WHAG Loses NBC Affiliation

[Leavellebrett 85]

http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/official-nbc-affiliation-ending-with-whag-tv/article_77461d4a-d6a9-11e5-88eb-0fedba025d11.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Herald-Mail

 

By this summer NBC will be gone from Nexstar's station.

[nickp 297]

Hugh Breslin, general manager of WHAG-TV, said Thursday night that "we have plans to make a major announcement about exciting changes to our service and programming next week."

[atlnews2 562]

I thought Nexstar's size would help WHAG keep their affiliation, I guess not.

[Samantha 2878]

I thought Nexstar's size would help WHAG keep their affiliation, I guess not.

 

I'd say they'd go look for another network, but would any network accept that viewer loss to their main affiliate even in a small portion of the market?

 

If not, I'm expecting a "Local 25" in our future.

 

As to the decision itself, I'm surprised and not surprised. I feel like NBC finds it more important for a variety of reasons, including owning WRC, to have just one affiliate than it used to be. (That said, the WHAG signal contour as designed seems to serve an area that doesn't get WRC very well.) It is jarring to hear.

 

I would say WHAG might have a future with the incentive auction, being a potential daisy chain for the central Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Washington DC and even Pittsburgh markets, but it seems Nexstar wants to soldier on, and the newscasts probably attract a good following in the region.

 

As to the station's affiliation agreement, WHAG's last long-term agreement ran from January 1, 2006 to January 1, 2015. This affiliation agreement covered KAMR, KTAL and KARK as well. The ownership biennial lists a further NBC affiliation contract, for all of its NBC stations, that ran until the end of 2019.

 

No further affiliation agreement or list of contracts is available. KAMR does not display any further affiliation contracts in its file. I tried KRBC, another Nexstar station, and it has its old 1995 agreement (parts of which are unexpectedly not blacked out!).

[AJClementeFan69 477]

More hardball from Comcast along the lines of WMGM I'm guessing. (Although "hardball" implies there was negotiation...I'm assuming there was none and the affiliation was yanked at Comcast's whim)

 

My guess is HAG picks up one of the subchannel networks as an "affiliation" and probably does fine. It'll be similar to WFMZ in that regard.

 

I guess the "secondary" affiliates are almost extinct. WWSB and WOTV are about it aside from WHAG these days. At least those two don't have O&Os to compete with.

 

We used to have:

KVOS Bellingham (CBS) (1979)

KDUB Dubuque (ABC) (1995)

KNAZ Flagstaff (NBC) (semi-satellite 1996)

KNTV San Jose (ABC) (2001)

WMGM Wildwood/Atlantic City (2014)

 

(Not counting stations that have/had separate news departments but are/were co-owned with the primary affiliate in the market)

 

Am I missing any others?

[Samantha 2878]

I guess the "secondary" affiliates are almost extinct. WWSB and WOTV are about it aside from WHAG these days. At least those two don't have O&Os to compete with.

 

We used to have: ...

 

We almost had WWSB on that list — ABC wanted to yank their affiliation in 1994 when they moved to WFTS. I'm surprised WOTV still survives, honestly and now I want to make a Speculatron post...

It also occurred to me that WMUR could be said to be there, even though it is now a sister to WCVB, and if it doesn't apply, the different stations that attempted to be New Hampshire's CBS outlet over the years certainly would...

And of course, there's also KLKN versus NTV, which probably now comes down to "how long does the current Citadel Broadcasting remain in existence".

[tyrannical bastard 3474]

More hardball from Comcast along the lines of WMGM I'm guessing. (Although "hardball" implies there was negotiation...I'm assuming there was none and the affiliation was yanked at Comcast's whim)

 

My guess is HAG picks up one of the subchannel networks as an "affiliation" and probably does fine. It'll be similar to WFMZ in that regard.

 

I guess the "secondary" affiliates are almost extinct. WWSB and WOTV are about it aside from WHAG these days. At least those two don't have O&Os to compete with.

 

We used to have:

KVOS Bellingham (CBS) (1979)

KDUB Dubuque (ABC) (1995)

KNAZ Flagstaff (NBC) (semi-satellite 1996)

KNTV San Jose (ABC) (2001)

WMGM Wildwood/Atlantic City (2014)

 

(Not counting stations that have/had separate news departments but are/were co-owned with the primary affiliate in the market)

 

Am I missing any others?

 

WAKR/WAKC, the former ABC affiliate in Akron, Ohio. (now ion station WVPX).

They were perpetually in WEWS's shadow, but ran some of the shows they pre-empted like running both hours of GMA (since WEWS pre-empted the 8am hour in favor of their long-running Morning Exchange until mid 1994) and some of the pre-View ABC talk shows.

 

Paxson pulled the news plug in 1996 and ended their affiliation at the end of that year as well.

 

Back to WHAG.....no one ever saw that one coming....

Losing this and KRON will put them under the cap and some breathing room to expand

(San Francisco and Washington DC markets combined are a little over 4 PERCENT of the US...)

[broadcastfan9751 136]

I'd say they'd go look for another network, but would any network accept that viewer loss to their main affiliate even in a small portion of the market?

 

Maybe The CW if Tribune doesn't renew for WDCW? It wouldn't be the ideal situation for The CW since WHAG's signal doesn't reach Washington, but it does have Satellite carriage in Washington.

[AJClementeFan69 477]

We almost had WWSB on that list — ABC wanted to yank their affiliation in 1994 when they moved to WFTS. I'm surprised WOTV still survives, honestly and now I want to make a Speculatron post...

It also occurred to me that WMUR could be said to be there, even though it is now a sister to WCVB, and if it doesn't apply, the different stations that attempted to be New Hampshire's CBS outlet over the years certainly would...

 

And of course, there's also KLKN versus NTV, which probably now comes down to "how long does the current Citadel Broadcasting remain in existence".

 

Forgot about KLKN/NTV, good call...

[plnewsfan 9]

I could see WHAG switching from NBC to ABC.

[rkolsen 1679]

Seems pretty surprising. Based on some of the maps at RabbitEars WRC's signal does not make into WHAG's viewing area. I'd be surprised if they would dump this large of a viewing area without a backup. This is a bit different from them removing the affiliation from WMGM where WCAU had pretty decent coverage for most of the WMGM viewing area.

[NEOMatrix 1295]

Seems pretty surprising. Based on some of the maps at RabbitEars WRC's signal does not make into WHAG's viewing area. I'd be surprised if they would dump this large of a viewing area without a backup. This is a bit different from them removing the affiliation from WMGM where WCAU had pretty decent coverage for most of the WMGM viewing area.

Comcast is relying on the cable and satellite carriage of WRC to help curb the loss of WHAG's affiliation. It dosen't surprise me at all.

[mvcg66b3r 97]

Do you think Nexstar will drop NBC on other stations in retaliation?

[nickp 297]

I guess Comcast must feel now that a small station in the middle of nowhere is cannibalizing enough of WRC's audience to warrant ending a 40 year relationship

[TheRolyPoly 1847]

Don't you think it's weird that this is happening on NBC, but not on ABC as much?

 

After all, we lost WMGM and soon, WHAG. But WWSB is still around as secondary ABC.

[TVNewsLover 728]

Don't you think it's weird that this is happening on NBC, but not on ABC as much?

 

After all, we lost WMGM and soon, WHAG. But WWSB is still around as secondary ABC.

 

But NBC added WRDE, so it's not like NBC is only dropping affiliates. They seem to have a strategy in not wanting to have two separately owned affiliated in the same market. And ABC tried to dump WWSB, but WWSB petitioned the FCC and won.

 

BTW, I think there is pending question for you (as a response to one of your statements) in the "Graham's Future" thread.

[Rusty Muck 4174]

Comcast is relying on the cable and satellite carriage of WRC to help curb the loss of WHAG's affiliation. It dosen't surprise me at all.

Yup. It's Comcast extorting the general public, just like in Boston. "Ya really want to see NBC OTA programming? Well, you have no choice but to pay us to see it!"

 

Comcast knows full well that people are cord-cutting across the country. This tactic is nothing more than them acting like bullies and punishing cord-cutters, because without the revenue from their cable bundles, they cease to exist.

[Rusty Muck 4174]

WAKR/WAKC, the former ABC affiliate in Akron, Ohio. (now ion station WVPX).

They were perpetually in WEWS's shadow, but ran some of the shows they pre-empted like running both hours of GMA (since WEWS pre-empted the 8am hour in favor of their long-running Morning Exchange until mid 1994) and some of the pre-View ABC talk shows.

 

Paxson pulled the news plug in 1996 and ended their affiliation at the end of that year as well.

WAKR-WAKC was a money loser from day one, BECAUSE it was in the shadow of the Cleveland market. If Akron was another 30-50 miles away from Cleveland, a case could have been made for it being a separate market.

 

The revenue from WAKR 1590 propped up WAKR-TV for years, an advantage which ended after the Berk family sold their radio station group. It was a miracle that local news lasted on channel 23 as long as it had.

[johnothy 43]

Don't most markets with two of the same network affiliates originate back to the early years of television with signal shortfalls? I'm not sure why Boston has WMUR 9 in Manchester as a second ABC station, but it is co-owned now with WCVB in Boston. At one time the market had a separate CBS station in New Hampshire as well but that didn't work out. They also have New Hampshire PBS and an independent station. I'm not sure why the Manchester area couldn't be it's own DMA when there are other smaller areas around the country that are considered separate DMAs with only serving one or two counties.

[T.L. Hughes 753]

Seems pretty surprising. Based on some of the maps at RabbitEars WRC's signal does not make into WHAG's viewing area. I'd be surprised if they would dump this large of a viewing area without a backup. This is a bit different from them removing the affiliation from WMGM where WCAU had pretty decent coverage for most of the WMGM viewing area.

OOTH, WHAG's signal does overlap with WJAC and WGAL, and heavily so, in much of south-central Pennsylvania.

 

I guess the "secondary" affiliates are almost extinct. WWSB and WOTV are about it aside from WHAG these days. At least those two don't have O&Os to compete with.

 

Am I missing any others?

Although it is a separate market, St. Joseph, Missouri sort of counts... but it really is more of a Kansas City sub-market, since the commercial stations in both areas have significant signal overlap. In that case, KQTV, KNPN and KBJO are the primary ABC, Fox and CW affiliates, while KMBC, WDAF and KCWE are the secondary, even though the latter three cover St. Joseph proper very well.

[tyrannical bastard 3474]

Although its higly unlikely, Hagerstown is far enough away from DC to break away into its own market, but given it's dependence on Washington DC (which stretches all the way into Cumberland & Allegany county) and the many people who commute into DC who live out there keep it part of the market despite the signal reach. Charlottesville is the same way with commuters but they are their own market with a full slate of networks, thanks to Gray filling it out with WCAV, WAHU and WVAW.

 

Makes me wonder how much longer Zanesville will remain a market seeing as they only have WHIZ and depend on Columbus to fill in the gaps. When was the last time a market went away....when Tuscaloosa and Anniston merged into Birmingham?

[rkolsen 1679]

Although its higly unlikely, Hagerstown is far enough away from DC to break away into its own market, but given it's dependence on Washington DC (which stretches all the way into Cumberland & Allegany county) and the many people who commute into DC who live out there keep it part of the market despite the signal reach. Charlottesville is the same way with commuters but they are their own market with a full slate of networks, thanks to Gray filling it out with WCAV, WAHU and WVAW.

 

 

To be honest I don't know why it's a split market. The signals don't overlap/reach each other at all and its two diverse populations.

[GoldenShine9 1509]

This definitely looks like NBC and Comcast bullying the station to get WRC on cable there to me. How well do WJLA and WUSA do with their signals beyond the Blue Ridge? Since neither network owns those stations, they can't bully Nexstar as easily.

 

Could Nexstar retaliate and push away more valuable NBC affiliations? In many of their markets, NBC would have nowhere else to go but a subchannel (and, in some cases, a .3 or .4)...

[atlnews2 562]

OOTH, WHAG's signal does overlap with WJAC and WGAL, and heavily so, in much of south-central Pennsylvania.

 

 

Although it is a separate market, St. Joseph, Missouri sort of counts... but it really is more of a Kansas City sub-market, since the commercial stations in both areas have significant signal overlap. In that case, KQTV, KNPN and KBJO are the primary ABC, Fox and CW affiliates, while KMBC, WDAF and KCWE are the secondary, even though the latter three cover St. Joseph proper very well.

 

 

I would think WHAG would also have significant overlap with WBAL as well

[nickp 297]

It’s possible this would go nowhere, but Nextar, unlike NBC40 in Southern New Jersey, does have some pockets. I think they should file a complaint with the FCC and/or sue on anti-trust violations