It's only the base for the graphics that are used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 753 Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 If this deal would go through with WUTB, I could see WLFL/WRDC and WTVZ potentially being sold to Fox, because of their former status as charter FOX affiliates, and potentially having more clout than their current affiliates in the market. Every other market would ba a trade-down for FOX, especially in Cincinnati and Las Vegas, where the FOX affiliates are well-established and have very strong ratings. The only way I could see this becoming viable is if Raycom and/or Meredith blow their affiliation deals like Nexstar did last year, and FOX taking matters into their own hands by default. I doubt FOX would want these stations with no intention of running FOX programming....let alone running their sister network MyNetworkTV. They certainly wouldn't want any part of running a CW affiliate...would they? Of course....if Sinclair gets their hands on WUTB, that would make another triopoly for them, since they own WBFF and manage WNUV (through Cunningham). With WLFL, they could re-start a news department. I think FOX could make it work. I do think that Fox buying the Raleigh duopoly of WLFL and WRDC and Norfolk's WTVZ would be a tradeup (particularly considering the current affiliates in those markets are in duopolies with Big Three stations rather than being a standalone station or in a duopoly with a smaller network affiliate), though it could be a toss-up as to whether they'd run WTVZ as a MyNetworkTV O&O or a Fox O&O. I don't see Fox buying the Las Vegas stations as I assume KVVU is a strong affiliate already for the network with a healthy local news presence; although if they did buy KVCW/KVMY, they could restart a news department for KVCW. If Fox bought WSTR, I could see them running in the same way they currently run WUTB as a non-duopoly MyNetworkTV station. Also, Fox has run a station affiliated with another network before, they bought WBRC/Birmingham (now owned by Raycom Media) and WGHP/Greensboro, North Carolina (now owned by Local TV, LLC) in September 1995 and ran them as ABC affiliates for nine months after the January 1996 close of sale due to both stations having existing affiliation agreements with ABC. If either WLFL or KVCW are bought, Fox could run them as CW affiliates until their affiliation agreements run out before turning them into Fox stations (although in WLFL's case, Fox would probably terminate that station's news share agreement with Raleigh's ABC O&O WTVD before FTS took over WLFL's operations). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp 297 Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Las Vegas (KVMY-KVCW, KVCW Will Become Fox and KVVU will become The CW , Cincinnati (MNT affiliate WSTR), and Norfolk (MNT affiliate WTVZ) Will Become MNT O&O I could also picture WNUV (Baltimore CW station) being sold to CBS, owner of Baltimore CBS station WJZ... WNUV getting a WJZ produced 10PM newscast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1811 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 If FOX is in a buying mood can they please buy back the stations they sold to Local TV, LLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw-804 190 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Here's more from B&C: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/484728-Exclusive_In_Wake_of_Fox_Sinclair_Pact_Fox_Stations_Fear_Affiliation_Switches.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnson 15 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 If FOX is in a buying mood can they please buy back the stations they sold to Local TV, LLC. Amen to that. Letting KTVI, WJW, and WITI get away from them was a mistake. LocalTV clearly has no idea what to do with them. I just find it odd, after just 6 years, FOX is suddenly in a buying mood? The really funny part is the stations Sinclair owns, only the one in Las Vegas would actually be a good pick up. The rest of them are in markets even lower than Milwaukee (35). In KTVI and WJW's case, they were top 25 markets. This one is a head-scratcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 743 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Amen to that. Letting KTVI, WJW, and WITI get away from them was a mistake. LocalTV clearly has no idea what to do with them. I just find it odd, after just 6 years, FOX is suddenly in a buying mood? The really funny part is the stations Sinclair owns, only the one in Las Vegas would actually be a good pick up. The rest of them are in markets even lower than Milwaukee (35). In KTVI and WJW's case, they were top 25 markets. This one is a head-scratcher. It is a head-scratcher in the way the affiliation deal went down. Out of the Sinclair stations Fox has an option to acquire, Raleigh/Durham and Las Vegas would make logical sense, but don't be surprised if Fox uses some of them as "bargaining chips" to acquire Fox affiliates from other companies in the form of trades (i.e., Meredith's KVVU could become a Fox O&O). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper550 268 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 It is a head-scratcher in the way the affiliation deal went down. Out of the Sinclair stations Fox has an option to acquire, Raleigh/Durham and Las Vegas would make logical sense, but don't be surprised if Fox uses some of them as "bargaining chips" to acquire Fox affiliates from other companies in the form of trades (i.e., Meredith's KVVU could become a Fox O&O). In the past, we have had Fox O&O's in some traditionally odd markets (but thenagain, most of these were side effects of the New World Communications merger, but still). How big is Las Vegas, ranking-wise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3471 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Could Fox be seeking stations to start their new MundoFox Network? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnson 15 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 If that's the case, wouldn't it make more sense to flip the existing MyNet stations to MundoFOX? That experiment has gone on too long. LV is market 40; so picking up a station Raleigh-Durham makes more sense (market 24). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jero23 105 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Amen to that. Letting KTVI, WJW, and WITI get away from them was a mistake. LocalTV clearly has no idea what to do with them. I just find it odd, after just 6 years, FOX is suddenly in a buying mood? The really funny part is the stations Sinclair owns, only the one in Las Vegas would actually be a good pick up. The rest of them are in markets even lower than Milwaukee (35). In KTVI and WJW's case, they were top 25 markets. This one is a head-scratcher. You guys forgot about WBRC, which was and still is a huge revenue maker as a FOX affiliate. Raycom has basically made it their 'pipeline' station for way-smaller marketed but flagship, WSFA. It's odd seeing WSFA having more bells and whistles than WBRC which is a market twice its size and larger revenue maker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 743 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 You guys forgot about WBRC, which was and still is a huge revenue maker as a FOX affiliate. Raycom has basically made it their 'pipeline' station for way-smaller marketed but flagship, WSFA. It's odd seeing WSFA having more bells and whistles than WBRC which is a market twice its size and larger revenue maker... Well, Raycom is based out of Montgomery, AL, so it figures they would treat WSFA better than their other two Alabama stations (the other being WAFF in Huntsville), despite being in a much smaller media market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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