Media General, Young to merge

[Thundershock MN 169]

They are moving to the KGO building. Not not moving in together (ie: combined operation). Big difference.

 

Caliwxdude basically posted what I was going to post. The 3rd floor was occupied by the ABC Radio cluster. They have since moved out. My guess is this will be KRON's new space. Media General (and previously Young) want to sell the current building. It's way oversized for what KRON needs now. The thing is if they sell it they still have to go "somewhere".

 

Again as caliwxdude pointed out there really is nowhere to go without significant expense. They could hope to stay and lease back space or something of that nature. But, doing that limits who you can sell to. ABC just happens to have some purpose built broadcasting space vacant available. So, KRON with a much smaller investment can outfit new space and vacate their building potentially opening it up to a much wider pool of buyers. And, ABC fills space that has been vacant for sometime that I'm sure they had a hard time marketing due to it being old broadcasting space. It's really a win-win in that regard.

 

As to a potential SSA/JSA,etc. I just don't see that happening. You might see some consolidation in facilities and maybe engineering. That's all I see happening. If they were going to enter into an SSA or something of that nature they would have announced that. This is a real estate transaction, that's it.

[SFTV 526]

Interestingly enough, it appears as if KGO did today's morning newscast from the newsroom and not the primary studio. Probably means nothing since they've had the current set for years and have given zero indications that it's changing anytime soon.

They have been broadcasting from the newsroom all weekend. Maybe set maintenance? They are overdue for a new set.

[Mrtraveler01 738]

 

They are moving to the KGO building. Not not moving in together (ie: combined operation). Big difference.

 

Caliwxdude basically posted what I was going to post. The 3rd floor was occupied by the ABC Radio cluster. They have since moved out. My guess is this will be KRON's new space. Media General (and previously Young) want to sell the current building. It's way oversized for what KRON needs now. The thing is if they sell it they still have to go "somewhere".

 

Again as caliwxdude pointed out there really is nowhere to go without significant expense. They could hope to stay and lease back space or something of that nature. But, doing that limits who you can sell to. ABC just happens to have some purpose built broadcasting space vacant available. So, KRON with a much smaller investment can outfit new space and vacate their building potentially opening it up to a much wider pool of buyers. And, ABC fills space that has been vacant for sometime that I'm sure they had a hard time marketing due to it being old broadcasting space. It's really a win-win in that regard.

 

As to a potential SSA/JSA,etc. I just don't see that happening. You might see some consolidation in facilities and maybe engineering. That's all I see happening. If they were going to enter into an SSA or something of that nature they would have announced that. This is a real estate transaction, that's it.

 

I agree with you. But I'm curious, are there other examples of something like this? This seems pretty unprecedented to me.

[Thundershock MN 169]

It just seems like an odd setup if there really isn't going to be overlap between KRON and KGO. Is there a precedent to this?

The only thing that cones to mind is Rogers leasing space at 9 Channel Nine Court from Bell/CTV Globemedia in Toronto. Rogers acquired Sportsnet from then CTV Globemedia after they were forced to devest it upon acquiring TSN. Rogers leased space at the complex for several years until they built a new complex downtown. Although not quite the same thing as KGO/KRON it's the closest I could think of where 2 competitors maintained independent operations under one roof with one being the lessee and the other the lessor.

 

I'm sure if I thought about it long enough or did some research I could come up with other examples of stations leasing space in the same building. However, I don't know of many where there is a leasee/lessor relationship amongt them.

[Nelson R. 569]

When I said KRON was moving in with KGO, that's what I meant. Nothing more than KRON moving into its building. (at least for now).

[ToriElectra 292]

Well, at least it means that there's one less address for people who need to go to these stations (like politicians). You can visit them and get two separate interviews done, for instance.

[sanewsguy 511]

This isn't that surprising. They already have an agreement with KGO to use their chopper footage. They also share some other news footage with them. So it makes sense.

[DirtyHarry 727]

Didn't you guys say that the biggest impediment to the sale of KRON was that the building would have to be purchased as part of any deal? Hmmmm .....

[Rusty Muck 4374]

Didn't you guys say that the biggest impediment to the sale of KRON was that the building would have to be purchased as part of any deal? Hmmmm .....

It can also be seen as an affirmation that MG is more than okay with keeping a cheaply-run KRON indefinitely. To have remained at 1001 Van Ness was financially impossible and totally unsustainable in any circumstance.

 

It's a smart business decision, and quite frankly, should have been made a long time ago.