CircleSeven 1944 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Am I'm reading this right? Buffett's Birkshire Hathaway is buying WPLG???!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 That makes so little sense! It is just one station for a company with no TV assets...unless the rest of the company is being sold as well. They are still connected to Media General though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain 17 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Holy crap. Well isn't that a shocker! I came running here to post it after I got an email alert from TVNewsCheck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Well, this Wizard certainly came out of left field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroCirq 148 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Indeed. And given his reputation, at least it's not Sinclair or Nextstar or any other station group.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 It's on the front of MiamiHerald.com right now. http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/12/3990009/wplg-channel-10-sold-to-berkshire.html I wonder what the reasoning was to acquire just WPLG and why WPLG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusNewsFan 217 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Yeah, until today BH media was only a Newspaper company... so this is really interesting and when Warren Buffet buys a station it gets noticed. I'm trying to figure out why only buy WPLG, Like the rest of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Yeah I am so wondering this myself!!! This seems like the weirdest M&A move of all. This does create a lot of speculation about the rest of the Post-Newsweek group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Wait...I didn't even know WPLG was up for sale? Has Post-Newsweek been trying to get rid of their stations or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroCirq 148 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Here's their take on it: http://www.local10.com/news/deal-in-place-to-trade-wplg-to-warren-buffett/24937594 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 751 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Supposedly, the remainder of Post-Newsweek is not for sale: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/emily-barr-post-newsweek-stations-not-for-sale_b117094#more-117094 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXmanTim 88 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 My take: Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway has long been a major shareholder in the Washington Post company dating back to the early 70s shortly after Katherine Graham took over following her husband, Phillip's, suicide. He was also a very close friend and financial advisor to Mrs. Graham until her 2001 death. According to her autobiography, the Post company had two classes of stock -- the Class A shares were fully controlled by the Graham family. The Class B shares were publicly traded, and IIRC Buffett owned a considerable amount. My guess is he was unhappy with the sale of The Washington Post in general...that he was not approached with the opportunity to buy it...or he lost out in the bidding process to Bezos. In any event he was likely prepared to dump his interest in the company, which depending on how much he owned, could have sent the stock price into a tail spin. Buying back that stock in whole or in part by trading WPLG was a much better option than having many thousands of shares suddenly flooding the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSSZNews 1046 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I can't imagine this is going to be a long term holding for BH unless they're looking to acquire more stations (or the other 5 P-N stations outright.) This does seem like a tax dodge on the surface. I know the MO is that ABC does not buy stations, but if this will be BH's only TV holding I wonder if, down the road, this could be an exception. There are some other ramifications for P-N, too--because their design hub is based at WPLG. I wonder if they move up to Orlando now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Doesn't Buffett also own stakes in Media General? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 802 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Emily Barr said "Oh no PostNewsweek is not up for sale. we're the envy among the competition...." http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/emily-barr-post-newsweek-stations-not-for-sale_b117094 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 751 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Emily Barr said "Oh no PostNewsweek is not up for sale. we're the envy among the competition...." http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/emily-barr-post-newsweek-stations-not-for-sale_b117094 Double post. I already linked that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 In the Speculatron, I posted a possible theory about this whole deal and where it could go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 This sounds quite similar to what happened when Liberty Media bought WFRV and WJMN from CBS back in 2007. CBS was buying back shares at that time, and WFRV and WJMN were the two smallest stations in CBS' portfolio at the time, so CBS ended up reaching an agreement to buy back 7.6 million of Liberty's Class B shares of CBS in exchange for WFRV and WJMN and $170 million. Liberty ended up selling the stations to Nexstar in 2011, and John Malone later said in a New York Times article: “It was a terrible TV station, but it was better than paying the government” In this case, Warren Buffett had wanted to sell his stake in Graham Holdings for quite some time, so he's probably just buying WPLG so he can get rid of his Graham Holdings stake. He'll probably keep it for a little bit, but he'll probably dump it in another deal later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detroiter313 178 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Am I'm reading this right? Buffett's Birkshire Hathaway is buying WPLG???!!! I did not see that coming!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I can't imagine this is going to be a long term holding for BH unless they're looking to acquire more stations (or the other 5 P-N stations outright.) This does seem like a tax dodge on the surface. I know the MO is that ABC does not buy stations, but if this will be BH's only TV holding I wonder if, down the road, this could be an exception. There are some other ramifications for P-N, too--because their design hub is based at WPLG. I wonder if they move up to Orlando now. I agree. Not for one second do I think that this is a long-term asset. This was a stock swap with an additional non-liquid asset swap sure up the stock value while limiting taxable income. I suspect that Buffett is going to flip WPLG to one of the following. Scripps: They have WFTS (Tampa), WPTV (Palm Beach), Naples Daily News and the Treasure Coast Newspapers (many). Gannett: They have WTSP (Tampa) WTLV|WJXX (Jacksonville), Florida Today (Brevard County), The News- Press (Fort Myers), Pensacola News Journal and the Tallahassee Democrat. In both cases, WPLG would make a great addition to their news services. I would prefer to see Scripps get WPLG, but I'm not going to protest one way or another and just see how the chips fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Do you see Meredith here? They are hungry for stations... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Do you see Meredith here? They are hungry for stations... True, but do they have other Floridian brands? I can't see any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 My take: Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway has long been a major shareholder in the Washington Post company dating back to the early 70s shortly after Katherine Graham took over following her husband, Phillip's, suicide. He was also a very close friend and financial advisor to Mrs. Graham until her 2001 death. According to her autobiography, the Post company had two classes of stock -- the Class A shares were fully controlled by the Graham family. The Class B shares were publicly traded, and IIRC Buffett owned a considerable amount. My guess is he was unhappy with the sale of The Washington Post in general...that he was not approached with the opportunity to buy it...or he lost out in the bidding process to Bezos. In any event he was likely prepared to dump his interest in the company, which depending on how much he owned, could have sent the stock price into a tail spin. Buying back that stock in whole or in part by trading WPLG was a much better option than having many thousands of shares suddenly flooding the market. I agree with this. The only thing I might add to the theory is that it's possible Buffet didn't like the direction that Graham Holdings was headed. It's quite clear to me that they are reshaping the company, making Kaplan the jewel and expanding into new arenas. It's also possible Graham wanted more control over where they want to take the company in the future. Or, both. Either way it seems like it was an amicable split with two parties that disagree on "direction" for whatever the reason. It's just my opinion but, that's why I don't buy the whole "PNS isn't for sale" line. Granted this sale of WPLG is a different ball of wax. However, it's quite clear that "old media" is no longer a core business of Graham Holdings. If they hang around so be it but, If the right offer comes along the other 5 will go even if they aren't "for sale." The same applies to CableOne, too as far as I'm concerned. I agree. Not for one second do I think that this is a long-term asset. This was a stock swap with an additional non-liquid asset swap sure up the stock value while limiting taxable income. I suspect that Buffett is going to flip WPLG to one of the following. Scripps: They have WFTS (Tampa), WPTV (Palm Beach), Naples Daily News and the Treasure Coast Newspapers (many). Gannett: They have WTSP (Tampa) WTLV|WJXX (Jacksonville), Florida Today (Brevard County), The News- Press (Fort Myers), Pensacola News Journal and the Tallahassee Democrat. In both cases, WPLG would make a great addition to their news services. I would prefer to see Scripps get WPLG, but I'm not going to protest one way or another and just see how the chips fall. Agreed on WPLG getting flipped. It's not a matter of if but, when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSSZNews 1046 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 WPTV may be a little too close for Scripps to consider WPLG, unless that station is spun off to someone. I could see Gannett, MG, or Meredith. Remember that Meredith had WOFL for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 423 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I am dumbfounded by the move. Just wow. I know its a stock swap and all that, but still to hear a cornerstone of Post-Newsweek getting sold is shocking. I wonder how bad was WPLG doing to do the stock swap for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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