channel2 886 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 The prospect of Sinclair buying WTVD (or KFSN, for that matter) is EXACTLY why I want ABC to hold onto it... KWQC and KELO don't really fit into MG's geographical footprint...they could be candidates for swapping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4256 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 They do hint about doing "station swaps with other companies in a way that would 'realign properties in a more logical fashion'.” I think one station in particular may come into play...but it's been covered to death in the last 16 pages and I think the only logical scenario that would exist would be either FOX or Media General making an offer or selling it to them... Lockwood could be a target...WBXX is already tied to the hip with WATE. Even the Hoak and Morris stations divested previously could be targets if they ended up on the market.... And delving deep into speculatron territory...if Sinclair buys WTVD and keeps WLFL....WRDC could be spun off to Media General and run by WNCN. This way, each station in Raleigh-Durham has a duopoly partner. Honestly, the only logical buyer I see for KRON is... S!nclair. It's not trying to illicit a conspiracy theory, rather, KRON has been so decimated that an owner like S!nclair could come in with minimal expectations in the market. It's the opposite of them buying a market leader in KOMO or attempting to buy WJLA. So much of S!nclair's programming conventions and newscast philosophies can be implemented on a station like KRON, in a market like San Francisco, with minimal controversy. (Not saying there won't be straight-forward protests, but the protesters would have no loyalty to KRON. Again. It's a station where there is no brand, no identity, after the previous one got pulverized into oblivion in a $800M debacle.) Plus the KRON studios can also be used as the West Coast operations hub for David Smith's dream of a nationwide form of NC8. Or a NewsCentral V2.0. And as for MG trading KRON, S!nclair does have a boatload of small and medium market stations that they could offer MG in return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1347 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 KWQC and KELO don't really fit into MG's geographical footprint...they could be candidates for swapping. Actually, KWQC fits better than you may think. Keep in mind that MG will also be acquiring WBAY (Green Bay) and WLNS (Lansing). Take a look at https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zkVKomQU5Sco.kLQsmxPHuH2s]the map[/url] posted way back on page 10 of this thread [back in the good ol' days] and you'll see what I mean. KELO [and its satellites] does stick out, though, so it could be swappable. On the other hand, it's probably not a money sink like KRON, so MG could simply hold onto it till the right offer comes along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Actually, KWQC fits better than you may think. Keep in mind that MG will also be acquiring WBAY (Green Bay) and WLNS (Lansing). Take a look at the map posted way back on page 10 of this thread [back in the good ol' days] and you'll see what I mean. KELO [and its satellites] does stick out, though, so it could be swappable. On the other hand, it's probably not a money sink like KRON, so MG could simply hold onto it till the right offer comes along. Considering after the NBC O&O acquisitions that MG gained a couple oddball stations out of their region (such as in Columbus and Providence) they don't fit too badly in their portfolio, with the glowing exception of KRON. The money used from a KRON divestment could be their next purchase or their improvements to some of their weaker stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Actually, KWQC fits better than you may think. Keep in mind that MG will also be acquiring WBAY (Green Bay) and WLNS (Lansing). Take a look at the map posted way back on page 10 of this thread [back in the good ol' days] and you'll see what I mean. KELO [and its satellites] does stick out, though, so it could be swappable. On the other hand, it's probably not a money sink like KRON, so MG could simply hold onto it till the right offer comes along. KELO is a huge money maker for Young, much like WJAR is for MG. I can't see them divesting either. WJAR doesn't fit in MG's footprint currently but they kept it because it's such a huge moneymaker in that market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 They do hint about doing "station swaps with other companies in a way that would 'realign properties in a more logical fashion'.” I think one station in particular may come into play...but it's been covered to death in the last 16 pages and I think the only logical scenario that would exist would be either FOX or Media General making an offer or selling it to them... Lockwood could be a target...WBXX is already tied to the hip with WATE. Even the Hoak and Morris stations divested previously could be targets if they ended up on the market.... And delving deep into speculatron territory...if Sinclair buys WTVD and keeps WLFL....WRDC could be spun off to Media General and run by WNCN. This way, each station in Raleigh-Durham has a duopoly partner. The prospect of Sinclair buying WTVD (or KFSN, for that matter) is EXACTLY why I want ABC to hold onto it... That would be wise, but do you think Sinclair would want to swap anything? Despite offer Fox to get some of their stations for WUTB. I doubt Sinclair would even touch any of the O&Os. And should Lockwood unload, I don't think MG would take all of them because like you said, they're in Young is in Knoxville. And let's not forget Lockwood they have a duopoly. Lockwood have been in a M&A craze of their own getting WMAK, WCWG & WSKY within the last year. But I think they're just as vulnerable to be bought like New Age & possibly the Milton Grant stations. But it will likely be piecemeal deals. KWQC and KELO don't really fit into MG's geographical footprint...they could be candidates for swapping. In some fashion I do agree. KWQC & (especially) KELO are in what I call an "island" per se. But their major point to get bigger is the grow in the areas that make the most sense. I've said early on in this thread, that Media General should acquire the Granite stations, because none of those groups are in either one of those markets. Now with KELO & KWQC, it would probably fit with the nearby Duluth markets. But speculation turned several weeks later when Nexstar announced that they were working on some new deals. With that they were heavy speculation that Nexstar would get the rest of Granite, after successfully acquiring KSEE 24 in Fresno earlier this year, and also acquiring the ComCorp stations back in May (ComCorp & Granite's parent is Silver Point Capital). The only station Young has in the upstate is WTEN. So acquiring WBNG at least would least connect something. Or possibly Prather, the one that got WKTV. Nexstar acquiring the whole thing, including WBNG while throwing those "rocky creeks" would be asking for trouble. And anyway, I wouldn't think they would get the whole thing, they'll probably sit out KOFY & WMYD. MG on the other hand would probably get the whole thing, and make KOFY a sister to KRON. And in any event MG does sell in the Bay, and find a bigger company (like lets say Fox; but I seriously hope not) would look for a duopoly, KRON & KOFY would fit well. Also, what I said last month, if they don't get Granite's Duluth properties I would see them unloading KWQC & WBAY to Quincy, since they are heavy in their territory. KELO screams something Gray would probably acquire it. But what's the point in being a super-group and divest? They have to be really cautious if they want to swap. I hope they do something that would make at least a viable sense. So if they are selling KRON, I do hope they will do heavy lifting in their weaker properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Okay Y'all. One hurdle has been crossed. The shareholders have greenlighted the Media General/Young merger. Now let's hope, despite two petitions of denys, it won't take too long for the FCC to give them the greenlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 BREAKING NEWS!!! Y'all. The first of the four giant M&A deals have finally been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has greenlighted the merger of Media General & Young Broadcasting. Actually their approval was yesterday, releasing the order today, on the same day the shareholders approved the deal. Now I have a feeling that the next deal would get approved before the year is out is the Tribune/Local TV deal. But of course the strangest of things has happened. Could it be possible that the Gannett/Belo deal could also get the greenlight before the end of the year, of course it has to get FTC/DOJ clearances first. I would love to see that, but with several petitions of deny, there might be a little doubt. As for Sinclair, they are still awaiting approvals of the Cunningham Anderson transfers (which is now sitting there for eight months), the Barrington apps (which is getting close to eight months), the Allbritton apps, the WWCP app, and the New Age Apps. The latter three might be able to wait just a tad bit longer, but the former two should've saw some sign of life by seeing that greenlight by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 BREAKING NEWS!!! Y'all. The first of the four giant M&A deals have finally been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has greenlighted the merger of Media General & Young Broadcasting. Actually their approval was yesterday, releasing the order today, on the same day the shareholders approved the deal. Now I have a feeling that the next deal would get approved before the year is out is the Tribune/Local TV deal. But of course the strangest of things has happened. Could it be possible that the Gannett/Belo deal could also get the greenlight before the end of the year, of course it has to get FTC/DOJ clearances first. I would love to see that, but with several petitions of deny, there might be a little doubt. As for Sinclair, they are still awaiting approvals of the Cunningham Anderson transfers (which is now sitting their for eight months), the Barrington apps (which is getting close to eight months), the Allbritton apps, the WWCP app, and the New Age Apps. The latter three might be able to wait just a tad bit longer, but the former two should've saw some sign of life by seeing that greenlight by now. Isn't Syracuse holding up the Barrington one since it will result in Sinclair owning practically every station except WSYR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Isn't Syracuse holding up the Barrington one since it will result in Sinclair owning practically every station except WSYR? That's another one hanging in the balance, the assignment of WSYT from Cunningham to Bristlecone Broadcasting (Brian Brady). In the matter of Allbritton, Sinclair this week replied to the various replies to its consolidated opposition. There is definitely a struggle here, and you can tell that SBG is feeling the heat—more on that in the Sinclair Again thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Media General has announced the news on the FCC approval, and there expected to complete the sale by Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 This was an easy deal though, with no conflicts. It was pretty much a formality. I agree the Local TV-Tribune deal should be next in line, it has some opposition but not to the great extent, and there are no TV conflicts other than legal duopolies. (BTW, I think Tribune proper should be allowed to own WNEP, WTKR and WGNT, as the newspapers don't have a great amount of presence in their markets.) I think the Citadel-Nexstar deal, which is also a clean one, might beat out most of those others as well...even though it was 6 months later than the ComCorp and Barrington deals (which have serious conflicts). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 The deal has been completed. http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2013/nov12_13.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 WRIC interviewed Media General's CEO George Mahoney about the merger. If you care to hear what he had to say here's the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnuts6 89 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I wonder how long it will take for the copyright graphic showing the Media general communications look ..instead of the "bookish Y " of young broadcasting to go on air Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1place4news 5 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 FTVLive reporting WFLA ND Don North has been canned. Any chance it's somehow tied to the recent merger? http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2013/11/15/tampa-news-director-out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 FTVLive reporting WFLA ND Don North has been canned. Any chance it's somehow tied to the recent merger? http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2013/11/15/tampa-news-director-out Can't rule it out. Although some heads from the old MG is still around, they're alot of Young personnel are also in the new MG. Deborah McDermott (now the former CEO of the old Young) is heading day-to-day ops of the post-merger MG stations. So..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3496 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 ...and in more Media General news....the stations are officially back on Dish Network! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3496 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 FTVLive reporting WFLA ND Don North has been canned. Any chance it's somehow tied to the recent merger? http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2013/11/15/tampa-news-director-out It's a remote possibility, but I would think it would be performance. Hasn't WFLA been slipping in the ratings over the past several years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 ...and in more Media General news....the stations are officially back on Dish Network! And MG probably intentionally wanted to wait until the deal was finalized so the retrans deal would count all stations involved, instead of just a few, and then later they would have to further negotiations for the Young side. But of course that wasn't fair for the customers who have Dish and haven't seen any of the stations this long. It probably made some sense to wait, but it doesn't make any sense on a customer's standpoint. ____________________________________ Now since the new MG has been form, I wish they can buy back some of the stations they sold off. I'm not saying every one. They could buy back the two stations (WTVQ & WDEF) plus maybe WWAY from Morris. I'm not too sure whatelse they want to acquire next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 It's a remote possibility, but I would think it would be performance. Hasn't WFLA been slipping in the ratings over the past several years? Yeah, last time I checked, it was a tie between WTVT and WFTS for first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I wonder how long it will take for the copyright graphic showing the Media general communications look ..instead of the "bookish Y " of young broadcasting to go on air The official licensee of the former Young stations is still "Young Broadcasting of (community name)". I wonder if they plan on changing it since that's not their name anymore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 The official licensee of the former Young stations is still "Young Broadcasting of (community name)". I wonder if they plan on changing it since that's not their name anymore... I'm not too sure. It was a couple of months after Sinclair took ownership of the Fisher stations, and the licensee names were changed to Sinclair Media of Seattle/Sinclair Broadcasting of Portland, etc. If they do, they probably might see something along the lines of "Media General Broadcasting of Richmond". But I'm not sure if they're going to do that. Should the Gannett/Belo deal gets the greenlight, I know Gannett won't change the licensee names of any Belo stations. They haven't changed the licensee stations of the other station in the past (Multimedia/Combined/Pacific & Southern). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayarea_tv 3 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 KRON is still showing Young Broadcasting of San Francisco on a banner toward the end of their newscast at the bottom of the screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I wonder how long it will take for the copyright graphic showing the Media general communications look ..instead of the "bookish Y " of young broadcasting to go on air Have Media General ever had an full screen copyright slate graphic in the end, similar to like Nexstar, Belo or Tribune? If not, I could see them doing that in the future for all the stations involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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