mardek1995 200 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Two of today's Newsblues headlines say that MG is leaning towards the Nexstsr offer AND a decision is expected tomorrow to reject Meredith. Having traded in and out of MG's stock lately, it's been a wild and fun ride. We'll see if Newsblues is right and if a decision comes tomorrow. That just means they're considering being bought by Nexstar. They could reach a decision to still merge with Meredith. Also, I think Jeff Smith doesn't know much about the TV industry like he does most other industries. And should Nexstar buy Media General, they should keep its DC bureau, cut down on the cost cutting, bring drones to some of their stations (including KLAS since the station sold off its helicopter), and put diginets into its stations (Comet TV is a good example, as well as Ion Television as a subchannel). Besides, they have the money to invest in stations so why don't they start investing in their stations a little more? It'll bring more revenue because more people will be watching their stations and they'll become more competitive with other stations that they compete with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 805 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If and I say if.. Meredith deals get killed all together and Meredith still looking to merge with another company. Hearst & Meredith seems to be a good fit. However there's a fly in the ointment with (2) markets where both companies own stations at. Kansas City KMBC & KCTV Greenville, SC WYFF & WHNS I also wish Gannett/Tegna would make a play for Media General. It probably be over their cap, and there would be several markets where Tegna & MG would have stations at. Tampa-St. Pete Portland, OR Indianapolis (Channel 8 & Newspaper-not sure about that one) Austin,TX Grand Rapids, MI Buffalo, NY Knoxville, TX I'm not for the Nexstar-MG deal, and the MG and Meredith deal look very promising, but Nexstar IMO is a killjoy with this deal. I did see another site where some employees said they will wait to see if the deal goes through. Sounds like the employees on the Media General side will bolt if Nexstar gets their greedy hands on these stations. I really wish for the 11th hour for TEGNA to step in, or somebody at MG say no go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Yeah, I agree @mardek1995 that Nexstar should invest more. I believe the new Meredith Media General would see more investment into the stations. If the Nexstar deal to purchase MG goes through, unless there is a major shakeup in the structure of how Nexstar is run, you will see all of the former Media General/Young/Lin Stations adopt cheap, standardized looks and an Arnold package and be ran on the cheap cheap cheap. Some of these stations are market legends with a unique appeal and sound - - all of that would get stripped away with Nexstar... think WAVY, WFLA, WISH and so many others. For a couple of legacy Media Stations, (cough cough WKRG, WJBF) the Nexstar approach would be a step-up, but this is certainly too big of a deal to say "one size fits all." The uniqueness of so many stations will simply go poof. I'm with you @Breaking News - the stock market loves the idea of a MG/Nexstar marriage, even though I've traded the MG stock the past two or three months, my belief is with a combined MG/Meredith company that the stations would ultimately see more investment and get to keep more of their own say in how they approach their own unique market, be able to stand out and have a say in the marketing/branding of their product. With Nexstar, everything will be driven from a top-down corporate approach with plenty of mandates, much like how the OLD Media General operated from the late 90's through the late 2000's. That approach ultimately failed and certainly would not work well today. I wouldn't blame many folks from bolting if Nexstar gets a hold of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardek1995 200 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 [quote name='promoguy98']Yeah, I agree @mardek1995 that Nexstar should invest more. I believe the new Meredith Media General would see more investment into the stations. If the Nexstar deal to purchase MG goes through, unless there is a major shakeup in the structure of how Nexstar is run, you will see all of the former Media General/Young/Lin Stations adopt cheap, standardized looks and an Arnold package and be ran on the cheap cheap cheap. Some of these stations are market legends with a unique appeal and sound - - all of that would get stripped away with Nexstar... think WAVY, WFLA, WISH and so many others. For a couple of legacy Media Stations, (cough cough WKRG, WJBF) the Nexstar approach would be a step-up, but this is certainly too big of a deal to say "one size fits all." The uniqueness of so many stations will simply go poof. I'm with you @Breaking News - the stock market loves the idea of a MG/Nexstar marriage, even though I've traded the MG stock the past two or three months, my belief is with a combined MG/Meredith company that the stations would ultimately see more investment and get to keep more of their own say in how they approach their own unique market, be able to stand out and have a say in the marketing/branding of their product. With Nexstar, everything will be a corporate-driven environment, much like how the OLD Media General operated from the late 90's through the late 2000's. That approach did not work before and certainly would not work now. I wouldn't blame many folks from bolting if Nexstar gets ahold of them.[/QUOTE] Not to mention that Gray Television does local better than Nexstar has. And it seems that the stock market rewards corporate-driven environments since while the approach doesn't work, it does for certain shareholders (including Starboard Value, and especially Jeff Smith who, as I said earlier, does not understand the TV business). If I was to be one, even a minority shareholder, I would tell Media General that the Nexstar deal monopolizes the TV industry because they are really going to operate some of the overlapping stations through JSA (or MSA or something else) by petitioning the FCC that it "helps the revenue flowing" (not the exact quote, but still).Someone should really email either Perry Sook (or Nexstar), Meredith Corporation, or Media General about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If and I say if.. Meredith deals get killed all together and Meredith still looking to merge with another company. Hearst & Meredith seems to be a good fit. However there's a fly in the ointment with (2) markets where both companies own stations at. Kansas City KMBC & KCTV Greenville, SC WYFF & WHNS I also wish Gannett/Tegna would make a play for Media General. It probably be over their cap, and there would be several markets where Tegna & MG would have stations at. Tampa-St. Pete Portland, OR Indianapolis (Channel 8 & Newspaper-not sure about that one) Austin,TX Grand Rapids, MI Buffalo, NY Knoxville, TX I'm not for the Nexstar-MG deal, and the MG and Meredith deal look very promising, but Nexstar IMO is a killjoy with this deal. I did see another site where some employees said they will wait to see if the deal goes through. Sounds like the employees on the Media General side will bolt if Nexstar gets their greedy hands on these stations. I really wish for the 11th hour for TEGNA to step in, or somebody at MG say no go. A Tegna-MG deal would place them at about 45% if my math is correct. To get under the cap they would have to dump a few stations in big markets, or maybe they could make a play with the FCC to go over the cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardek1995 200 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 What about a Hearst-MG deal or a Scripps-MG deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 What about a Hearst-MG deal or a Scripps-MG deal? On the Speculatron thread I posted the conflicts with other MG acquisitions - most have between 5 and 10 conflicts as well. Sinclair is the messiest with 21 conflicts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eat News 4738 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 On the Speculatron thread I posted the conflicts with other MG acquisitions - most have between 5 and 10 conflicts as well. Sinclair is the messiest with 21 conflicts. Yes.... But every one of those 'conflicts' are potential profit in the sale/trade/exchange etc of those stations. You don't think they will take a loss on ANY of those conflicts do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 805 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 A Tegna-MG deal would place them at about 45% if my math is correct. To get under the cap they would have to dump a few stations in big markets, or maybe they could make a play with the FCC to go over the cap. Who do you think they would dump if TEGNA-MG deal were to happen? (of course it wouldn't, but humor me on this ) We know WFLA v. WTSP along with KGW v. KOIN, KVUE v. KXAN, WOOD v. WZZM, WGRZ v. WVIB, WATE v. WBIR and in Indy WISH v. Indy Star. Conflicting stations??? Gannett owned them since 1983, NOW TEGNA, but I don't know why I think KARE 11 would look even better under Hearst. 45% over the cap oh, yeah some stations would have to be dump? Give me your take on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Who do you think they would dump if TEGNA-MG deal were to happen? (of course it wouldn't, but humor me on this ) We know WFLA v. WTSP along with KGW v. KOIN, KVUE v. KXAN, WOOD v. WZZM, WGRZ v. WVIB, WATE v. WBIR and in Indy WISH v. Indy Star. Conflicting stations??? Gannett owned them since 1983, NOW TEGNA, but I don't know why I think KARE 11 would look even better under Hearst. 45% over the cap oh, yeah some stations would have to be dump? Give me your take on this one? Tegna spun off The Indianapolis Star along with the rest of Gannett, so Indy is all taken care of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hexagonal10 84 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Who do you think they would dump if TEGNA-MG deal were to happen? (of course it wouldn't, but humor me on this ) We know WFLA v. WTSP along with KGW v. KOIN, KVUE v. KXAN, WOOD v. WZZM, WGRZ v. WVIB, WATE v. WBIR and in Indy WISH v. Indy Star. Conflicting stations??? Gannett owned them since 1983, NOW TEGNA, but I don't know why I think KARE 11 would look even better under Hearst. 45% over the cap oh, yeah some stations would have to be dump? Give me your take on this one? So, I'd keep WFLA, Undecided for Portland though KOIN keeps getting dumped, Likely KXAN, Undecided for Grand Rapids, WGRZ and it's WIVB who is seriously broken, WBIR and WISH. I really WISH this would go better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRolyPoly 1847 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 So, I'd keep WFLA, Undecided for Portland though KOIN keeps getting dumped, Likely KXAN, Undecided for Grand Rapids, WGRZ and it's WIVB who is seriously broken, WBIR and WISH. I really WISH this would go better. Aw not again with the call sign play. Portland's simple KOIN is gonna have a mess if that goes further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oklahomanewsman 210 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 If and I say if.. Meredith deals get killed all together and Meredith still looking to merge with another company. Hearst & Meredith seems to be a good fit. However there's a fly in the ointment with (2) markets where both companies own stations at. Kansas City KMBC & KCTV Greenville, SC WYFF & WHNS I also wish Gannett/Tegna would make a play for Media General. It probably be over their cap, and there would be several markets where Tegna & MG would have stations at. Tampa-St. Pete Portland, OR Indianapolis (Channel 8 & Newspaper-not sure about that one) Austin,TX Grand Rapids, MI Buffalo, NY Knoxville, TX I'm not for the Nexstar-MG deal, and the MG and Meredith deal look very promising, but Nexstar IMO is a killjoy with this deal. I did see another site where some employees said they will wait to see if the deal goes through. Sounds like the employees on the Media General side will bolt if Nexstar gets their greedy hands on these stations. I really wish for the 11th hour for TEGNA to step in, or somebody at MG say no go. I say if Hearst and Meredith merge I think Hearst will have a hard decision in Kansas City between keeping the partnership between KCTV and KMOV and breaking up the KCTV/KMOV partnership and retaining KMBC part of it also has to do with the Chiefs because KCTV shows most Chiefs regular season games as well as simulcasts of Thursday Night Football featuring the Chiefs (due to CBS' contract with the NFL) by keeping KCTV over KMBC KCTV then becomes the exclusive home to the Chiefs as they would then have the ability to simulcast Monday Night Football games involving the Chiefs as Hearst owns 20% of ESPN but keeping KMBC over KCTV will only break up the KCTV-KMOV Partnership. If I were Hearst and if I were to merge with Meredith I would chose to retain KCTV over KMBC due to those reasons that I just mentioned. At the same time KMOV could also simulcast MNF games involving the Rams (IF they're forced by the NFL to stay in St. Louis however that's another topic for another day). Back on topic, in the Carolinas easy choice Hearst retains WYFF and WHNS gets sold but wait a minute here, in Mobile you got another Fox station there (WALA-TV) Hearst yet again, have another tough decision should they sell WALA or keep WALA and create a partnership between WALA and WVTM in Birmingham? I'd also sell WALA with WHNS as Hearst is well known for owning NBC and ABC stations CBS is right in the middle for Hearst but they're not well known for owning a Fox station and besides that I highly doubt Hearst would want to own any stations affiliated with Fox but who knows Hearst might want to give it a try, we'll see if that works out or not for Hearst. Other than that I think a Merger between Hearst and Meredith makes the most sense for several reasons: 1. A Hearst-Meredith Merger would give Hearst not 1 but 2 Flagship stations should the combined company chose to retain their Headquarters in Des Moines (WFSB in Hartford and potentially KCCI in Des Moines) 2. It would consolidate their Magazine, Publishing and other assets. 3. It'll give Hearst more NFL Markets for the stations to simulcast ESPN Monday Night Football games involving their teams as markets like Nashville and potentially St. Louis joining markets like Milwaukee and Kansas City in that department. 4. It'll allow Western Mass News as well as WFSB to share resources with WFSB, WPTZ, WMUR and WMTW. As for a Merger between MG and TEGNA? Put that in the trash because that's not going to happen as MG would want to merge with either Meredith or Nexstar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oklahomanewsman 210 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 On the Speculatron thread I posted the conflicts with other MG acquisitions - most have between 5 and 10 conflicts as well. Sinclair is the messiest with 21 conflicts. And a possible Hearst-Meredith Merger would only result in 2 conflicts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3499 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 It would make for an interesting situation in Green Bay should Nexstar prevail. WBAY could be the sale victim if WFRV is kept, and especially if they still are essentially running WJMN. And since WLUK had to be sold off last year, only WGBA has been immune from conflict, despite even being sold itself to Scripps when they absorbed Journal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardek1995 200 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 It would make for an interesting situation in Green Bay should Nexstar prevail. WBAY could be the sale victim if WFRV is kept, and especially if they still are essentially running WJMN. Only thing is, what if investors want virtual duopolies? Will WJMN be operated via SSA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Only thing is, what if investors want virtual duopolies? Will WJMN be operated via SSA? WJMN is in a separate market, so Nexstar can keep it no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardek1995 200 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 WJMN is in a separate market, so Nexstar can keep it no problem. Sorry, I meant about WFRV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detroiter313 178 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Two of today's Newsblues headlines say that MG is leaning towards the Nexstar offer AND a decision is expected tomorrow to reject Meredith. Having traded in and out of MG's stock lately, it's been a wild and fun ride. We'll see if Newsblues is right and if a decision comes tomorrow. Looks like our worst case scenario will soon be realized if MG agrees to Nexstar's offer. And if that happens, be prepared for the following changes: Layoffs, news helicopters will be grounded, SSA/JSA agreements, the adoption of "Local" branding (along with a Stephen Arnold package; save those for the MG stations), adoption of (InsertCityName/RegionName) Homepage websites and last but certainly not least, Nexstar's policy of elimination of subchannels unless a CW or MyNetworkTV affiliation is needed. We may never know what tomorrow would bring, but if MG would want to save itself from further embarrassment, here's an idea, Kill both the Meredith and Nexstar deals and remain independent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Looks like our worst case scenario will soon be realized if MG agrees to Nexstar's offer. And if that happens, be prepared for the following changes: Layoffs, news helicopters will be grounded, SSA/JSA agreements, the adoption of "Local" branding (along with a Stephen Arnold package; save those for the MG stations), adoption of (InsertCityName/RegionName) Homepage websites and last but certainly not least, Nexstar's policy of elimination of subchannels unless a CW or MyNetworkTV affiliation is needed. We may never what tomorrow would bring, but if MG would want to save itself from further embarrassment, here's an idea, Kill both the Meredith and Nexstar deals and remain independent. I'll be shocked as heck if NewsBlues really had any scoop. Typically if there is truly a leak that leak would definitely be present on Wall Street and potentially a small hint or sign would have been reflected in today's stock price., typically some bigger funds would have been piling in or dumping out. The stock price was only down 5 cents today and the volume was fairly average outside of a 100k+ spike at the close of normal trading hours. I'd say either the bigger funds know and have placed their stakes or the "next" move with the merger is the most tight-lipped move ever. I have my doubts that news will break tomorrow but crazier things have happened. If the deal goes thru with Meredith, short selling traders will most likely try and temporary knock down MG's stock. If it's Nexstar, there should be a spike over time to their premium buyout price offer. Wall Street sure seems in love with the Nexstar deal. They should, since operations would mostly be run on the CHEAP. Most of these stations need investment not cheapness! Many of the Wall Street folks that buy in and sell out of broadcast-related stocks have no clue what it takes and means to be a broadcaster and that it REQUIRES more than short-term, "tomorrow" thinking. Hard to tell which way this thing will go. MG certainly has a pile of flies in the ointment to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hexagonal10 84 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Looks like our worst case scenario will soon be realized if MG agrees to Nexstar's offer. And if that happens, be prepared for the following changes: Layoffs, news helicopters will be grounded, SSA/JSA agreements, the adoption of "Local" branding (along with a Stephen Arnold package; save those for the MG stations), adoption of (InsertCityName/RegionName) Homepage websites and last but certainly not least, Nexstar's policy of elimination of subchannels unless a CW or MyNetworkTV affiliation is needed. We may never what tomorrow would bring, but if MG would want to save itself from further embarrassment, here's an idea, Kill both the Meredith and Nexstar deals and remain independent. Local 4 Columbus, YourColumbusProud and what else? Oh yeah. A generic set and those WROC graphics. And then if that happens, WBNS is the only station that really stands out in the market with different graphics and a set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardek1995 200 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I'll be shocked as heck if NewsBlues really had any scoop. Typically if there is truly a leak that leak would definitely be present on Wall Street and potentially a small hint or sign would have been reflected in today's stock price., typically some bigger funds would have been piling in or dumping out. The stock price was only down 5 cents today and the volume was fairly average outside of a 100k+ spike at the close of normal trading hours. I'd say either the bigger funds know and have placed their stakes or the "next" move with the merger is the most tight-lipped move ever. I have my doubts that news will break tomorrow but crazier things have happened. If the deal goes thru with Meredith, short selling traders will most likely try and temporary knock down MG's stock. If it's Nexstar, there should be a spike over time to their premium buyout price offer. Wall Street sure seems in love with the Nexstar deal. They should, since operations would mostly be run on the CHEAP. Most of these stations need investment not cheapness! Many of the Wall Street folks that buy in and sell out of broadcast-related stocks have no clue what it takes and means to be a broadcaster and that it REQUIRES more than short-term, "tomorrow" thinking. Let's tell that to WALL STREET AND EVERY SINGLE BROADCAST SHAREHOLDERS ABOUT THIS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 805 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Local 4 Columbus, YourColumbusProud and what else? Oh yeah. A generic set and those WROC graphics. And then if that happens, WBNS is the only station that really stands out in the market with different graphics and a set. Don't get too excited I was told by a source it only a matter of time when BNS & the family sells the cash cow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
who?cares 253 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Thoughts on who could buy stations in the 7 overlapping markets: Terre Haute, IN - WTWO - WTHI Fort Wayne, IN - WFFT- WANE Lafayette, LA KADN/KLAF- KLFY Harrisburg, PA WLHY- WHTM Green Bay, WI WFRV - WBAY Davenport, IA WHFB / KGCW - KWQC Roanoke, VA WFXR/ WWCW - WSLS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oklahomanewsman 210 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Don't get too excited I was told by a source it only a matter of time when BNS & the family sells the cash cow. Where would WBNS wound up being sold to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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