Media General merging with Meredith

[tyrannical bastard 3955]

Also Hearst's headquarters is in NYC but they don't own any station(s) there. I think their closest stations to NYC where Hearst's Headquarters is are in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Boston.

 

WTNH would be even closer...Hartford/New Haven is practically a distant suburb of NYC.

 

Does WVIT beat them in the ratings? If Hearst was to grab this station, expect quick and drastic changes like they did with WVTM in Birmingham....

[Hexagonal10 84]

WNTH just got a new set, and so did WFSB. I'd throwing my vote on keeping WTNH / WCTX

[oklahomanewsman 210]

WTNH would be even closer...Hartford/New Haven is practically a distant suburb of NYC.

 

Does WVIT beat them in the ratings? If Hearst was to grab this station, expect quick and drastic changes like they did with WVTM in Birmingham....

I think WFSB is the ratings leader in the Hartford market, then WTNH is 2nd followed by WVIT in 3rd. I think if Hearst buys WTNH expect quick and drastic changes similar to what they did to WVTM in Birmingham

[T.L. Hughes 890]

So then if Tribune could acquire KOIN outright because they're not one of the highest rated stations in Portland would they have to sell off a few stations just to buy KOIN?

Again, that's not necessary. KRCW would be out of the top four threshold, KOIN would be within the threshold. Since they are both Portland stations, a duopoly would be legal provided that the number of stations in Portland is large enough to allow a third duopoly. FCC ownership caps for individual markets differ from those for national ownership coverage, so Tribune would not need to sell any stations in any other markets to get KOIN.

 

The situations in Nashville, Hartford, Mobile, Springfield and Greenville with Meredith and Media General are different; both companies own stations in the same market that are among the four highest-rated, but in Mobile, Hartford, Portland and Greenville, one company owns a second station whose viewership is below the top four and therefore, the merged company can keep the lower-rated station (WFNA, WCTX, KPDX and WYCW) in any event if they so choose but must sell one of the conflicting top-four-rated stations (WKRG or WALA, WFSB or WTNH, KOIN or KPTV and WSPA or WHNS) to someone else. Portland is the only one of those four markets where the creation of a new duopoly by a company that has existing ownership of a local station is possible, since KRCW is the only standalone non-Big Four outlet in any of those markets.

 

BTW, does anyone know if the number of television stations in Portland is large enough to support a third duopoly?

[oklahomanewsman 210]

Again, that's not necessary. KRCW would be out of the top four threshold, KOIN would be within the threshold. Since they are both Portland stations, a duopoly would be legal provided that the number of stations in Portland is large enough to allow a third duopoly. FCC ownership caps for individual markets differ from those for national ownership coverage, so Tribune would not need to sell any stations in any other markets to get KOIN. The situations in Nashville, Hartford, Mobile, Springfield and Greenville with Meredith and Media General are different; both companies own stations in the same market that are among the four highest-rated, but in Mobile, Hartford, Portland and Greenville, one company owns a second station whose viewership is below the top four and therefore, the merged company can keep the lower-rated station (WFNA, WCTX, KPDX and WYCW) in any event if they so choose but must sell one of the conflicting top-four-rated stations (WKRG or WALA, WFSB or WTNH, KOIN or KPTV and WSPA or WHNS) to someone else. Portland is the only one of those four markets where the creation of a new duopoly is possible, since KRCW is the only standalone non-Big Four outlet in any of those markets.

 

BTW, does anyone know if the number of television stations in Portland is large enough to support a third duopoly?

So then out of those conflicted markets there could potentially be new duopolies within those conflicted markets (Ex. WFSB/WCTX, or WALA/WFNA).

 

I think a 3rd duopoly in the Portland market (depending on everything working out smoothly) between KOIN and KRCW is in the works.

[Brother 83]

BTW, does anyone know if the number of television stations in Portland is large enough to support a third duopoly?

 

As it stands, Portland is at the minimum eight separate owners, so a third duopoly shouldn't be possible:

(2) KATU and (16) KUNP are owned by Sinclair;

(6) KOIN is owned by Media General;

(8) KGW is owned by Sander, to be sold to Tegna;

(10) KOPB, (7) KOAC, and (13) KTVR are owned by Oregon Public Broadcasting;

(12) KPTV and (49) KPDX are owned by Meredith;

(22) KPXG is owned by Ion Media Networks;

(24) KNMT is owned by TBN;

(32) KRCW is owned by Tribune.

[promoguy98 253]

According to a Harry Jessell article this morning from TVNewsCheck, an analyst at Wells Fargo is saying that the Meredith deal may be in trouble. If true, it sounds like it may take longer to get the deal through the usual cogs of the deal-making beast.

 

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/88426/wells-fargo-meredith-deal-may-be-in-trouble

[AJClementeFan69 477]

I think WFSB is the ratings leader in the Hartford market, then WTNH is 2nd followed by WVIT in 3rd. I think if Hearst buys WTNH expect quick and drastic changes similar to what they did to WVTM in Birmingham

 

As I understand it WTNH does well in the New Haven side of the market (being based there and all) and not so well on the Hartford side...consequently, I think it tends to focus on the New Haven area in its news coverage.

[tyrannical bastard 3955]

According to a Harry Jessell article this morning from TVNewsCheck, an analyst at Wells Fargo is saying that the Meredith deal may be in trouble. If true, it sounds like it may take longer to get the deal through the usual cogs of the deal-making beast.

 

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/88426/wells-fargo-meredith-deal-may-be-in-trouble

 

A consensus of MediaLife readers seem to think that the Meredith magazines will be divested.....

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/readers-meredith-titles-will-be-sold-off/

 

Magazines are different from Newspapers....in this case, Meredith's publications like Better Homes & Gardens have established brand names that extend far beyond their magazines. Digital content and even brand licensing are potentially lucrative revenue streams that could be lost if the magazines are sold off.

 

Leaving MMG with only the television stations would keep the company on it's floundering path of vague losses, poorly executed digital efforts, and mounting debt. It's beginning to make Sinclair look like a well-run operation. At least with them, they've been firmly under the hand of the Smiths, while Media General has been sucked up by a hedge fund that keeps racking up more debt and changing leadership every time they swallow another company...

[channel2 979]

Yeah, Media General's strategy of striking a mega-merger deal literally every year and piling on massive amounts of debt from each company they buy (LIN had nearly a BILLION dollars in debt, though Young had far less than that) is really troubling.

[mardek1995 200]

Yeah, Media General's strategy of striking a mega-merger deal literally every year and piling on massive amounts of debt from each company they buy (LIN had nearly a BILLION dollars in debt, though Young had far less than that) is really troubling.

Even Meredith has $772 million worth of debt. I can see why such deal is trouble for Media General and would be better off going to either Cox or Raycom, as well as why Sinclair is a better run company than Media General.

[atlnews2 591]

Even Meredith has $772 million worth of debt. I can see why such deal is trouble for Media General and would be better off going to either Cox or Raycom, as well as why Sinclair is a better run company than Media General.

 

How is Sinclair a better run company? Don't they have a ton of dept as well ?

[channel2 979]

And aren't both Cox and Raycom private companies run in a manner that keeps their debts low-to-nonexistent?

[atlnews2 591]

And aren't both Cox and Raycom private companies run in a manner that keeps their debts low-to-nonexistent?

 

Not only that, they are also private companies. They are not under pressure from shareholders to grow

[mardek1995 200]

Not only that, they are also private companies. They are not under pressure from shareholders to grow

In that case, why didn't Sinclair think of buying Meredith instead of Media General, even if they still had to divest some stations?

[channel2 979]

Not only that, they are also private companies. They are not under pressure from shareholders to grow

 

I already said they were private!

 

In that case, why didn't Sinclair think of buying Meredith instead of Media General, even if they still had to divest some stations?

 

Maybe they did and their offer was deemed a poor fit. Someone in TVNewsCheck's comments said that Meredith was looking for a buyer, whether it be Media General or not. Both of Meredith's major business segments have big question marks hovering over them, and Sinclair may not have been interested in buying the company outright if it meant taking on Better Homes and Gardens and its magazine siblings. (Though they arguably have a brighter future ahead than the TV stations do)

[scrabbleship 429]

Sinclair and Meredith overlap in one total market and dealing with this would cause massive headaches in places such as Nashville, Flint, and Mobile where Sinclair has their hands in many stations as it is.

 

Would they pay that much mainly to get into Atlanta, Phoenix, Hartford, and back into KC?

[NEOMatrix 1299]

I wouldn't be surprised if MG is look at bankruptcy next year from buying almost $5 BILLION in M&As. Even Sinclair didn't buy that much compared to MG. Someone said that MG feels more like LIN, but it feels like Sinclair on steroids mixed with a little incompetence from Scripps.

[scrabbleship 429]

I wouldn't be surprised if MG is look at bankruptcy next year from buying almost $5 BILLION in M&As. Even Sinclair didn't buy that much compared to MG. Someone said that MG feels more like LIN, but it feels like Sinclair on steroids mixed with a little incompetence from Scripps.

 

Somehow MG doesn't feel as off-putting as Sinclair is. Can't put my finger on why.

[channel2 979]

It's because MG does not parade around their delusions of being a major media company and aggressively exploit loopholes to increase market share (Young and LIN dabbled in that, and they inherited these arrangements).

 

The magazines alone would make MMG much more prominent than Sinclair.

[atlnews2 591]

I already said they were private!

 

 

 

 

my bad, missed that part. sorry

[SS8609 59]

Frankly, I'm surprised Media General is buying Meredith, since I thought all along that Hearst was the better suitor for Meredith. Just think of how Hearst would have marketed the hell out of Better Homes & Gardens, even possibly launch a digital subchannel or cable channel to compete with Scripps' HGTV. The TV station consolidation business really is full of strange bedfellows, indeed.

 

As far as the conflicts go, here's how I think they will fall:

 

Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville: WSPA (CBS) and WYCW (CW) are the official duopoly here in the Western Carolinas, which gives them an advantage over Sinclair's fake "duopoly" of WLOS (ABC) and WMYA (MY). Also, MG master controls its CBS stations out of WSPA and there's no way in hell MG is going to sell a cornerstone of their company to get in line. WHNS (Fox) will be sold. My bets are on Raycom since they have a presence in the larger Southeast region, since Sinclair can't own any more stations, Tribune is a bit too big for its britches, and Bahakel is likely consolidation bait -- they don't even have the Fox affiliation in Charlotte anymore. Raycom also carries and produces sports broadcasts for the ACC, which is important here due to Clemson, and having a local station here would be a major coup.

 

Hartford/New Haven: WFSB (CBS) is the Hartford station in a market dominated by Hartford. WTNH (ABC) is the New Haven station in a market where New Haven is essentially the "hinterlands" of NYC. And WCTX (MY) is the wild card with a barter syndicated "network" full of reruns. WTNH and WCTX are integrated wholly, and Meredith has a Springfield station with a Fox subchannel and a CBS LP (more on that later). WFSB will be sold because of the duopoly integration down in New Haven. Hearst would be the perfect suitor, since WFSB is a market leader just like WCVB in Boston and also co-owns ESPN which is based in Bristol, and having a station in Hartford would put Hearst closer to a true Yankee Network 2.0, minus all the deceptive trade practices and advertising kickbacks.

 

Mobile/Pensacola: WALA (Fox) going to Meredith last year was a big surprise, since everyone thought WKRG (CBS) would have been the one sold off. But WFNA (CW) does not seem to have been fully integrated with WKRG yet, and apparently MMG is seeing plenty of remorse here. That being said, this is a coin flip decision, and I will say WALA gets sold again, but this time to Raycom since it would give them a full set of stations in Alabama, plus a reunion of sorts with WVUE in New Orleans with WLOX/Biloxi in the middle. If WKRG gets sold, it will likely be to Gray which already owns stations in Dothan and Panama City with links to CBS, though a Raycom purchase might also work with WKRG -- just not with as much synergy as WALA.

 

Nashville: WSMV is the dominant of the two over WKRN. WKRN has long been a red-headed stepchild in this market, even with preseason Tennessee Titans games and MNF broadcasts of the Titans. Again, Hearst would be the perfect suitor, since it co-owns ESPN which produces and airs the MNF telecasts. Sinclair is fully stacked in the market, so don't expect the Smiths to drop money in the Music City anytime soon.

 

Portland (OR): There are ten full-power signals in Portland (12 if you count the stations in La Grande which technically are actually closer geographically and topographically to Boise than Portland if you check out La Grande on Google Earth). After MG and Meredith, the rest of the lot is owned by USA Today's castaways (KGW), the Chicago Tribune's castaways (KRCW), the highly capitalist Smith family (KATU, plus KUNP out of LG), the "pay for pray" Crouches (KNMT), the remnants of Bud Paxson's empire (KPXG), and the Oregon taxpayers (OPB, including KOPB, plus KOAC way down in Corvallis and KTVR way out in LG). That's EIGHT owners. No more duopolies.

 

So it's pick and choose time here. The duopoly of KPTV (Fox)/KPDX (MY) is more familiar to the combined entity, so KOIN (CBS) will get sold again. Tribune can't do a bait-and-switch here, so once again Hearst would be the perfect suitor. It would give them a Pacific Northwest presence, plus no need to change the newscast title, just keep KOIN 6 News and call it a day, the only problem is Hearst has a small CBS presence. If not Hearst, Cox would work as well, since they already own KIRO just up I-5 in Seattle.

 

Springfield/Holyoke (MA): There are only three stations here in western Mass: WWLP (NBC), WGGB (ABC) and WGBY (PBS). MMG will keep WWLP (NBC) since that has been in the MG digestive tract for a long time. WGGB was a former Sinclair property, but I don't even see Sinclair getting that station considering how liberal western Mass is compared to the more conservative Boston suburbs (remember, SBG is known to have a conservative bent with their operations). Especially in this case, Hearst would be the perfect suitor. It means collaborating with WCVB on Massachusetts concerns, and with WMUR, WMTW and WPTZ/WNNE on all of New England. Plus, it would further expand Hearst's MNF strangehold in the short-term (given its ties to ESPN) assuming Tom Brady does not retire (and also assuming the NFL does not pull off a Pete Rose on Brady). The only sticking point? Fox. But no worries here either. If Hearst is still allergic to Rupert Murdoch, then WWLP will be glad to pick it up, CBS will quietly slide over to WGGB-DT2, and WSHM-LD will be handed over to the FCC.

 

So there you have it. The simplest plan to shake things up in the conflict zone. Hearst gets stations in the other (albeit much bigger) Portland, Hartford and western Massachusetts, plus a further Southern expansion in Nashville, and Raycom gets to fill the map in Alabama and South Carolina.

 

Capeesh?

[GoldenShine9 1513]

One thing we all have to admit is that Media General is an honest company. They are willing to dispose of assets to meet their ambitions and don't seem interested in loopholes. As far as I know, MG has never shelled any stations on their own (only inherited shells from Young and LIN).

[T.L. Hughes 890]

Frankly, I'm surprised Media General is buying Meredith, since I thought all along that Hearst was the better suitor for Meredith. Just think of how Hearst would have marketed the hell out of Better Homes & Gardens, even possibly launch a digital subchannel or cable channel to compete with Scripps' HGTV. The TV station consolidation business really is full of strange bedfellows, indeed.

 

As far as the conflicts go, here's how I think they will fall:

 

Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville: WSPA (CBS) and WYCW (CW) are the official duopoly here in the Western Carolinas, which gives them an advantage over Sinclair's fake "duopoly" of WLOS (ABC) and WMYA (MY). Also, MG master controls its CBS stations out of WSPA and there's no way in hell MG is going to sell a cornerstone of their company to get in line. WHNS (Fox) will be sold. My bets are on Raycom since they have a presence in the larger Southeast region, since Sinclair can't own any more stations, Tribune is a bit too big for its britches, and Bahakel is likely consolidation bait -- they don't even have the Fox affiliation in Charlotte anymore. Raycom also carries and produces sports broadcasts for the ACC, which is important here due to Clemson, and having a local station here would be a major coup.

 

Hartford/New Haven: WFSB (CBS) is the Hartford station in a market dominated by Hartford. WTNH (ABC) is the New Haven station in a market where New Haven is essentially the "hinterlands" of NYC. And WCTX (MY) is the wild card with a barter syndicated "network" full of reruns. WTNH and WCTX are integrated wholly, and Meredith has a Springfield station with a Fox subchannel and a CBS LP (more on that later). WFSB will be sold because of the duopoly integration down in New Haven. Hearst would be the perfect suitor, since WFSB is a market leader just like WCVB in Boston and also co-owns ESPN which is based in Bristol, and having a station in Hartford would put Hearst closer to a true Yankee Network 2.0, minus all the deceptive trade practices and advertising kickbacks.

 

Mobile/Pensacola: WALA (Fox) going to Meredith last year was a big surprise, since everyone thought WKRG (CBS) would have been the one sold off. But WFNA (CW) does not seem to have been fully integrated with WKRG yet, and apparently MMG is seeing plenty of remorse here. That being said, this is a coin flip decision, and I will say WALA gets sold again, but this time to Raycom since it would give them a full set of stations in Alabama, plus a reunion of sorts with WVUE in New Orleans with WLOX/Biloxi in the middle. If WKRG gets sold, it will likely be to Gray which already owns stations in Dothan and Panama City with links to CBS, though a Raycom purchase might also work with WKRG -- just not with as much synergy as WALA.

 

Nashville: WSMV is the dominant of the two over WKRN. WKRN has long been a red-headed stepchild in this market, even with preseason Tennessee Titans games and MNF broadcasts of the Titans. Again, Hearst would be the perfect suitor, since it co-owns ESPN which produces and airs the MNF telecasts. Sinclair is fully stacked in the market, so don't expect the Smiths to drop money in the Music City anytime soon.

 

Portland (OR): There are ten full-power signals in Portland (12 if you count the stations in La Grande which technically are actually closer geographically and topographically to Boise than Portland if you check out La Grande on Google Earth). After MG and Meredith, the rest of the lot is owned by USA Today's castaways (KGW), the Chicago Tribune's castaways (KRCW), the highly capitalist Smith family (KATU, plus KUNP out of LG), the "pay for pray" Crouches (KNMT), the remnants of Bud Paxson's empire (KPXG), and the Oregon taxpayers (OPB, including KOPB, plus KOAC way down in Corvallis and KTVR way out in LG). That's EIGHT owners. No more duopolies.

 

So it's pick and choose time here. The duopoly of KPTV (Fox)/KPDX (MY) is more familiar to the combined entity, so KOIN (CBS) will get sold again. Tribune can't do a bait-and-switch here, so once again Hearst would be the perfect suitor. It would give them a Pacific Northwest presence, plus no need to change the newscast title, just keep KOIN 6 News and call it a day, the only problem is Hearst has a small CBS presence. If not Hearst, Cox would work as well, since they already own KIRO just up I-5 in Seattle.

 

Springfield/Holyoke (MA): There are only three stations here in western Mass: WWLP (NBC), WGGB (ABC) and WGBY (PBS). MMG will keep WWLP (NBC) since that has been in the MG digestive tract for a long time. WGGB was a former Sinclair property, but I don't even see Sinclair getting that station considering how liberal western Mass is compared to the more conservative Boston suburbs (remember, SBG is known to have a conservative bent with their operations). Especially in this case, Hearst would be the perfect suitor. It means collaborating with WCVB on Massachusetts concerns, and with WMUR, WMTW and WPTZ/WNNE on all of New England. Plus, it would further expand Hearst's MNF strangehold in the short-term (given its ties to ESPN) assuming Tom Brady does not retire (and also assuming the NFL does not pull off a Pete Rose on Brady). The only sticking point? Fox. But no worries here either. If Hearst is still allergic to Rupert Murdoch, then WWLP will be glad to pick it up, CBS will quietly slide over to WGGB-DT2, and WSHM-LD will be handed over to the FCC.

 

So there you have it. The simplest plan to shake things up in the conflict zone. Hearst gets stations in the other (albeit much bigger) Portland, Hartford and western Massachusetts, plus a further Southern expansion in Nashville, and Raycom gets to fill the map in Alabama and South Carolina.

 

Capeesh?

 

A couple of questions: who is the ACC Network affiliate in Greenville? Also, as SS8609 pointed out, Fox is the only network that Hearst hasn't bothered to include affiliate stations from in its portfolio (they own ABC, CBS, NBC, CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates as well as independent stations). Given that they even chose to sell WTGS to Sinclair (though that was more about avoiding being subjected to the FCC's newfound scrutiny on sharing agreements if anything), you have to wonder, what is with Hearst's reluctance to operate Fox affiliates?

 

While Hearst doesn't own that many CBS affiliates, I'm on the fence whether they would be interested in KOIN; it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I think they might be in the middle of the totem pole on the increasingly short list of potential buyers. I'm not sure how much of a difference in synergy there would be if Raycom bought either WALA or WKRG, I would think that either would be synergized quite similarly with the rest of Raycom's Alabama News Network content sharing-wise.

 

One thing we all have to admit is that Media General is an honest company. They are willing to dispose of assets to meet their ambitions and don't seem interested in loopholes. As far as I know, MG has never shelled any stations on their own (only inherited shells from Young and LIN).

Yeah, you got to give MG credit for that. They're not trying to put all their eggs in one basket in conflicting markets with the three deals they've done, unlike the shellers Sinclair and Nexstar, and Gray, which is more willing to take out what the FCC defines as a voice by giving up their license and shoving their programming to a subchannel (the only way you'd get those three to stop doing that is for the FCC to force apart shells from the control of pure-play broadcasters via a ban, and to close the subchannel loophole by barring broadcasters from acquiring another local station for the purpose of shutting it down and moving its programming to another station).

 

Although, technically, GoldenShine forgot about the WAGT-WJBF JSA/SSA arrangement in Augusta, which Gray is now planning to break up with its purchase of Schurz. That deal predated MG's recent buying spree (the agreement was struck in 2009).

[mardek1995 200]

One thing we all have to admit is that Media General is an honest company. They are willing to dispose of assets to meet their ambitions and don't seem interested in loopholes. As far as I know, MG has never shelled any stations on their own (only inherited shells from Young and LIN).

Gannett/TEGNA is also one of the more honest companies because it's willing to dispose of assets to meet its ambitions (such as selling off KMOV to Meredith in favor of keeping KSDK), and isn't interested in loopholes either.