GoldenShine9 1509 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I wonder how SBG would react if they get beaten completely, whether by someone who has been active so far (like Tribune again) or someone jumping in for the first time (like Hearst)... It definitely appears they bid for Local TV but were either outbid, or maybe they had the highest monetary bid but were not chosen on other grounds (i.e. existing relationship with Tribune/Local TV)...in that case perhaps Sinclair could outbid Disney for WJLA but lose out on relationship, since Allbritton and Disney seemed to have a strong relationship and their stations were behaving like O&O's all along. Any chance Disney could take them whole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 The following is a quote from WJLA's ABC affiliation contract posted at stations.fcc.gov: This Affiliation Agreement with ABC cannot be assigned or transferred without timely written notice to ABC as provided below and (except for pro-forma assignments or transfers of control that require "short form" FCC approval on FCC Form 316) without the consent of ABC, which consent may be withheld only in the following three circumstances: a. if the assignee or transferee controls or is controlled by or is under common control with an entity that distributes ten (10) or more hours of Primetime television Programming per week to at least twenty-five (25) affiliated television licensees in ten (10) or more states; b. if the assignee or transferee is not reasonably qualified to own and operate the station; or c. on the basis of reasonable business concerns that arise from prior commercial dealings of ABC with the assignee or transferee; provided, however, ABC shall not unreasonably withhold its consent to an assignment or transfer in the case of b. or c. So, yes, ABC does have to approve any buyer for WJLA, but there are only three ways they can object to a sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glimmer 238 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Any chance Disney could take them whole? I could see them also acquiring ABC 33/40, but that's about it. I also wouldn't be surprised if Journal bought the remaining stations; I think with the acquisition of WTVF they might be amiable to having more southern stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I just hope and pray ABC/Disney buys WJLA; however, the one question remains is what's going to happen to NewsChannel 8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronQ 259 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I just hope and pray ABC/Disney buys WJLA; however, the one question remains is what's going to happen to NewsChannel 8? Probably Comcast is going buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Probably Comcast is going buy it. I knew you were going to say that, and I can picture it: Washington's NBC 4 and NewsChannel 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Someone raised Hubbard, which owns WTOP radio (the top-billing station in the nation). Hubbard would be interesting. They've already expanded in radio this year; just this week they announced they were buying Sandusky's radio unit, with clusters in Seattle and Phoenix, in the biggest radio transaction of 2013—that's $85.5 million worth of radio stations. If Hubbard bought WJLA, WTOP-TV (I'd think they'd want those calls on their TV station) would be an interesting outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I just hope and pray ABC/Disney buys WJLA; however, the one question remains is what's going to happen to NewsChannel 8? I'd be happy if Hubbard bought them as well. Considering the close partnership WJLA already has with WTOP, bringing both stations under the same umbrella would work out pretty well I would think. That said, I'm not sure if WJLA is priced too high for Hubbard to consider buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1340 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Sinclair has stations in Birmingham and Harrisburg (also in Charleston, SC; TVNewsCheck overlooked that apparently) and Nexstar has stations in Harrisburg and Little Rock. LIN has a station in Birmingham, as does Raycom. Scripps has an overlap in Tulsa. Tribune, which recently came out swinging with its $2.73 billion Local TV/FoxCo acquisition, has a station in Harrisburg. You missed Hearst, which has overlap in Lancaster/Harrisburg courtesy of WGAL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4168 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Someone raised Hubbard, which owns WTOP radio (the top-billing station in the nation). Hubbard would be interesting. They've already expanded in radio this year; just this week they announced they were buying Sandusky's radio unit, with clusters in Seattle and Phoenix, in the biggest radio transaction of 2013—that's $85.5 million worth of radio stations. If Hubbard bought WJLA, WTOP-TV (I'd think they'd want those calls on their TV station) would be an interesting outlet. It would be fascinating to see WJLA anchor Gordon Peterson associated with the WTOP-TV calls again (he started his career at WUSA's antecedent, WTOP-TV/9, in the early 70s). WTOP is so much of a revenue giant that Hubbard could realistically afford it. And NC8 would be a fine complement and brand extension for both WTOP and government-news driven WFED/1500 "Federal News Radio." TV is the only weakness in WTOP's brand dominance in Washington media, as they are a veritable power in both radio (often going head-to-head with NPR outlet WAMU-FM for #1 in the DC PPMs) and the Internet. So yes, Hubbard is easily a dark horse candidate to buy WJLA, assuming that ABC is the prohibitive favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4168 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I doubt Nexstar is even in play, too expensive for them. Would Gannett be screaming at the hypothetical Little Rock quintopoly, or would they be happy (considering what has been seen as a huge news downgrade for all their stations in the quadropoly, they could easily take the #1 spot in the market back)? How could they even fit that 5th station with shells? Maybe Disney had WJLA in the bag all along and the other bids are for nothing, with Allbritton simply handing it to them as a formality even if not the highest bidder? That definitely is a possibility. Sinclair is probably favorite for the rest, with Scripps second in line and LIN Media third in line IMO. I don't know if Raycom will get into the mix, although it does fit their portfolio decently. Hearst and Tribune IMO were more likely to get into the mix if they included WJLA, and with Disney likely to get it, it seems less likely. I'd be shocked if Meredith gets it, since I see them for sale soon personally and that would be a sign they are buying too. Tribune might still be interested in the rest of the stations, especially if they want to diversify their "Big 3" affiliation base beyond the legacy NYT station group. The only market they will have overlap in would be Harrisburg, and that's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 You missed Hearst, which has overlap in Lancaster/Harrisburg courtesy of WGAL. How would Hearst manage that? They have no shell duopolies, so a new company would begin if they kept both. Same with Scripps and KTUL, new company or sell one of them. Also Tribune is only conflicting in the Susquehanna Valley market as well (a WDCA-WJLA duopoly is possible and legal since WDCA is not a top-4 station; should Tribune take hold of WJLA as well) so Dreamcatcher takes WHTM in that scenario? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Tribune owns WDCW, not WDCA (which is the duopoly partner of Fox's WTTG). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp 297 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I think that Disney/ABC will buy WJLA and NewsChannel 8 and WJLA will be a O&O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4168 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I think that Disney/ABC will buy WJLA and NewsChannel 8 and WJLA will be a O&O But Disney doesn't own any cable news channels. In fact, buying NC8 would be ABC's first entry in the cable news business* since their "Satellite News Channel" joint-venture with Group W collapsed in 1983. If ABC buys WJLA, that means NC8 will be sold separately. And who knows, Tribune and Hubbard could be very interested in vying for NC8... not just Comcast. Why? Well, Hubbard can still use NC8 as a brand extension of WTOP and Federal News 1500 - even to the point of relocating NC8 to WTOP's "glass-enclosed nerve center." And Tribune may want to make the investment in rebuilding NC8 as a separate entity from WJLA, as a Beltway version of CLTV... and with the ultimate intent of helping establish a news department for WDCW. * I don't count the "ABC News Now" specialty digital cable channel with very limited nationwide delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 If NC8 were to go seperately from WJLA, the new owner would have to make considerable investments, mainly in the talent department, since WJLA and NC8 share quite a bit. I could see NC8 folding to be quite honest. I can't see it sustaining under any other owner. Tribune would make sense if they had a news producing station in the region which they don't. Let Hubbard stick to the radio stations. I doubt their interested. The only match that remotely makes sense is WRC/NC8. In that case, I see only the channel space going, and not the brand or anything else, since WJLA/NC8 are tightly integrated (WRC puts out a far better product anyways. I don't know why they would want to be associated with a "lesser" news station, even through 8...). My dark-house candidate for WJLA if ABC didn't get it for whatever reason would be Post-Newsweek since, well, we know what they own there. I'm sure they would LOVE to have a station on their home turf again. I don't really see Hubbard being interested in TV anymore outside of the stations they already own. Sinclair for 7 would also shock the hell out of me and I hope and pray they don't get WJLA... There will be one group that won't be bidding for channel 7 however: Young Just sayin'. Also as a side note, expect WJLA to get a 4:00 newscast (pushing "Katie" up an hour) if ABC and the House of Mouse get their hands on ABC7 (they air "Anderson Live" at 3PM currently but that show is getting cancelled anyway so a 4PM newscast would work perfectly). I could also see the noon news going one hour and some cosmetic changes (new set, graphics, website, Charlie Van Dyke as V/O) but WJLA would largely remain the same and they would be the best choice for WJLA obviously. Also, I could see some staff cuts at 7. WJLA has a LARGE reporting team, way too many meteorologists/sports anchors. Too many main anchors. Disney is trying to run lean operations at their stations. Even after staff cuts in 2009, they still have a rather large reporting team. Time to see people go. But Disney will bring back "Newschopper 7" I predict. Why would they want to use WRC's helicopter? From what I've read, it's just sitting in the hangar going unused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1340 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 How would Hearst manage that? They have no shell duopolies, so a new company would begin if they kept both. Same with Scripps and KTUL, new company or sell one of them. Easy: They don't. WHTM goes to another company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 We've seen "respectable" companies like Cox and Gannett and Tribune use shells...Hearst or Scripps just might use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 We've seen "respectable" companies like Cox and Gannett and Tribune use shells...Hearst or Scripps just might use them. Cox and Tribune used them for the sole purpose of maintaining the existing ownership structures and not to circumvent the duopoly rules. Gannett yes. But I don't think Scripps or Hearst will use them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 My dark-house candidate for WJLA if ABC didn't get it for whatever reason would be Post-Newsweek since, well, we know what they own there. I'm sure they would LOVE to have a station on their home turf again. I don't really see Hubbard being interested in TV anymore outside of the stations they already own. Sinclair for 7 would also shock the hell out of me and I hope and pray they don't get WJLA... Hell No!! The Washington Post lost out when they sold WDVM to Gannett. Why would they buy another station in their home market? They better tend to their paper, while they still squeezing revenue for that. If that was the case, they should've kept channel 9 and probably WFSB in Connecticut too. Also as a side note, expect WJLA to get a 4:00 newscast (pushing "Katie" up an hour) if ABC and the House of Mouse get their hands on ABC7 (they air "Anderson Live" at 3PM currently but that show is getting cancelled anyway so a 4PM newscast would work perfectly). I could also see the noon news going one hour and some cosmetic changes (new set, graphics, website, Charlie Van Dyke as V/O) but WJLA would largely remain the same and they would be the best choice for WJLA obviously. And add some weekend morning news fare too. They surely lacking that. Even though they have added a Saturday 12pm news, that's not good enough. Should ABC get it, they will no doubt expand news to match the other O&Os. Speaking of syndication, also if they do get it, they should switch times on Wheel & Jeopardy to match the other O&Os (Wheel airs before Jeopardy on WJLA). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Post-Newsweek would be absolutely shocking - I just can't see that happening. In fact, I have a feeling they will be putting their stations on the block fairly soon, especially if they want to save the Washington Post (since newspapers truly are fading away). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Speaking of syndication, also if they do get it, they should switch times on Wheel & Jeopardy to match the other O&Os (Wheel airs before Jeopardy on WJLA). There's no reason to do something like that because there is nothing to gain from doing that. All that would do is upset viewers who get thrown off by the programs switching times. People complain to TV station for far more trivial things than this. All this would do is cause people to spam WJLA's Facebook page and jam their phone lines with complaints. I do see WJLA moving Katie and starting up a 4PM newscast though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compubit 670 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I hadn't thought about Tribune getting NC8 - though it could make sense with WDCW - they could add a local newscast to DC50. WJLA and NC8 share some reporters and often remotes, but the primary talent aren't the same. Even with Tribune (or another broadcaster without an existing DC infrastructure) picking up NC8, there could be still be a synergy with ABC7 - ABC stations do source prime time newscasts for other stations (SFO and RDU) - so they could extend to NC8, especially as the new owner ramps up staff on the cable station. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 NC8 actually did produce a newscast for WDCA in the mid-90's, but it was quickly cancelled. Also, the only other station I've heard of with a weekend noon news is WKYC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 There's no reason to do something like that because there is nothing to gain from doing that. All that would do is upset viewers who get thrown off by the programs switching times. People complain to TV station for far more trivial things than this. All this would do is cause people to spam WJLA's Facebook page and jam their phone lines with complaints. So you think if ABC acquires WJLA, ABC is going to keep Wheel & Jeopardy on its respective times? I say this because CBS is planning on switching omg! Insider & ET on KCBS one week from this Monday. And they will follow the same pattern WCBS have done, basically since the Insider program started. Are people are going to be outraged that ET is going to be move from 7pm to 7:30pm and flood KCBS's Facebook wall? I'm not saying its going to happen or not, and I understand it's going to piss off folks that have been use to seeing Wheel after World News Tonight for a good minute. But I have a strong feeling that if ABC does get WJLA, they're going to go with consistency. Basically, I'm saying that they'll do it just for the hell of it, even if it doesn't benefit anything by switching shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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