TVIntheDesert 183 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Remember, just like Scripps doesn't have any CBS affiliates in its portfolio, Meredith doesn't have any ABC stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 423 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I wonder if this was the reaction from the botched purchase of WTVJ a few years back and that if this was the easiest way for Post-Newsweek to recoup on the losses of that deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StabelliA 2 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Well that came out of left field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 423 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. That would also be restrictive to Hearst if they decided to come in. Gannett I could see as I could also see COX getting in the mix. I know people say that ABC doesn't buy stations and that might still be the case. The only reason (and I mean the only reason) I could see them buying it is to help their new channel FUSION out down in South Florida. But who knows, maybe it might just be business as usual, but we don't know anything about the happenings on Hallandale Beach Blvd until all the dust starts to settle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skbl17 188 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 HUH???!!!! Woah woah woah.... This is seriously the biggest "out of left field" acquisition I have ever seen in local television. First off, P-N must be pretty damn good at keeping secrets, because there were no rumors and little speculation outside of this site about something like this happening. Second, why, of all stations, WPLG? Finally, what's Warren Buffett's goal with such an unexpected acquisition? Man, what a sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 1110 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Believe it or not I could see a potential trade to ABC. Could see doesn't mean I think it will happen. As I've said before, Disney could invest in a slow-growth business like broadcast television... or it can do things like, say, buy Marvel and Lucasfilm and roll in the cash you make from licensing alone. I'd probably choose the latter myself. I just don't think Iger sees any benefit in growing the broadcast business. The reason I see a trade to ABC, though, is because Buffet was long ago linked to the company... --- In the mid-1980s, Leonard Goldenson, who had owned and run ABC for decades, was in his 80s and decided it was time to sell. But he didn't want ABC going to a Larry Tisch or a General Electric. So he called up Tom Murphy and Daniel Burke, who together ran Capital Cities Communications - ABC's most prolific station owner. Capital Cities was Goldenson's personal choice to own the network. Nevermind that ABC was quadruple the size of tiny Capital Cities Communications - he wanted broadcast people to run his network. Murphy and Burke were astonished - they obviously liked the idea but asked Goldenson "how in the world are WE going to buy YOU?" Goldenson's reply: "I have Warren Buffett on a plane here and he's going to put up $4 billion in stock to help finance the sale." And thanks in large part to Buffett, Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. was born. For his effort, Buffett owned 25% of what ESPN head Steve Bornstein called "the greatest media company of all time". --- Now, I don't know if Buffett has any shares in Disney, and I know he's not the largest single shareholder. That honor goes to Ike Perlmutter, a notoriously reclusive boss who responded to threats from Carl Icahn with a fax of particularly nasty passages from the Old Testament and has been known to go ballistic if $30 dollars too many were spent. Ike still runs Marvel today, but he has to have a lot of power within Disney as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 HUH???!!!! Woah woah woah.... This is seriously the biggest "out of left field" acquisition I have ever seen in local television. First off, P-N must be pretty damn good at keeping secrets, because there were no rumors and little speculation outside of this site about something like this happening. Second, why, of all stations, WPLG? Finally, what's Warren Buffett's goal with such an unexpected acquisition? Man, what a sale. Goal? There are no liquid assets to be taxed! It was a trade. He'll sell it off himself and receive the profit at a lower tax-rate then had he bought the station himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXmanTim 88 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 What's even more surprising to me is the fact it was WPLG itself. That station is one of the heritage PNS stations, with ownership dating back to the late 60s. It was the second TV station they owned after WTOP (WUSA). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 What's even more surprising to me is the fact it was WPLG itself. That station is one of the heritage PNS stations, with ownership dating back to the late 60s. It was the second TV station they owned after WTOP (WUSA). You forgot WJXT. That was Graham's second owned station (acquired over 60 years ago (1953), when it was WMBR), after WTOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike91 66 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 What about FOX? If they want in the market and they are tired of waiting on Ed Ansin, this would be a great opportunity for them, as well. (Not saying it will happen/they are interested, but I think they should at least take a look) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 728 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Double post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 728 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 What about FOX? If they want in the market and they are tired of waiting on Ed Ansin, this would be a great opportunity for them, as well. (Not saying it will happen/they are interested, but I think they should at least take a look) My money is on FOX! They're obviously in expanding mode and this is a perfect place where there are already other O&Os. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroCirq 148 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 My money is on FOX! They're obviously in expanding mode and this is a perfect place where there are already other O&Os. That could work...if WSVN would be willing to get the ABC affiliation OR the CW affiliation...keep an eye on Tribune.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXmanTim 88 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 @circleseven: my apologies, I knew WJXT was a heritage station but didn't look up the acquisition date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hulkie, isn't Steve Jobs's estate the single largest shareholder in Disney? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 @circleseven: my apologies, I knew WJXT was a heritage station but didn't look up the acquisition date. No need for apologies. Still can't get over that Graham wants to finally sell one of their longtime stations. Remember six years ago when they wanted to buy competiting station, NBC's WTVJ, but it never materialized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Since Miami has such a large Hispanic population, the "Big 4" stations play second fiddle in terms of ratings...which could make some of the traditional "big 4" stations vulnerable to being duopoly bait. Whatever happens with WPLG...this could be a factor down the road whether or not Buffett decides to sell. As for what remains of Post-Newsweek, they could be doing this to defend themselves from being taken over, and WPLG fit the bill as an asset that could easily be traded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 1110 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hulkie, isn't Steve Jobs's estate the single largest shareholder in Disney? Ack, yeah, I should have done more homework. Jobs' estate is the top shareholder. The second largest is George Lucas. Third largest is Ike Perlmutter. Thing is, Steve Jobs is dead, Lucas is more or less retired, but Perlmutter is still active in the company - he still runs Marvel Entertainment, which is still an autonomous entity much like Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Bristol. Since Marvel's core businesses are licensing and moviemaking, he has a lot of influence. (Yes, I purposely left out the comics. They're more of an R&D branch for Marvel Studios projects. See Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) His stinginess makes Scrooge McDuck look like a guy who gives away money left and right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NewsHound Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Here's your answer: "Berkshire owns 1.74 million shares of Gannett." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Here's your answer: "Berkshire owns 1.74 million shares of Gannett." Ok. Now we know. And I was right. Damn. I am good. (cart before the horse) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 38 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Here's your answer: "Berkshire owns 1.74 million shares of Gannett." I am going to assume that WPLG is going to Gannett in the near future. Ok. Now we know. And I was right. Damn. I am good. (cart before the horse) I think I was rooting on warren Buffett to grab WPLG instead of other broadcasting groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 802 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 WPLG has been in the Post Newsweek fold since the 60s and now we think Gannett could have WPLG #???....If it becomes a Gannett station by end yr 2015-into 2016 they would drop the Local 10 and rebrand it 10 News Now... The Local brand seems to be a Post Newsweek staple with WDIV, KPRC, WPLG, WKMG.... Speaking of WKMG or KPRC why didn't Post/Graham didn't put one of these two up before WPLG???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Here's your answer: "Berkshire owns 1.74 million shares of Gannett." Unless they bought it all back, Berkshire sold all their Gannett shares last year. However, to the best of my knowledge Berkshire still owns about 4.6m of Media General Shares. Pre-merger the 4.6m of shares equated to roughly 17% ownership of Media General stock. However, as noted at the end of this article the percentage of ownership that same 4.6m in the "new" post-merger Media General would be reduced. So, post-merger Berkshire now holds 4.2m of voting stock and 410k of non-voting stock in Media General equaling roughly 5.5% ownership of Media General voting stock. I would assume they still own these shares as I have seen nothing stating Berkshire has sold them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effseesee 101 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 My money is on FOX! They're obviously in expanding mode and this is a perfect place where there are already other O&Os. It's possible, but Miami is an AFC market. Their priority is finding stations in NFC markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 It's possible, but Miami is an AFC market. Their priority is finding stations in NFC markets. Plus I would question whether Fox would want to divorce WSVN, one of its most influential stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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