Scripps - General Discussion

[Recovering Producer 410]

57 minutes ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

I'm gonna say this with all due respect. The idea of suggesting that Hearst would shut down an ABC and NBC station is, for lack of a better term, insanity. Yes, what WINK, Sun, whatever you wanna call them, is doing is insane and there is no reason for someone to have that much blatant control over a market. However, Hearst knew or should have known going in how powerful WINK was and how weak WFTX might be. Also, suggesting they sell WBBH to the McBrides is just as insane. 

 

Hearst is 2nd and 3rd place in several cities. Should we expect a sale of WLWT, WAPT and KHBS next? 

 

If I am Hearst, there is no reason to change anything right now. Let the chaos with the competition happen and capitalize on opportunities that come from it and creatively come up for solutions to challenges it creates. And I say this as someone who drank the Kool-Aid at WINK for several years. Hearst's piece of the revenue pie isn't shrinking. Just two other slices are getting combined.

 

I haven't seen numbers in a long time, in fact, I blocked Darrel Adams on Twitter within days of signing up in 2009 because I didn't want his rating brags to mess with me. But as far as I know, the NBC side has consistently received better ratings than WINK for the last few years. My SWOT analysis for Hearst in Fort Myers

 

Strengths

• Pre 1996 grandfathered LMA/Time Brokerage deal that makes WBBH/WZVN a unified, efficient operation and 30+ years of operating that way 
• Hearst resources that reduce operating costs and benefit the product: centralized traffic, billing, accounting, graphics hub, DC bureau, national investigative team, etc
• ABC and NBC are (for now) far more stable and in less turmoil than CBS
• Fort Myers has a reputation as a market with higher than average HUT levels. And WBBH tends to over perform on NBC flagship events like the Olympics
• Speculation: Better leverage in negotiating retransmission as a multi-market company for WBBH so a revenue advantage there
• Subjective: Stronger digital presence and adapted to the 21st century far earlier and faster than WINK
• Subjective: By far a superior creative services team and long-term marketing strategy
• Subjective: They always operated more confidently. WINK's newsroom culture during my time there can best be summed up as "competition monitor bedwetters" 
• Subjective: They didn't get go off the air for days during Hurricane Ian

Weaknesses

• In-market scale disadvantage
• English language only operation, losing out on a respectable percent of the market and Spanish language TV viewership has lost much less of its audience than English TV.
• TV and digital only sales packages
• Limited in-market partnership opportunities with other media outlets (radio, print, new digital)
• WZVN's history of underperforming in the market

Opportunities

• Sampling from Fox 4 News viewers when that brand disappears (somewhat limited by having .1s unavailable for 7-9am and 10pm)
• Even though they just rebranded, they now have the perception of being the stable, consistent operation in the market
• Businesses who do not like WINK/WXCW and have sworn off advertising with them who bought ads on WFTX may move money they spent there to WBBH/WZVN
• Big changes elsewhere presents the opportunity to pursue subtle changes to be more efficient under their unified brand (test the waters of simulcasting) 
• Partners across the state on big news event (WESH, WPBF) 

Threats

• TV's great decline, especially as baby boomers age and die , while Southwest Florida grows and sees more younger people move there in demographics who don't watch much linear TV
• Corporate budget life problems: If Hearst makes cuts, those cuts will likely be consistent across the company
• Keeping a news intensive operation fully staffed as fewer people pursue TV as as career or burn out faster
• Diluted product with dueling AM, 6pm, 11pm newscasts 
• Hurricanes, alligators, elderly drivers, and "a Florida Man" - the most dangerous parts of Florida

[Rusty Muck 4688]

21 minutes ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Who's yall? Don't put me in with them.

Be that as it may, if the logic of Hearst selling all non number one stations is allowed to be entertained then stations like KOCO would be on the block. 

 

Also, aren't they second in Pittsburgh and Baltimore as well, or did KDKA and WJZ fall from grace? Last I heard, those were the top dogs. 

It might surprise you but this level of hyperconsolidation is rendering companies like Hearst as takeover bait. They were once big but after Nexstar-Tegna is ramrodded through will become painfully small.

[dman748 1316]

59 minutes ago, Rusty Muck said:

WBBH remains a folly, a foolish waste of $220M in a small market in a deeply red state. Whoever pressured the family to blow that large amount of money with no ROI should have been fired. If it was a family member, they should have been disinherited.

Are you familiar with economy of scale? The McBrides are going to bully Hearst out of the market so quickly it won't be funny.

I think it's a crazy take, there's no way the McBride's is going to bully Hearst out of the Fort Myers market despite the internal issues that typically comes up in the Fort Myers market.

 

If they have to settle for playing 2nd fiddle to the McBride's so be it, they're used to being in that role in other markets they're in anyway.

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

1 hour ago, Rusty Muck said:

WBBH remains a folly, a foolish waste of $220M in a small market in a deeply red state. Whoever pressured the family to blow that large amount of money with no ROI should have been fired. If it was a family member, they should have been disinherited.

Are you familiar with economy of scale? The McBrides are going to bully Hearst out of the market so quickly it won't be funny.

 

That's only like 0.0098% of Hearst family wealth. It ain't shit to them.

 

[Rusty Muck 4688]

25 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

That's only like 0.0098% of Hearst family wealth. It ain't shit to them.

You'd be surprised at how superwealthy people don't want to waste money unless there is an ROI.

[newsman123 142]

Fox4 has always been a horrible news operation, with horrible talent. Scripps has improved it however in recent years. But no one will miss it. End of story. 

 

WBBH is one of the strongest local news stations in the country. Great investment by hearst and they dont need to do a thing. WINK absorbing an also-ran Fox station, is a non story frankly. 

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

1 hour ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Who's yall? Don't put me in with them. 

Haha. Fair point.

 

1 hour ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Also, aren't they second in Pittsburgh and Baltimore as well, or did KDKA and WJZ fall from grace? Last I heard, those were the top dogs. 

I know that in Pittsburgh they are but its a strong second with KDKA still #1, at least from what I've last seen. I don't think the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posts ratings numbers anymore.

 

I think WJZ still is but WBAL-TV is right there with them at times.

 

Back in 2021, WBAL-TV would win a lot, according to news articles that they would post so I'd say its more tight in Baltimore between WBAL and WJZ than I would say the far of the pack with WMAR and WBFF.

 

All I'll say is that Hearst rarely has any weak stations in their roster.

[Rusty Muck 4688]

6 hours ago, newsman123 said:

Fox4 has always been a horrible news operation, with horrible talent. Scripps has improved it however in recent years. But no one will miss it. End of story. 

 

WBBH is one of the strongest local news stations in the country. Great investment by hearst and they dont need to do a thing. WINK absorbing an also-ran Fox station, is a non story frankly. 

LNT Truthiness strikes again! In the real world, any simple economic class would tell you this is a disaster for Hearst, which is unwilling/unable to buy to keep at scale in the market. The only option is to sell.

6 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

Haha. Fair point.

 

I know that in Pittsburgh they are but its a strong second with KDKA still #1, at least from what I've last seen. I don't think the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posts ratings numbers anymore.

 

I think WJZ still is but WBAL-TV is right there with them at times.

 

Back in 2021, WBAL-TV would win a lot, according to news articles that they would post so I'd say its more tight in Baltimore between WBAL and WJZ than I would say the far of the pack with WMAR and WBFF.

 

All I'll say is that Hearst rarely has any weak stations in their roster.

Let's actually post data supporting such claims before making them. Look, I know there's an adoration for Hearst in this sphere but it always comes off as seeing them through rose-colored lenses. Practically no one else aside from maybe @Weeters looked at their purchase of WBBH-WZVN critically.

[Georgie56 3661]

15 hours ago, GoldenShine_10 said:

 

If Gray wanted anything, it would be WINK. 

WINK is run like a Gray station.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

9 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

WBBH remains a folly, a foolish waste of $220M in a small market in a deeply red state. Whoever pressured the family to blow that large amount of money with no ROI should have been fired. If it was a family member, they should have been disinherited.

Are you familiar with economy of scale? The McBrides are going to bully Hearst out of the market so quickly it won't be funny.

It's like a reverse Youngstown, except this time it's the family-owned group that's owns the market. 

 

At least in Youngstown, WFMJ holds its own and does quite well against WKBN, WYTV and WYFX.

 

And the two markets are quite opposite.  Youngstown has been withering away for decades while SWFL is booming with anyone willing to move there.

[TVLurker 389]

I just read the conversation and I thought it was getting sold to WINK.

 

I honestly do not know if the news department will be kept but there is a slim chance it might be kept because the only other station they own is a CW affiliate.

 

Fingers crossed though.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

46 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

I just read the conversation and I thought it was getting sold to WINK.

 

I honestly do not know if the news department will be kept but there is a slim chance it might be kept because the only other station they own is a CW affiliate.

 

Fingers crossed though.

There's probably enough separation in the licensing and ownership to satisfy the FCC. 

 

Anything beyond that is fair game for the Mcbride's to take over the non-license assets and run it like one of their own.

 

But then again, the DOJ could chime in if it becomes an issue of market share.

[MediaZone4K 2661]

With the very reasonable speculation that Fox 4's news department will be shut down, surprisingly they're still positing reporter openings...

[Rusty Muck 4688]

7 hours ago, TVLurker said:

I just read the conversation and I thought it was getting sold to WINK.

 

I honestly do not know if the news department will be kept but there is a slim chance it might be kept because the only other station they own is a CW affiliate.

 

Fingers crossed though.

It is being sold to WINK. There is literally no difference between the two companies except for the chief executive. And that news department is gonna be vaporized.

 

9 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

And the two markets are quite opposite.  Youngstown has been withering away for decades while SWFL is booming with anyone willing to move there.

They desire to live in a permanent right-wing hellscape run by morons and at continuous risk of being destroyed by hurricanes, and may be uninsurable in the not-too-distant future. Not that Youngstown is any better.

18 hours ago, dman748 said:

I think it's a crazy take, there's no way the McBride's is going to bully Hearst out of the Fort Myers market despite the internal issues that typically comes up in the Fort Myers market.

 

If they have to settle for playing 2nd fiddle to the McBride's so be it, they're used to being in that role in other markets they're in anyway.

You don't spend $220M to wind up in a severe scale disadvantage. It's absolute lunacy to assume Hearst is content with now being in a totally uncompetitive position.

Edited September 4, 2025 by Rusty Muck

[dman748 1316]

47 minutes ago, Rusty Muck said:

You don't spend $220M to wind up in a severe scale disadvantage. It's absolute lunacy to assume Hearst is content with now being in a totally uncompetitive position.

There is no scale disadvantage for Hearst, they are fine where they're at, they don't buy stations unless it's for the right station and for the right price.

 

It's not ludicrious that Hearst spent $200M plus to get WBBH/WZVN

[Weeters 2173]

It's really important to remember that Hearst paid $220M for WBBH and only WBBH. WZVN remains owned by Montclair, and while that LMA likely added to the value of the station, they still do not own it. 

 

[Rusty Muck 4688]

1 hour ago, dman748 said:

There is no scale disadvantage for Hearst, they are fine where they're at, they don't buy stations unless it's for the right station and for the right price.

Are you not looking at Fort Myers??? They have a major scale disadvantage going against five television stations and eleven radio stations!!! Does anyone in this platform have any inkling as to how horribly lopsided the playing field has been thrown in the McBrides favor?

 

Forget about ratings and all that garbage. I'm only talking about revenue and the McBrides can bully Hearst out of the market completely with scale.

 

Of course, after Nexstar swallows up Tegna and Gray gobbles down Scripps, Hearst and Graham will be painfully small and easy takeover bait.

 

1 hour ago, dman748 said:

It's not ludicrious that Hearst spent $200M plus to get WBBH/WZVN

It is. I said it the day it was made and I'll say it to my grave, Hearst screwed up buying into a older market like this with no hope for any political ad revenue. And plunking down that amount for one station and one LMA? Waterman is forever laughing all the way to the bank at how stupid Hearst was.

[mre29 1967]

[Thought I was responding to the latest post, but I was two pages off. Whoops...]

 

Edited September 5, 2025 by mre29

[dman748 1316]

24 minutes ago, Rusty Muck said:

Are you not looking at Fort Myers??? They have a major scale disadvantage going against five television stations and eleven radio stations!!! Does anyone in this platform have any inkling as to how horribly lopsided the playing field has been thrown in the McBrides favor?

 

Forget about ratings and all that garbage. I'm only talking about revenue and the McBrides can bully Hearst out of the market completely with scale.

 

Of course, after Nexstar swallows up Tegna and Gray gobbles down Scripps, Hearst and Graham will be painfully small and easy takeover bait.

 

It is. I said it the day it was made and I'll say it to my grave, Hearst screwed up buying into a older market like this with no hope for any political ad revenue. And plunking down that amount for one station and one LMA? Waterman is forever laughing all the way to the bank at how stupid Hearst was.

I have and there is no scale disadvantage for Hearst and no the McBride's cannot bully Hearst out of the market, if anything it's more likely we both bully each other out of the forum before the McBride's bully Hearst out of Fort Myers. Hearst wasn't dumb when they purchased WBBH and the LMA for WZVN they knew what they we're doing I've already said that they knew what they we're doing I don't know how many times, in fact we'd be having the same debate over this had Nexstar and Gray bought WBBH/WZVN. The Waterman's knew that Edith had a goal of getting out of the broadcasting business before her 100th birthday, she did exactly that, there really was no stupidity on either side.

[ColtFromGulfcoast 869]

5 minutes ago, dman748 said:

in fact we'd be having the same debate over this had Nexstar and Gray bought WBBH/WZVN

Thank you!! Would we be saying the same thing if Nexstar had bought WBBH and in the process, moved a certain network to a WBBH subchannel? I know that doesn't mean much but them having three network affiliations would still stand. 

[Rusty Muck 4688]

1 minute ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Thank you!! Would we be saying the same thing if Nexstar had bought WBBH and in the process, moved a certain network to a WBBH subchannel? I know that doesn't mean much but them having three network affiliations would still stand. 

I can assure you that Nexstar would not have wasted $220M on WBBH and a lease for WZVN.

[MediaZone4K 2661]

13 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

It's like a reverse Youngstown, except this time it's the family-owned group that's owns the market. 

 

At least in Youngstown, WFMJ holds its own and does quite well against WKBN, WYTV and WYFX.

 

And the two markets are quite opposite.  Youngstown has been withering away for decades while SWFL is booming with anyone willing to move there.

Yep. The population influx is evident the rising real estate prices. Despite all it's flaws, it's Florida. Offer people a year round beach, consistent sunshine, large houses and a tropical aesthetic --

as opposed to the industrial Midwest ----- and they will come.

Edited September 5, 2025 by MediaZone4K

[dman748 1316]

16 minutes ago, Rusty Muck said:

I can assure you that Nexstar would not have wasted $220M on WBBH and a lease for WZVN.

Yeah they would have because they'd have to go up against the McBride's and you'd be saying the same thing you're saying about Hearst being "bullied" out of Fort Myers so you're wrong on that assumption

[Recovering Producer 410]

44 minutes ago, Weeters said:

It's really important to remember that Hearst paid $220M for WBBH and only WBBH. WZVN remains owned by Montclair, and while that LMA likely added to the value of the station, they still do not own it. 

 

 

It is also worth noting the exclusive option for Hearst to acquire WZVN is at a 2023 base price of $4.46 million, with an annual escalation minimum of $133,800. 

 

Source: https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f91874e5250018756995d3503e2 - last page

 

I'm curious how quickly they'll acquire it once new ownership rules are in place. 

[Rusty Muck 4688]

23 minutes ago, dman748 said:

I have and there is no scale disadvantage for Hearst and no the McBride's cannot bully Hearst out of the market, if anything it's more likely we both bully each other out of the forum before the McBride's bully Hearst out of Fort Myers.

This forum is a non-stop lovefest for Hearst, the company that can do no wrong, ever. Math apparently takes a vacation here as well.

27 minutes ago, dman748 said:

Hearst wasn't dumb when they purchased WBBH and the LMA for WZVN they knew what they we're doing I've already said that they knew what they we're doing I don't know how many times, in fact we'd be having the same debate over this had Nexstar and Gray bought WBBH/WZVN.

Hearst was dumb and foolish and it bit them in the butt. They had no idea what they were doing setting a quarter of a billion dollars on fire for no reason.