Media General merging with Meredith

[Rusty Muck 4378]

Why are people saying that Tribune will sell WHO-TV? Tribune isn't going to give up a station in political ad heavy Iowa, it is too valuable to give up.

Ditto. Tribune would be utterly insane to sell WHO-TV. It just isn't happening.

[tyrannical bastard 3955]

The ONLY way Meredith even has a chance to own in Des Moines is to throw a wad of cash at either Nexstar or Sinclair for either of their stations. But since they have not pursued this or any other Des Moines opportunity in the past, it's not very likely...

 

Media General was restricted from owning TV in their home market of Richmond because of their newspaper there. They even had to trade off WTVR when they acquired Park. It was only after the newspapers were sold off that they could own WRIC through their merger with Young...

[oklahomanewsman 210]

The ONLY way Meredith even has a chance to own in Des Moines is to throw a wad of cash at either Nexstar or Sinclair for either of their stations. But since they have not pursued this or any other Des Moines opportunity in the past, it's not very likely...

 

Media General was restricted from owning TV in their home market of Richmond because of their newspaper there. They even had to trade off WTVR when they acquired Park. It was only after the newspapers were sold off that they could own WRIC through their merger with Young...

MMG could buy WOI that wouldn't be that much of a problem there (same with KDSM)

[LTSC1980 112]

Did you mean Landmark?

Gosh......fixed.

[mardek1995 200]

Of all companies that would buy Meredith, Media General will? I was thinking Raycom would buy it considering the fact that none of Meredith's stations conflict with Raycom's stations. Seeing that Meredith Media General (the upcoming name for the new Media General) now has conflicts in 6 markets I now have some ideas on how the sales of their TV stations should play out.

 

For Connecticut, they have 2 options, sell off WFSB (possibly along with its semi-satellite station, WSHM) to TEGNA and keep WTNH, or sell WTNH to Hearst for it to boost its already strong presence in the New England area and keep WFSB and WSHM. I prefer the second option because as I just mentioned, it helps Hearst boost its presence in New England, but either way, it helps boost MMG's presence in New England.

 

For Springfield, MA, out of WSHM, WWLP or WGGB, WSHM is the only one that can be legally acquired by MMG, so with that being said, either WWLP or WGGB should be sold to Hearst for sure.

 

For Portland, OR, they should sell KPTV and KPDX (and KPDX's semi-satellite, KUBN-LD) to Fox (and keep KOIN), seeing as they might as well acquire KCPQ and KZJO (and possibly change Joe TV's call letters back to KMYQ) in June of 2018 when Q13's affiliation agreement with Fox expires.

 

For Moblie, AL/Pensacola, FL, Raycom should get either WALA or WSPA as it will further boost its already strong presence in Alabama.

 

For Nashville, Hearst should either get WKRN, or WSMV since they're known for having the majority of their stations affiliated with either NBC or ABC.

 

For the Carolinas (the Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson DMA), this is where it's the most problematic of the 6 markets with conflicting stations. First off, the 2 companies that Media General traded and sold stations to (this doesn't include Meredith), Sinclair and Hearst, both own stations that are in the top 4 of the Carolinas DMA (WLOS and WYFF, respectively), and second, if WSPA is sold, they'll have to reroute the master control to WHNS. And for spinning off of either station comes down to Nexstar, TEGNA, and Raycom, especially the latter two because they have stations in both Carolinas (TEGNA has WCNC, WFMY, and WLTX, while Raycom has WIS, WBTV (no relation to Warner Bros. despite the call letters), WCSC, WMBF, and WECT) which by either getting WSPA or WHNS (MMG will likely keep WSPA), they'll strengthen their presence over there.

 

Also, they might as well buy WMGT, actually, all of Morris Network's stations (the TV subsidiary of Morris Media) while they're at it since none of them conflict with any of their stations.

 

And that's how I think the merger between Media General and Meredith should play out.

 

*On a sidenote to anyone living in the Grand Rapids area (not including Muskegon), especially in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, be prepared to see content from Better Homes and Gardens, Allrecipies, and Parents and Shape (among other of Meredith's assets) in WOTV's website once the merger is done.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

Of all companies that would buy Meredith, Media General will? I was thinking Raycom would buy it considering the fact that none of Meredith's stations conflict with Raycom's stations. Seeing that Meredith Media General (the upcoming name for the new Media General) now has conflicts in 6 markets I now have some ideas on how the sales of their TV stations should play out.

 

For Connecticut, they have 2 options, sell off WFSB (possibly along with its semi-satellite station, WSHM) to TEGNA and keep WTNH, or sell WTNH to Hearst for it to boost its already strong presence in the New England area and keep WFSB and WSHM. I prefer the second option because as I just mentioned, it helps Hearst boost its presence in New England, but either way, it helps boost MMG's presence in New England.

 

For Springfield, MA, out of WSHM, WWLP or WGGB, WSHM is the only one that can be legally acquired by MMG, so with that being said, either WWLP or WGGB should be sold to Hearst for sure.

 

For Portland, OR, they should sell KPTV and KPDX (and KPDX's semi-satellite, KUBN-LD) to Fox (and keep KOIN), seeing as they might as well acquire KCPQ and KZJO (and possibly change Joe TV's call letters back to KMYQ) in June of 2018 when Q13's affiliation agreement with Fox expires.

 

For Moblie, AL/Pensacola, FL, Raycom should get either WALA or WSPA as it will further boost its already strong presence in Alabama.

 

For Nashville, Hearst should either get WKRN, or WSMV since they're known for having the majority of their stations affiliated with either NBC or ABC.

 

For the Carolinas (the Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson DMA), this is where it's the most problematic of the 6 markets with conflicting stations. First off, the 2 companies that Media General traded and sold stations to (this doesn't include Meredith), Sinclair and Hearst, both own stations that are in the top 4 of the Carolinas DMA (WLOS and WYFF, respectively), and second, if WSPA is sold, they'll have to reroute the master control to WHNS. And for spinning off of either station comes down to Nexstar, TEGNA, and Raycom, especially the latter two because they have stations in both Carolinas (TEGNA has WCNC, WFMY, and WLTX, while Raycom has WIS, WBTV (no relation to Warner Bros. despite the call letters), WCSC, WMBF, and WECT) which by either getting WSPA or WHNS (MMG will likely keep WSPA), they'll strengthen their presence over there.

 

Also, they might as well buy WMGT, actually, all of Morris Network's stations (the TV subsidiary of Morris Media) while they're at it since none of them conflict with any of their stations.

 

And that's how I think the merger between Media General and Meredith should play out.

 

*On a sidenote to anyone living in the Grand Rapids area (not including Muskegon), especially in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, be prepared to see content from Better Homes and Gardens, Allrecipies, and Parents and Shape (among other of Meredith's assets) in WOTV's website once the merger is done.

My question is if and I mean IF Hearst buys either WKRN or WSMV would the Tennessee Titans games on ESPN's Monday Night Football end up airing on one of those stations? I'm thinking buying WKRN makes sense since how they already have Titans related programing and they air Titans preseason games as well. The reason why I ask is because most Hearst stations in NFL Markets (Such as KMBC/Kansas City, WISN/Milwaukee and WBAL-TV/Baltimore) all do air simulcasts of their NFL teams' games featured on Monday Night Football. On top of that I think MMG would be foolish to keep WKRN over WSMV (because I think WSMV is ahead of WKRN in terms of the ratings). I also can see Hearst buying WTNH/WCTX as well for that very reason. I think Hearst will have both New England and the Southeast covered with those acquisitions of those 3 stations.

[T.L. Hughes 890]

TVNewsCheck's Harry A. Jessell has written his take on the Meredith-Media General merger and has made predictions on two markets affected by the deal.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

TVNewsCheck's Harry A. Jessell has written his take on the Meredith-Media General merger and has made predictions on two markets affected by the deal.

Very good article and I agree I think the complex is just too much to say who goes where, etc. But 2 stations in 2 markets that we all know that Meredith Media General will keep once the merger closes in June of next year: in Hartford: WFSB is retain WTNH/WCTX sold. in Greenville: MMG retains WSPA/WYCW While WHNS is sold and in Springfield, MA. Western Mass News is retained while WWLP is sold. Another market he forgot to mention in the article is in Mobile MMG retains WKRG/WFNA while WALA gets sold off. As far as Nashville and Portland are concerned this is where it gets complicated. Nashville is up in the air why? Because in here on this thread I've seen some users say they keep WKRN and spin off WSMV and I've seen some (including myself) say they keep WSMV while WKRN is sold. in Portland I think MMG keeps KPTV/KPDX but what happens to KOIN? can Tribune buy KOIN? because TEGNA can't buy KOIN Sinclair can't buy KOIN either. Would Hearst make sense for KOIN? I'm not sure. But at least 4 out of 6 markets we do know that those are the stations that are retain and spun off to other groups. Only Nashville and Portland is where we gotta figure out those cards. Also why WSPA should be retained exactly what someone on an earlier post said. WHNS could be sold to Tribune but the problem is 1. They're at the 39% cap. 2. If Tribune uses any station as a sidecard (a.k.a. Dreamcatcher) the FCC would slam Tribune for it.

[Rusty Muck 4378]

Of all companies that would buy Meredith, Media General will? I was thinking Raycom would buy it considering the fact that none of Meredith's stations conflict with Raycom's stations.

Except that Raycom is controlled by the Retirement Systems of Alabama and is employee-owned.

 

For Portland, OR, they should sell KPTV and KPDX (and KPDX's semi-satellite, KUBN-LD) to Fox (and keep KOIN), seeing as they might as well acquire KCPQ and KZJO (and possibly change Joe TV's call letters back to KMYQ) in June of 2018 when Q13's affiliation agreement with Fox expires.

Portland doesn't have an NFL team, let alone an NFC team. Plus, Fox didn't want KPTV in the first place, as they traded it to Meredith in exchange for WOFL/WOGX. Why would they want it now?

 

As for Fox owning a station in Seattle, their spat with Tribune proved that they have no leverage. Tribune rejected a KCPQ-for-WPWR trade outright, and the only station that Fox could buy in Seattle was an extreme rimshot which targeted Vancouver that would have had zero chance at being competitive in the long run. KCPQ/KXJO will remain in Tribune's hands, in their respective affiliations, for years to come.

[Rusty Muck 4378]

For those who wonder why Raycom doesn't do that much deal making, this is why.

[mardek1995 200]

Now that Fox not wanting KPTV/KPDX is taken into account, the only other company that I can think of who would buy them or KOIN is Cox.

[scrabbleship 429]

For those who wonder why Raycom doesn't do that much deal making, this is why.

 

How after that they had the funds for the Aflac, Ellis, Federal, and Malrite buys is a bit amazing.

 

This is more Speculatron territory but what if the seed group for Raycom wasn't Ellis and Aflac but instead was Park?

[Eat News 4745]

As tvMidwest pointed out Meredith up to this point has not shown interest in owning a station in their hometown. Going through history the closest to Des Moines that Meredith had stations were Omaha (WOW radio and TV) and Kansas City (KCMO radio and TV, Nee KCTV).

 

In the past twenty years or so, Des Moines big 3 affiliates have all changed owners at least once. To my knowledge, Meredith has not entered the bidding for any of them at any time. The question is why is that?

 

Maybe Meredith doesn't want to shit where it sleeps.

[nickp 337]

Divesting of WWLP makes the best play of all Instant ability to improve a position in a market with greater revenue potential than Springfield.

[scrabbleship 429]

Divesting of WWLP makes the best play of all Instant ability to improve a position in a market with greater revenue potential than Springfield.

 

The WWLP vs. WGGB/WSHM situation has shades of WJAR vs. WPRI/WNAC. Even with having added The CW there is just more potential revenue with the latter.

[T.L. Hughes 890]

To quash any speculation about Meredith buying any station in Des Moines, not every station group owns a television station in the city where they're headquartered. Cases in point, Nexstar: it's based in Irving, Texas, but the company doesn't own a station in Dallas-Fort Worth (not that they'd ever have the chance to buy one as most of the major television stations there would require a big loan or a cash-on-hand/loan combo buy to get because of their expense and the fact that eight of them, with WFAA and KDAF as the exceptions, are owned by groups that operate network O&Os, with KTXA as the only one that isn't an O&O); the closest stations it has to DFW are in Wichita Falls, Abilene, Waco and Tyler (the last two of which were added to Nexstar's portfolio through the recent ComCorp purchases).

 

Same with the former Newport Television: its predecessor, Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia), did have a station in its headquarters of San Antonio when Fox traded WOAI to them in its trade deal for WFTC following the Chris-Craft purchase, but when the company spun off its TV group to focus on its radio stations, the buyer of the group, Newport, based itself in Kansas City; the closest stations Newport had to its homebase were in Tulsa, Little Rock and Memphis.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

Now that Fox not wanting KPTV/KPDX is taken into account, the only other company that I can think of who would buy them or KOIN is Cox.

Yep and the only way how Tribune gets involved in this deal is if they do something about their 3 stations Dreacatcher owns but Tribune operates. But even that would require some swapping with a few stations as well. Btw has the FCC slammed Tribune for that yet? Because with the FCC being very strict about sharing agreements I'm shocked they haven't slammed Tribune for using Dreamcatcher as a sidecard for those 3 stations.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

To quash any speculation about Meredith buying any station in Des Moines, not every station group owns a television station in the city where they're headquartered. Cases in point, Nexstar: it's based in Irving, Texas, but the company doesn't own a station in Dallas-Fort Worth (not that they'd ever have the chance to buy one as most of the major television stations there would require a big loan or a cash-on-hand/loan combo buy to get because of their expense and the fact that eight of them, with WFAA and KDAF as the exceptions, are owned by groups that operate network O&Os, with KTXA as the only one that isn't an O&O); the closest stations it has to DFW are in Wichita Falls, Abilene, Waco and Tyler (the last two of which were added to Nexstar's portfolio through the recent ComCorp purchases).

 

Same with the former Newport Television: its predecessor, Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia), did have a station in its headquarters of San Antonio when Fox traded WOAI to them in its trade deal for WFTC following the Chris-Craft purchase, but when the company spun off its TV group to focus on its radio stations, the buyer of the group, Newport, based itself in Kansas City; the closest stations Newport had to its homebase were in Tulsa, Little Rock and Memphis.

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.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

Divesting of WWLP makes the best play of all Instant ability to improve a position in a market with greater revenue potential than Springfield.

AND it keeps Western Mass News together

[T.L. Hughes 890]

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.

I meant to mention that. WCVB, WMUR and WBAL are three of the closest stations to Hearst's headquarters in New York City, but WGAL is closer in market proximity to company HQ than WTAE is.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

I meant to mention that. WCVB, WMUR and WBAL are three of the closest stations to Hearst's headquarters in New York City, but WGAL is closer in market proximity to company HQ than WTAE is.

Oops I forgot to mention that. Can't leave out smaller markets like that. Haha

[T.L. Hughes 890]

Yep and the only way how Tribune gets involved in this deal is if they do something about their 3 stations Dreacatcher owns but Tribune operates. But even that would require some swapping with a few stations as well. Btw has the FCC slammed Tribune for that yet? Because with the FCC being very strict about sharing agreements I'm shocked they haven't slammed Tribune for using Dreamcatcher as a sidecard for those 3 stations.

The FCC is most concerned now about unraveling joint sales agreements (although there has been Congressional attempts to grandfather existing JSAs despite the FCC's vote to ban them). Dreamcatcher was used as a sidecar for the purpose of acquiring the three stations it couldn't buy in Norfolk and Scranton because of cross-ownership restrictions since Tribune owned mewspapers in those markets before it spun off its publishing unit, and the arrangement is in the form of a shared services agreement (which the agency has yet to consider banning outright). The FCC's crackdown on sharing agreements deals more with using sidecars to buy stations a company can't legally own themselves due to in-market ownership caps for television stations where a company already owns a station. The Dreamcatcher arrangement does not involve any existing Tribune-owned stations in the two markets since the company did have any stations in Scranton and Norfolk beforehand, plus it was greenlit in December 2013 during the Local TV purchase, months before the FCC started to take a tougher stance on sharing agreements. So unless they use Dreamcatcher to acquire any new stations, the FCC won't do anything.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

The FCC is most concerned now about unraveling joint sales agreements (although there has been Congressional attempts to grandfather existing JSAs despite the FCC's vote to ban them). Dreamcatcher was used as a sidecar for the purpose of acquiring the three stations it couldn't buy in Norfolk and Scranton because of cross-ownership restrictions since Tribune owned mewspapers in those markets before it spun off its publishing unit, and the arrangement is in the form of a shared services agreement (which the agency has yet to consider banning outright). The FCC's crackdown on sharing agreements deals more with using sidecars to buy stations a company can't legally own themselves due to in-market ownership caps for television stations where a company already owns a station. The Dreamcatcher arrangement does not involve any existing Tribune-owned stations in the two markets since the company did have any stations in Scranton and Norfolk beforehand, plus it was greenlit in December 2013 during the Local TV purchase, months before the FCC started to take a tougher stance on sharing agreements. So unless they use Dreamcatcher to acquire any new stations, the FCC won't do anything.

So then they could use Dreamcatcher to acquire KOIN-TV (should they attempt to buy KOIN-TV) in Portland and the FCC won't do a single thing about it correct?

[T.L. Hughes 890]

So then they could use Dreamcatcher to acquire KOIN-TV (should they attempt to buy KOIN-TV) in Portland and the FCC won't do a single thing about it correct?

The last line of my post illustrates that's not likely. The FCC would heavily scrutinize the use of acquiring KOIN through Dreamcatcher, but not the existing arrangements with WTKR/WGNT and WNEP since those were greenlit before the Commission started to consider restricting sharing agreements and since Tribune didn't use Dreamcatcher to create a virtual duopoly or triopoly in Scranton and Norfolk. Create a virtual duopoly in Portland between KOIN and KRCW, and Tribune would have no choice but to restructure the deal to pass muster with the FCC. Unless the market doesn't have enough stations to allow a third legal duopoly, the translator coverage differences between KOIN and KRCW might not be enough of an issue to keep Tribune from buying KOIN outright since they already own a station in Portland that is not among the four highest-rated stations.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

The last line of my post illustrates that's not likely. The FCC would heavily scrutinize the use of acquiring KOIN through Dreamcatcher, but not the existing arrangements with WTKR/WGNT and WNEP since those were greenlit before the Commission started to consider restricting sharing agreements and since Tribune didn't use Dreamcatcher to create a virtual duopoly or triopoly in Scranton and Norfolk. Create a virtual duopoly in Portland between KOIN and KRCW, and Tribune would have no choice but to restructure the deal to pass muster with the FCC. Unless the market doesn't have enough stations to allow a third legal duopoly, the translator coverage might not be enough of an issue to keep Tribune from buying KOIN outright since they already own a station in Portland that is not among the four highest-rated stations.

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?