Allbritton could be selling too.......

[sanewsguy 509]

 

We need to somehow bring Sinclair down. The FCC isn't doing anything, so now we need to do the job ourselves. What do you think we should do?

 

No we don't. We should do nothing, because this is America, and if Sinclair wants to own as many TV stations as they want, let them. If they declare bankruptcy, that's their problem. I am not an advertiser or employee of Sinclair so I have nothing to worry about. I am not the one paying their bills so I couldn't care less if they went bankrupt or not...

 

 

According to an article from an Arlington, VA-based site, NO ONE is happy there. Most at WJLA are absolutely disgusted. They're expecting massive cuts.

 

Not a surprise. And while I hate saying this, WJLA by far has the largest news staff in Washington. They are literally overstaffed. And they also pay Gordon Peterson and Maureen Bunyan a ton of money just to anchor a 30-minute newscast, duties which can easily be assumed by Leon & Alison.

WJLA currently employs about 240 part-time and full-time newsroom employees, according to station General Manager Bill Lord. That doesn’t include station advertising and business staff.

240? Wow, that's a lot of staff even for DC. They can cut about 60-80 of those positions and still manage to put out a decent product.

 

Also worth noting:

One thing not likely to change in the near future, says Jerry Fritz, Senior Vice President for Legal and Strategic Affairs at Allbritton Communications, is the station’s location in Rosslyn.

 

“We have a long-term lease here and we believe we’ll be staying here,” Fritz told ARLnow.com.

The only reason they are even in that nice building (actually the former HQ building for Gannett) is because the landlord at their previous location, the Intelsat building, couldn't commit to a long-term lease. Otherwise they would've stayed (they had only been in that building since 1988; they outgrew their previous location on Connecticut Ave NW which by the 80's had become the smallest TV facility in Washington). They are the only major DC station located outside of the district.

 

But don't say Allbritton didn't run their stations cheaply (yes, WJLA included, with their drab newsroom and outdated set from 2001). Who knows? Sinclair might invest since DC is uncharted territory for them and WJLA is going to become one of their prized possessions along with WBFF.

 

 

I still got my money on ABC/Disney buying WJLA, but worst case scenario, if Sinclair buys WJLA; Not only I'll boycott, but I'll see to it that I'll have the FCC investigate

Sinclair once and for all.

 

 

And I thought ABC/Disney was going to buy WJLA. Now I'm mad and I hope FCC denies Sinclair, period.

 

So, now are you going to follow through and file your complaint against Sinclair with the FCC?

 

 

Little Rock is a mess, but I wouldn't exactly wave the white flag on KATV. If there's one thing about Allbritton, they tended to do stuff on the cheap at their stations (Even the HD upgrades at most of its stations were done cheaply). In KATV's case, they'll manage, even under Sinclair ownership, which is still better than what happened with KLRT.

 

KATV is the top-rated station in Little Rock. They'll be just fine and I predicted KATV would go with Sinclair all along. And yes, as you said, Allbritton is very cheap with their stations. KATV was the last station in LR to go HD (yes, Nexstar beat them ). Their building is literally crumbling. Their set is old. The graphics are horrendous. KATV is cheap.

 

WJLA is the big loser in all of this. All the years in which they've operated like an ABC O&O, it's now likely to get thrown into the trash in favor of the conservative firebrand Sinclar is famous for. Dark days are ahead.

 

WSET and WCIV will manage somehow in those two markets despite not being top rated stations. It all depends on what Media General does with WSLS and WCBD respectively post-merger with Young Broadcasting.

Wow, you're making it sound bad that Sinclair is bad because they're conservative. I'm a conservative. I'm not necessarily offended but I'm just pointing out that connection. I don't agree with them spewing their opinions during local news (even though I wholeheartedly agree with most of those opinions). But would this discussion be different if Sinclair's opinions were liberal? Just sayin'...

 

And WSET has been making strides lately in the ratings. WCIV might be last place but there's potential there and at least Sinclair has someone who can assume the production of WTAT's news soon (WCSC has produced it for a long while; I'm sure they're happy they no longer have to produce a 10PM news for WTAT). Again, as I said earlier, Sinclair's imminent ownership of WSET and WCIV will have nothing to do with their ratings.

 

Another triopoly in the making if you're counting the WBMA/WJSU/WCFT cluster as one station (even with WTTO and WABM being transferred to Deerfield or Cunningham). Whatever losses happen at 33/40 will likely be the gain of WBRC and WIAT, unless Media General finally decides to give WVTM a needed shot in the arm.

 

 

I don't see too much of a shakeup happening at KTUL (even with KOTV being the dominant station in Tulsa), although KOKI (now owned by Cox) and KJRH could make possible gains at KTUL's expense ratings-wise.

 

 

Only a matter of time before talks of mass layoffs and consolidation happens for those two stations if the sale goes through. You think they're angry now, it'll likely get worse before the dust settles.

 

Again, your arguments about these stations' ratings and their correlation with Sinclair is BS. But one thing I will say, and I predict this will happen, is that Sinclair is going to pack some of their stations onto one frequency (mainly the CW/My affiliates) and then sell the excess bandwidth back to the FCC, which makes perfect sense and will allow them to own more stations if they so choose. I know they don't want to give up these stations because that will allow them to squeeze more money out of advertisers, so this option seems more viable for them if they want to go that route.

 

As far as mass layoffs are concerned, it's a business. It happens. And if anchors are complaining because their pay is going to get cut, well, can you really justify an anchorman making a quarter-of-a-million each year? If there are people willing to do the job for cheaper, let them. And I'm not talking about cheap, young blondes fresh out of school. I'm talking about experienced anchors. Look at KEYE: Ron Oliveira's contract wasn't renewed unfortunately, probably because he refused to take a pay cut, and his replacement clearly was, since he took the job. His replacement is Walt Maciborski, who has major market experience and worked at Indianapolis' top TV station before coming to KEYE. And he previously worked at KVUE to boot. So don't play the excuse that they'll just get someone younger to work there, but cheaper, sure. I don't know why some TV stations can even justify paying their anchors half-a-million a year to sit at a desk and read someone else's writing... Sinclair is actually smart for once. I don't care if you've been at a TV station for a long time, you still shouldn't make that much...

 

 

They can just build a skywalk to get from one station to the other.

 

Heh, now that Sinclair will own both WHP and WHTM, I could actually see this happening since those two are right across from each other. It makes more sense than moving into the same building.

 

endrant :rant:

[24994J 5280]

What he said ^^^

 

I'll be honest, and I don't want to sound like a jackass outsider, but I really don't even care about all the Sinclair crap, anymore. I was keeping up with the acquisitions and such until today. The reaction (no matter the opinion) is bordering on laughable (again, no offense) and it's getting old and repetitive. Are we all really shocked that things turned out this way? I didn't think so. It is what it is, and frankly, there is only one thing that can be done about it. CHANGE THE DAMN CHANNEL. Money doesn't just talk, it yells. Besides, and it's been repeated several times before, Sinclair will be responsible for it's own downfall...in whatever form, however long it takes.

 

Does all of this smell really bad? Yes, it's a damn shame.

Is it the end of the world? Far from it.

 

Call me when the world is ACTUALLY doomed.

[News 9 Viewer 100]

 

...Sinclair Broadcast Group Announces Agreement To Purchase Allbritton TV Stations-WSJ.com...

 

[Rusty Muck 4225]

I offer the following quote from DCRTV's Dave Hughes without any further comment.

 

 

Rant: Son Trashes Dad's TV Legacy - 8/1 - Robert Allbritton's deal with Sinclair is good for him financially and as future funding for Politico, but he's really screwed the entire staff of Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8. Does he not realize that? Those loyal workers are probably going to get budget cut, pink-slipped, or be forced to be propagandists by the overlords at far-right-leaning Sinclair. Can you imagine Gordon Peterson, a leading DC TV news anchor and journalist for four decades, anchoring a pre-election "news" special slamming a Democratic Party candidate running for public office, as Sinclair has aired on its other stations over the years? In my view, Robert has completely and utterly trashed the legacy of WJLA, which his dad, Joe, built over 30 years. Sleep well, Robert, as you watch the many dozens of folks, including countless top journalists who've worked for you all these years at your TV stations, as they are humilated and degraded after Sinclair, a heavily indebted firm backed by billions in credit, transforms WJLA and NC8 into an efficient engine that attracts political ad dollars and attempts to manipulate according to the new owner's political views. Maybe it's best that Sinclair removes the WJLA call letters, which stand for Joe L. Allbritton, from DC's Channel 7. Out of respect for what once was.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

I offer the following quote from DCRTV's Dave Hughes without any further comment.

 

Well said.

 

If anything, Allbritton should've sold all of his stations minus WJLA and teamed that up with Politico. Because I still can't figure out how maintaining Politico is more profitable than operating a TV station in the nation's 9th largest market (and in a political battleground region).

 

I will definitely be watching WJLA a lot less and WRC and even WUSA and WTTG a lot more now for my DC news once Sinclair gets their hands on it because they've made it clear that their intentions is for WJLA and NC8 to embrace the Sinclair philosophy so to speak.

 

And I will definitely follow WJLA less when Sinclair moves WJLA's website from it's current easy to use format to the Sinclair format that is confusing as hell and never seems to work half the time.

 

I think this cable news idea is going to be a disaster and may be the thing that sends Sinclair over the financial cliff.

 

I've also said that Sinclair is going to have an incredibly difficult time getting all these stations they've acquired to integrate and abide by Sinclair's philosophy. They've made it pretty clear that they can't even switch apps and websites without it turning into a disaster (WKRC and WOAI), I think they're in over their head. I feel bad for all the stations that are caught in the middle of it.

[Rusty Muck 4225]

And I will definitely follow WJLA less when Sinclair moves WJLA's website from it's current easy to use format to the Sinclair format that is confusing as hell and never seems to work half the time.

 

[...]

 

They've made it pretty clear that they can't even switch apps and websites without it turning into a disaster (WKRC and WOAI), I think they're in over their head. I feel bad for all the stations that are caught in the middle of it.

Sinclair could revive Allbritton's TBD.com disaster, which was so poorly received that WJLA's previous website had to be revived. And that would actually be an improvement over anything they've done website-wise up to this point.

[GoldenShine9 1509]

 

I offer the following quote from DCRTV's Dave Hughes without any further comment.

 

If that is the case, maybe the anchors and others there who don't agree with Sinclair's views would be happy to find work in smaller markets for lower pay if the other DC stations aren't hiring at the time (or not enough)? Downgrades from top 10 markets to mid-large markets (say, 26-50) aren't that common.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

Sinclair could revive Allbritton's TBD.com disaster, which was so poorly received that WJLA's previous website had to be revived. And that would actually be an improvement over anything they've done website-wise up to this point.

 

Ha very true.

 

I really did try to give the Sinclair template another shot last night. I tried to watch a video and just my luck the video wouldn't load at all. I come to find out that all the Sinclair websites had issues playing video last night.

 

You're right. TBD would be a step up from the steaming pile of garbage that Sinclair will turn WJLA.com into.

 

 

 

If that is the case, maybe the anchors and others there who don't agree with Sinclair's views would be happy to find work in smaller markets for lower pay if the other DC stations aren't hiring at the time (or not enough)? Downgrades from top 10 markets to mid-large markets (say, 26-50) aren't that common.

 

 

I don't think that is going to be an issue. WJLA has quite a large staff and it is 100% certain that people are going to be let go.

[Rusty Muck 4225]

If that is the case, maybe the anchors and others there who don't agree with Sinclair's views would be happy to find work in smaller markets for lower pay if the other DC stations aren't hiring at the time (or not enough)? Downgrades from top 10 markets to mid-large markets (say, 26-50) aren't that common.

I don't agree in the least with DCRTV Dave's personal viewpoints. But he grew up in the DC area and is a big-time historian of radio and TV in the area (just look at his website), so his view on the matter should count for something.

 

I just can't wait to see the FCC greenlight this merger with a rubber stamp, while at the same time docketing Gannett/Belo, Tribune/LocalTV and Media General/Young to death. Good to know that the FCC wants to show they care... unless they don't.

[Samantha 2878]

 

WJLA has quite a large staff and it is 100% certain that people are going to be let go.

 

Even KTVK underwent cuts when Belo bought them. In 1999, Belo liked to have 165 employees at their stations. KTVK had 310, 120 of them in news. It's market adjustment/correction, as much as it hurts.

[mre29 1343]

I just can't wait to see the FCC greenlight this merger with a rubber stamp, while at the same time docketing Gannett/Belo, Tribune/LocalTV and Media General/Young to death. Good to know that the FCC wants to show they care... unless they don't.

That reminds me: Has anyone who lives in Washington (the state) contacted Senator Cantwell to see if she's going to say anything about Sinclair buying Fisher? If she's going to complain about Gannett buying Belo, she should be saying the same things about Sinclair buying Fisher.

[montydavis 7]

Well, since Sinclair is getting the Allbritton stations, do you think that they will convert to the Sinclair news sets and graphics. The ones they have now are absolutely horrible!!!!

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

Well, since Sinclair is getting the Allbritton stations, do you think that they will convert to the Sinclair news sets and graphics. The ones they have now are absolutely horrible!!!!

 

Eventually. But considering how slow they are to integrate the Newport stations in addition to the other set of station groups they just bought, It will probably be quite a while before they actually do any overhauls with the Allbritton stations. I hope it's later than sooner though, even though the current Allbritton ones look cheap, going to the Sinclair package would be a downgrade IMO.

 

Plus the fixation Sinclair has with making NewsChannel 8 a national cable news stations means that their priorities are all over the place right now.

 

(Still thinks Sinclair is way over their head with all of these purchases)

[TennTV1983 756]

 

Well, since Sinclair is getting the Allbritton stations, do you think that they will convert to the Sinclair news sets and graphics. The ones they have now are absolutely horrible!!!!

 

In the case of the Allbritton stations, going Devlin in terms of set design would be a definite upgrade over the cheapness of their current ones, so maybe that'll happen somewhere down the road. Graphics-wise, with all these acquisitions Sinclair has made, I would hope they would at least take the time to develop a new standardized package. The current ones have been in use for almost 6-7 years with some occasional updates in between (the lower 3rds have been in use the longest in that time span).

[Samantha 2878]

 

In the case of the Allbritton stations, going Devlin in terms of set design would be a definite upgrade over the cheapness of their current ones, so maybe that'll happen somewhere down the road. Graphics-wise, with all these acquisitions Sinclair has made, I would hope they would at least take the time to develop a new standardized package. The current ones have been in use for almost 6-7 years with some occasional updates in between (the lower 3rds have been in use the longest in that time span).

 

That challenge is going to be harder for SBG as they will probably need to make it compatible with multiple systems.

[DirtyHarry 719]

Eventually. But considering how slow they are to integrate the Newport stations in addition to the other set of station groups they just bought, It will probably be quite a while before they actually do any overhauls with the Allbritton stations. I hope it's later than sooner though, even though the current Allbritton ones look cheap, going to the Sinclair package would be a downgrade IMO.

 

Plus the fixation Sinclair has with making NewsChannel 8 a national cable news stations means that their priorities are all over the place right now.

 

(Still thinks Sinclair is way over their head with all of these purchases)

1. There is a method to Sinclair's madness. The reason the graphics are generic and standardized is so that anybody can use content created from anywhere within Sinclair on another station. all you have to do is pop in the station logo. Everything else is there. Although I agree that there news Chyrons could stand improvement, when you consider that they are generic for a reason it's not such a bad concept. Also the rest of the graphics are just fine. Sinclair also have a great ear when it comes to news music, if you ask me.

 

2. How can Sinclair afford to buy all the stations? The answer is easy. as the economy recovers, revenue can only go up. So they are covered on the upside. On the downside they are experienced at duopolizing everything and cutting costs. Their operation in Harrisburg is going to turn out to be a gold mine for them if history serves as any predictor of the future.

 

3. Remember their history. They took three broken down independent television stations and turned them into an empire. They know what they're doing. And their merger with River City gave them plenty of experience at running real television stations. They'll make it work they have a good track record.

[DirtyHarry 719]

Eventually. But considering how slow they are to integrate the Newport stations in addition to the other set of station groups they just bought, It will probably be quite a while before they actually do any overhauls with the Allbritton stations. I hope it's later than sooner though, even though the current Allbritton ones look cheap, going to the Sinclair package would be a downgrade IMO.

 

Plus the fixation Sinclair has with making NewsChannel 8 a national cable news stations means that their priorities are all over the place right now.

 

(Still thinks Sinclair is way over their head with all of these purchases)

1. There is a method to Sinclair's madness. The reason the graphics are generic and standardized is so that anybody can use content created from anywhere within Sinclair on another station. all you have to do is pop in the station logo. Everything else is there. Although I agree that their news Chyrons could stand improvement, when you consider that they are generic for a reason it's not such a bad concept. Also the rest of the graphics are just fine. Sinclair also has a great ear when it comes to news music, if you ask me.

 

2. How can Sinclair afford to buy all the stations? The answer is easy. as the economy recovers, revenue can only go up. So they are covered on the upside. On the downside they are experienced at duopolizing everything and cutting costs. Their operation in Harrisburg is going to turn out to be a gold mine for them if history serves as any predictor of the future.

 

3. Remember their history. They took three broken down independent television stations and turned them into an empire. They know what they're doing. And their merger with River City gave them plenty of experience at running real television stations. They'll make it work - they have a good track record.

[sanewsguy 509]

 

Well, since Sinclair is getting the Allbritton stations, do you think that they will convert to the Sinclair news sets and graphics. The ones they have now are absolutely horrible!!!!

 

Most of these stations just got new graphics/sets. Why the need to switch? The only reason WTVC switched was because these were the only HD graphics corporate would let them take. But they kept Bill Ratner's VO and Freedom as their news theme, which tells you they really didn't want to change graphics but didn't have a choice. I think Sinclair would work on a group package in the near future to unite all of their recent acquisitions with one look. And how would they address markets like Mobile and S.A. with two Sinclair news operations? WPMI has an impressive Hothaus pack they just got last year so I can't see them switching anytime soon (although Sinclair screwed their weather graphics over by removing the "Weather Authority" reference). OTOH, WOAI's package is nearly four years old. They've refreshed it a little in-house (they didn't do a good job BTW) but I think it's time WOAI gets something fresh.

 

Sinclair definitely has the money to get Hothaus graphics if they wanted, but I can't see them spending that kind of money. KUTV also seems to be producing some of the graphical work for Sinclair lately (like the "Road Trippin'" and "No Text Zone" graphics) in addition to the corporate team in Cockeysville.

 

And yes, technically the package is 6 years old (I remember it debuting on KABB in early 2007), but it premiered in stages. The bumpers came first, then full screens, then talent open, then lower thirds (which were updated again in late 2007/early 2008), then finally the open. And this package is just a refresh of the News Central package that debuted in 2003 (athough KABB didn't start using it until 2006, only using it for a year), so it's really a ten year old package. KABB was the first Sinclair station to get the updated pack in 2011 for HD followed by WZTV. Then it spread to the rest.

 

 

That challenge is going to be harder for SBG as they will probably need to make it compatible with multiple systems.

 

Correct. SBG uses Chyron systems. I know for a fact the Newport stations used VizRT. That's probably what's been the hold up. I can also see them getting new music soon...

 

 

1. There is a method to Sinclair's madness. The reason the graphics are generic and standardized is so that anybody can use content created from anywhere within Sinclair on another station. all you have to do is pop in the station logo. Everything else is there. Although I agree that their news Chyrons could stand improvement, when you consider that they are generic for a reason it's not such a bad concept. Also the rest of the graphics are just fine. Sinclair also has a great ear when it comes to news music, if you ask me.

 

2. How can Sinclair afford to buy all the stations? The answer is easy. as the economy recovers, revenue can only go up. So they are covered on the upside. On the downside they are experienced at duopolizing everything and cutting costs. Their operation in Harrisburg is going to turn out to be a gold mine for them if history serves as any predictor of the future.

 

3. Remember their history. They took three broken down independent television stations and turned them into an empire. They know what they're doing. And their merger with River City gave them plenty of experience at running real television stations. They'll make it work - they have a good track record.

 

1 makes sense, but look at Scripps, NBC, other station groups. They are able to take something generic, and allow their stations to have enough flexibility with their looks to allow the stations to customize what they're given. I don't see that with Sinclair though.

 

2-Hasn't Sinclair's revenue decreased lately, largely because of the amount of stations they have acquired lately?

 

3-Agreed.

[mike91 66]

The thing about the economy improving would be that interest rates would go up and with Sinclair having a huge amount of debt, this would be terrible for them, IMO. So no, I don't think that the economy improving would mean higher revenue for them.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

The thing about the economy improving would be that interest rates would go up and with Sinclair having a huge amount of debt, this would be terrible for them, IMO. So no, I don't think that the economy improving would mean higher revenue for them.

 

I think Sinclair is betting that the money it makes in retransmission agreements and overall revenues will pay off the debt it has acquired in purchasing all of these stations.

 

In my opinion it's quite a gamble. Even though Sinclair has been successful in the past, when companies expand quickly like Sinclair has lately, it comes back to bite them and bite them hard.

[DirtyHarry 719]

 

1 makes sense, but look at Scripps, NBC, other station groups. They are able to take something generic, and allow their stations to have enough flexibility with their looks to allow the stations to customize what they're given. I don't see that with Sinclair though.

 

2-Hasn't Sinclair's revenue decreased lately, largely because of the amount of stations they have acquired lately?

 

3-Agreed.

 

1. Curious whether news video contains embedded information that can be picked up by a Chyron. If that's the case, then it makes sense that standardized graphics shouldn't matter, at least when it comes to broadcast of out-of-market video. I don't know if that's the way it's done, but given that this kind of information is embedded in an mp3, it wouldn't surprise me if they do the same thing for broadcast. Now as to the web, I think it's a different story. I saw a video on one of the Sinclair websites (Dayton, I think) using their boring Chyron without the bug. However, I think it was a WSYX Video they were showing. Could that be why they standardize? So that web content can look like it came from the local operation?

 

Another aside, when I was in Destin a couple of years ago, I got a big kick out of watching the WEAR News. I thought it was cool that they had the same graphics and set as WSYX. Even though I don't watch WSYX regularly, it was like I was still home.

 

2. One thing I hadn't thought of was whether or not they will be able to keep some of the high-performing stations doing as well as they have been. It's one thing to buy WHP, which seems to be kind of a laggard from what they say, or even a successful station in a market like Mobile. That's the kind of station where you can slash and burn and it probably won't matter. It's another thing to buy a WKRC, WJLA, or a KOMO, I would think. You can't mess with stations that are at the top too much ... that might have to be something they haven't had to do in the past and are going to have to learn.

 

I don't think they'll mess with WJLA too much. It's their home market (or close enough) and I think they already see the synergies from the standpoint of being the foundation of a national news operation.

 

Here would be my idea of what they should do: Between, MeTV, Bounce, Antenna TV and This TV, cutting the cord is becoming a compelling prospect unless you're a real sports nut. One thing that keeps me from cutting the cord would be a digital subchannel devoted to news. If Sinclair can turn NewsChannel 8 into a digital subchannel and offer OTA News for free, my reasons for staying with Time Warner become less and less compelling.

[sanewsguy 509]

 

2. One thing I hadn't thought of was whether or not they will be able to keep some of the high-performing stations doing as well as they have been. It's one thing to buy WHP, which seems to be kind of a laggard from what they say, or even a successful station in a market like Mobile. That's the kind of station where you can slash and burn and it probably won't matter. It's another thing to buy a WKRC, WJLA, or a KOMO, I would think. You can't mess with stations that are at the top too much ... that might have to be something they haven't had to do in the past and are going to have to learn.

 

I don't think they'll mess with WJLA too much. It's their home market (or close enough) and I think they already see the synergies from the standpoint of being the foundation of a national news operation.

 

They haven't really done anything with WKRC aside from airing the corporate-mandated stuff. I think there will be minimal change with KOMO. WJLA on the other hand, will have layoffs since they are overstaffed.

 

I also see them selling off the radio stations. I don't think Sinclair's really interested in them.

[GoldenShine9 1509]

 

They haven't really done anything with WKRC aside from airing the corporate-mandated stuff. I think there will be minimal change with KOMO. WJLA on the other hand, will have layoffs since they are overstaffed.

 

I also see them selling off the radio stations. I don't think Sinclair's really interested in them.

 

I agree re: the radio stations, surely someone else will pick them up.

[DirtyHarry 719]

 

They haven't really done anything with WKRC aside from airing the corporate-mandated stuff. I think there will be minimal change with KOMO. WJLA on the other hand, will have layoffs since they are overstaffed.

 

I also see them selling off the radio stations. I don't think Sinclair's really interested in them.

 

Of course they will be able to cut staff, but since a previous post said that WJLA is overstaffed compared to other DC stations, I don't see the operation suffering much. Since Sinclair is the master of ____-opolies, I also wonder if Baltimore and DC are close enough where they figured they can have those same kinds of synergies and would be able to squeeze more profit out of WJLA than Albritton could. It seems that you could outsource a lot of stuff to Baltimore and just leave sales and the news operation in place. Maybe they can move one of their three Baltimore frequencies over to DC.

 

Sinclair's former name, or at least the name of WTTE's original licensee, was "Commercial Radio Institute, Inc.". I'm guessing that meant they owned radio stations at some point? Yes, they will dump the radio stations. Didn't River City, or one of the other companies they bought, have radio stations that were sold?

 

I still like the idea of NewsChannel 8 rebranded as a national news digital subchannel. I could see it being like News Central, except with local cut ins and being far more relevant using WJLA's resources. I would model it on a hybrid of Fox News and Sports Time Ohio, which both have interesting talk in the evening.

 

===========

 

Check this out: WTTE Sign On from 1984 with the "Commercial Radio Institute, Inc." is mentioned as licensee:

 

[sanewsguy 509]

Yes, Sinclair owned radio stations at one point but they divested (gasp!) them to Entercom in 1999.