broadcastfan9751 136 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017463984 Free Press and another interest group have filed a petition to deny, mainly because of the Dreamcatcher shell, but also because it goes over the 39% cap. Statement From Tribune (via TVNewsCheck): "The transactions have been structured in compliance with FCC rules and precedent. We are reviewing the Free Press filing and will respond in due course." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I don't see any obvious major problems with the deal. Allentown isn't even in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre market, so that shouldn't even be considered. WNEP should be allowed to be sold to Tribune proper. There is some issue in the Hampton Roads area, but there are many other cases of newspapers and stations running shared operations. If they could apply for a waiver, they should be OK in that sense. Plus, I thought Tribune's papers were for sale anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017463984 Free Press and another interest group have filed a petition to deny, mainly because of the Dreamcatcher shell, but also because it goes over the 39% cap. And now they plan to do the same with the Sinnclair/Allbritton deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I don't see any obvious major problems with the deal. Allentown isn't even in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre market, so that shouldn't even be considered. WNEP should be allowed to be sold to Tribune proper. There is some issue in the Hampton Roads area, but there are many other cases of newspapers and stations running shared operations. If they could apply for a waiver, they should be OK in that sense. Plus, I thought Tribune's papers were for sale anyway? WNEP has a translator in Allentown. Not sure why, but I think that's the reason why they're being treated as if its in the same market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4225 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 There is another reason why Tribune is spinning off their newspaper division. The question I have is whether or not the newspaper division has to be sold outright in order for the 1970 waiver (that allowed Tribune to keep WGN-AM but forced them to donate WFMT outright) to be redacted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Not surprising to anyone, Tribune, Dreamcatcher & Local TV have posted last week their oppositions to the petitions of deny, filed by Free Press & Put People First. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 With the Media General-Young deal completed, this should be the next of the big ones to be approved - at least I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 With the Media General-Young deal completed, this should be the next of the big ones to be approved - at least I would think. Given that the only petition of Deny is from Free Press, and that the FTC granted early termination, early on, it's just a matter of time before the FCC state their decision of the deal. Now should this deal gets approved as it. They probably want to hurry up and spin-off those papers and refile those WTKR/WGNT & WNEP apps to Tribune proper before FCC issues a Report & Order, ending that UHF discount. I have no doubt that this deal would be next to get the greenlight, without too much scrutiny. It's a point of when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 B&C states that the FCC could be greenlighting the Tribune-Local TV deal, as early as tomorrow. I stated that this was the likely deal that would likely go through the end of the year. I didn't think that the Gannett/Belo deal could also see the greenlight at the same time. So should both deals get the greenlight tomorrow, I would not be shocked if they could consummate their respective deals before the clock strikes midnight of the new year. Wouldn't it be a sight to behold. Somewhere, the Bozos of Baltimore are pissed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Somewhere, the Bozos of Baltimore are pissed. That may be the understatement of the century. The Local TV LLC stations probably are the most annoying ones to them - they probably expected them to be theirs before Tribune either outbid them or Local TV turned down their offer! And now they are likely being held up, possibly for months, while at least one rumor earlier said that Allbritton might walk away from Sinclair altogether? It's going to get nasty! For this deal, I figured it would be soon, but surprised Gannett-Belo came down ahead of them, or at least parallel with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 760 Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 B&C states that the FCC could be greenlighting the Tribune-Local TV deal, as early as tomorrow. I stated that this was the likely deal that would likely go through the end of the year. I didn't think that the Gannett/Belo deal could also see the greenlight at the same time. So should both deals get the greenlight tomorrow, I would not be shocked if they could consummate their respective deals before the clock strikes midnight of the new year. Wouldn't it be a sight to behold. Somewhere, the Bozos of Baltimore are pissed. That may be the understatement of the century. The Local TV LLC stations probably are the most annoying ones to them - they probably expected them to be theirs before Tribune either outbid them or Local TV turned down their offer! And now they are likely being held up, possibly for months, while at least one rumor earlier said that Allbritton might walk away from Sinclair altogether? It's going to get nasty! For this deal, I figured it would be soon, but surprised Gannett-Belo came down ahead of them, or at least parallel with them. Sinclair might have wanted Local TV, but Tribune wasn't just going to let the company slip through their fingers. They had a management agreement going for about five years before the purchase. As alluded to in earlier posts on this thread, whenever the Local TV station decided to go up for sale, Tribune was going to be the first to jump at the chance of acquiring them. With Sinclair embroiled in the ownership conflicts with Allbritton, it would have faced the same (or similar) scrutiny had it bought Local TV, considering the overlap in certain markets like Milwaukee, the Piedmont Triad and Oklahoma City. There are ownership conflicts with this deal, too, but it's moot as Tribune will soon spin off its newspapers in the markets where it had to turn stations over to Dreamcatcher anyway. Tribune is not anything like Sinclair, other than the LMAs it had with KWGN and KDVR, most of its duoplies are legal on the licenses. Considering that the deal does put them just over the market reach limit for station groups, would it be impossible for Tribune to acquire WTKR, WGNT and WNEP from Dreamcatcher outright once the papers are spun off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1812 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Are we just making wild assumptions that Sinclair had an active interest in buying these properties, or... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 BREAKING NEWS!!! As of minutes past 1pm/EST: The FCC has greenlighted the Tribune/Local TV LLC deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRob 920 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 It should not take long to complete. We signed up for insurance through Tribune benefits last month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techie893 0 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Here is a nice pdf of a map showing all of Tribune's stations post-acquisition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1367 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 It's Official! http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/fcc-oks-tribunes-2-735-billion-buy-of-local-tv_b111609 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRob 920 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Our GM expects the sale to close on December 27th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1562 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Our GM expects the sale to close on December 27th. Am I the only one expecting cuts in market duopolies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Am I the only one expecting cuts in market duopolies? I doubt there would be in St. Louis or Denver, considering that the Local TV/Tribune stations have been working hand in hand for quite a few years now to the point that they're already the same operation, this deal just makes it all official. They already made the cuts they had to in those markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1562 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I doubt there would be in St. Louis or Denver, considering that the Local TV/Tribune stations have been working hand in hand for quite a few years now to the point that they're already the same operation, this deal just makes it all official. They already made the cuts they had to in those markets. I don't think so. He's what I think should happen: Bump the 10 pm from KDVR to KWGN. (Fox stations have always had the "1 hour earlier branding" and they need to focus on that again.) Launch an afternoon newscast at 1pm on KDVR. Keep the KWGN 7pm newscast and rebrand it as "Primetime News" or similar. Kill the KWGN morning block and replace with Eye Opener. Promo as the combined power of two newsrooms working twice as hard to get the story. Continue with branding "Your Questions | Answered." It may be worth investing in a graphics package that can be use for both stations (used for possibly KTVI | KPLR too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Promo as the combined power of two newsrooms working twice as hard to get the story. Continue with branding "Your Questions | Answered." It may be worth investing in a graphics package that can be use for both stations (used for possibly KTVI | KPLR too). Coincidentally KTVI/KPLR have been using this branding strategy ever since the two merged into one. And they use it quite a bit because anytime I see an ad for these two stations, it has that slogan with it. It's also on all of their news vehicles. I'm surprised KWGN/KDVR doesn't do the same thing since they already cross-promote one another (I remember seeing promos for Fox programming and KDVR news on KWGN and vice versa). I also agree that running both Daybreak and Good Day Colorado are redundant. I wonder what the reasoning is behind keeping both programs running even though they compete against one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 That's one nice graphic! The bold black-white color scheme is striking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Block 1489 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Coincidentally KTVI/KPLR have been using this branding strategy ever since the two merged into one. And they use it quite a bit because anytime I see an ad for these two stations, it has that slogan with it. It's also on all of their news vehicles. I'm surprised KWGN/KDVR doesn't do the same thing since they already cross-promote one another (I remember seeing promos for Fox programming and KDVR news on KWGN and vice versa). I also agree that running both Daybreak and Good Day Colorado are redundant. I wonder what the reasoning is behind keeping both programs running even though they compete against one another. Initially, I think it was to prove that both stations would still have separate operations to some degree, even though their two studios were about 50 feet from each other. The KWGN morning news was actually better performing than KDVR's and had a more stable morning team, though I'm not exactly sure how much of that is still true. I think only Tom Green and Chris Parente are some of the original KWGN morning talent left. It's maddening to switch between the two in the morning, but seeing that both broadcasts bring in audiences, I suppose they don't need much more rationale to keep them going. As for this merger bringing any more cuts to KWGN/KDVR, I don't think so. They've been a combined operation for five years now, and I don't really see how they could cut costs anymore than they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1562 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Initially, I think it was to prove that both stations would still have separate operations to some degree, even though their two studios were about 50 feet from each other. The KWGN morning news was actually better performing than KDVR's and had a more stable morning team, though I'm not exactly sure how much of that is still true. I think only Tom Green and Chris Parente are some of the original KWGN morning talent left. It's maddening to switch between the two in the morning, but seeing that both broadcasts bring in audiences, I suppose they don't need much more rationale to keep them going. As for this merger bringing any more cuts to KWGN/KDVR, I don't think so. They've been a combined operation for five years now, and I don't really see how they could cut costs anymore than they did. How? Killing the KWGN news and presenting the Tribune syndi out of KDAF, Eye Opener. That's how. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 How? Killing the KWGN news and presenting the Tribune syndi out of KDAF, Eye Opener. That's how. Why? The Tribune stations that are showing Eye Opener or News Fix have little to no news staff. Why would KWGN need to do this when they already share content/talent with KDVR? They could always re-evaluate the situation to see if it's worth keeping KWGN's AM newscast but there's a reason why it's still there. I don't get why you're so insistent on Tribune getting rid of the am newscast on KWGN, which would lead to more people getting laid off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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