Jess 1110 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 From FTVLIVE.com and many of you want FOX to buy Tribune. However how well would that play out in NY, LA, Chicago and many other markets? Also could we see WJW back in FOX hands? I rather see FOX get this win! https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/5/1/look-out-sinclair-rupert-wants-tribune I wouldn't. The carnage in the top three markets would be enormous. You'd essentially have one 10pm news operation in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. WPIX, KTTV, and WFLD would be decimated. Those are the big prizes regardless of who buys the company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 No one ever said they couldn't change duopoly partners. Hearst owning Fox affiliates would be weird at first, but I guess we could get used to it. That said, I could see Hearst being a contender for Tribune's midsize-market non-Fox stations such as WREG, WTKR/WGNT, WTVR, WQAD, etc. And Hearst is interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 And Hearst is interested. Hearst can't acquire KFOR, KFSM, KTXL, WDAF, WGHP, WGNO, WHO, WITI or WPMT without selling their current stations. Of those markets, only Fort Smith would be a real upgrade for them so I'd expect the rest to go on the market (along with KHBS/KHOG so that KFSM can be kept) if Hearst purchased Tribune. They could split duopolies and give KOCO and WDSU a duopoly partner though. I think WGNO is Sinclair bait if any conflict is created (meaning any of Tegna, Raycom or Hearst acquires Tribune). I can't see anyone else who would be interested in such a dog station. Reminiscent in a way of the Fox/Savoy JV that converted WALA, WLUK, KHON and WVUE to Fox affiliates, while exploiting the system like Sinclair happily does. The irony of those is that they all have different owners now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Now that so many companies are, or may be, interested, here's where each company (other than the networks themselves) runs into a conflict* (from most to fewest) among potential buyers: Nexstar (14) - Des Moines, Fort Smith, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Hampton Roads, Harrisburg et. al., Hartford-New Haven, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Memphis, Portland (OR)**, Quad Cities, Richmond, Salt Lake City, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Sinclair (13) - Des Moines, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Greensboro et. al., Hampton Roads, Harrisburg et. al., Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Portland (OR), Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Richmond, Salt Lake City, Seattle, St. Louis Tegna (10) - Cleveland, Denver, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Greensboro et. al., Hampton Roads, New Orleans, Portland (OR)**, Sacramento, Seattle, St. Louis Hearst (9) - Des Moines, Fort Smith, Greensboro et. al., Harrisburg et. al., Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Sacramento Scripps (6) - Cleveland, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Diego Raycom (5) - Cleveland, Huntsville, Memphis, New Orleans, Richmond Meredith (4) - Hartford-New Haven, Kansas City, Portland (OR), St. Louis Cox (2) - Memphis, Seattle *Newly created legal duopolies are not considered conflicts **May be able to be reconciled with the failing station waiver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Ideally, if Tribune does not want to sell it's stations piece-meal, then FOX/Blackstone is the way to go. They may eventually be willing to sell any acquired assets they don't want, piece-meal (down the line). If Sinclair gets a hold of Tribune...good luck. They won't be selling anything. Plus, imagine all the cuts they're going to instill. Also, I can't imagine them not revisiting a NewsCentral 2.0 approach, but on steroids this time around. Basically a television version of iHeartMedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Ideally, if Tribune does not want to sell it's stations piece-meal, then FOX/Blackstone is the way to go. They may eventually be willing to sell any acquired assets they don't want, piece-meal (down the line). If Sinclair gets a hold of Tribune...good luck. They won't be selling anything. Plus, imagine all the cuts they're going to instill. Also, I can't imagine them not revisiting a NewsCentral 2.0 approach, but on steroids this time around. Basically a television version of iHeartMedia. Fox knows this, plus they saw what happened when Baton Broadcasting bought into the CTV co-op system. They know a Tribune-Sinclair merger would be a nightmare for them. Sinclair would have too much control and influence on the network. Remember when Sinclair refused to run an installment of Nightline because Ted Koppel dared to run a list of those KIA in Iraq? What's to stop them from canceling The Simpsons or Family Guy across the entire chain because they get critical of the Republican Party or Sinclair itself? Such censorship isn't out of the realm of possibility. Fox is making this deal solely as a preventative measure. To save the industry from itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Fox knows this, plus they saw what happened when Baton Broadcasting bought into the CTV co-op system. They know a Tribune-Sinclair merger would be a nightmare for them. Sinclair would have too much control and influence on the network. Remember when Sinclair refused to run an installment of Nightline because Ted Koppel dared to run a list of those KIA in Iraq? What's to stop them from canceling The Simpsons or Family Guy because they get critical of the Republican Party or Sinclair itself? Fox is making this deal solely as a preventative measure. They could always strip the affiliation of all the Sinclair/Tribune stations as a result, although they would have a hard time finding a new home in some markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 They could always strip the affiliation of all the Sinclair/Tribune stations as a result, although they would have a hard time finding a new home in some markets. In markets where Sinclair finagled ways into triopolies through Cunningham and Stirik sidecars? That changes from "hard time" to "utterly impossible." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 In markets where Sinclair finagled ways into triopolies through Cunningham and Stirik sidecars? That changes from "hard time" to "utterly impossible." They could always go to a .2 of another owner's station, but that would be a last resort. I think Baltimore would be the biggest nightmare, since they would either have to deal with Scripps (not the strongest Fox owner) or Hearst (who has nothing with Fox), as WJZ is a CBS O&O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 They could always go to a .2 of another owner's station, but that would be a last resort. I think Baltimore would be the biggest nightmare, since they would either have to deal with Scripps (not the strongest Fox owner) or Hearst (who has nothing with Fox), as WJZ is a CBS O&O. There is a last resort. They could buy WMDE in Dover, which has its transmitter located in Talbot County, Maryland (part of the Baltimore market.). They could use that as the affiliate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 What about KDAF and KIAH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 What about KDAF and KIAH? Either they or KDFI and KTXH would have to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowBergen 486 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 A Fox takeover guarantees a breakup. They probably just want the TV production studios, WGN America and KCPQ/KXJO (and WPHL for a Philly duopoly)... and a preventative means to protect Fox and the other affiliate chains from being shouted down by the Smith family. Everything else is up for grabs. With CBS soon to be freed from their radio division, I wouldn't count them out as suitors for KTLA and WPIX. As for Fox's spin-offs to LocalTV? Who knows. I mean, I'd be shocked if they were really going to keep them... but if it means that Cleveland is spared from the wrath of Sinclair, it's definitely manageable. CBS already owns two stations in NY and LA. That is going to be problematic. Same with Fox. Tribune would get more money selling the top 3 markets independently (and not to Sinclair). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Overall, a FOX buyout could be very destructive to the TV landscape because of the affiliation issues that could happen. Now if they decide to only focus on the top markets, they could reform their duopolies and relinquish the licenses of their auctioned stations, unless they have the ability to hold a legal triopoly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 But a potentially bigger issue would be suddenly having Fox owned stations in markets where there are already successful Fox affiliates. For instance, in Miami where Tribune owns WSFL and Sunbeam owns the monster Fox affiliate WSVN. Or New Orleans where Tribune owns ABC affiliate WGNO and Raycom owns Fox affiliate WVUE. Depending on affiliation agreements, Fox might be able to move their network to the newly acquired stations, but why would they want to? So, do they spin off those Tribune stations too? Earlier, FTVLive touched on the possibility of Fox trading WOFL (and WRBW) to Raycom in exchange for WVUE, because of, you guessed it, NFC Football rights. Of course, at the time, WVUE was still under the ownership of Tom Benson, who owns the Saints, and operated by Raycom, so everyone was talking about how ridiculous it would be for Fox to potentially pull its programming from the station that is under common ownership with the team. Based on how desperate they were in Seattle and Charlotte, I wouldn't put it past them to try that crap in New Orleans. It'd be best if Fox simply took it's affiliates and their duopoly partners, as well as WPHL in Philadelphia, and let someone else have the rest of Tribune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Earlier, FTVLive touched on the possibility of Fox trading WOFL (and WRBW) to Raycom in exchange for WVUE, because of, you guessed it, NFC Football rights. Of course, at the time, WVUE was still under the ownership of Tom Benson, who owns the Saints, and operated by Raycom, so everyone was talking about how ridiculous it would be for Fox to potentially pull its programming from the station that is under common ownership with the team. Based on how desperate they were in Seattle and Charlotte, I wouldn't put it past them to try that crap in New Orleans. It'd be best if Fox simply took it's affiliates and their duopoly partners, as well as WPHL in Philadelphia, and let someone else have the rest of Tribune. However, Raycom seems to get along well just fine with Fox, and is an O&O really important in DMA 50? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 However, Raycom seems to get along well just fine with Fox, and is an O&O really important in DMA 50? If one isn't important in Green Bay, which is a similar size, why would one be important there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1340 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Now that so many companies are, or may be, interested, here's where each company (other than the networks themselves) runs into a conflict* (from most to fewest) among potential buyers: I think it might be easier to list where they would not run into conflicts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 748 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I'd love to see Raycom or Hearst enter Michigan and take WXMI -- still shudder to think if Sinclair took over.. Although having WXMI be a Fox O&O would be interesting too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Hearst actually sounds pretty good- they know how to run their stations, plus they haven't really done much in the past few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1340 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I'd love to see Raycom or Hearst enter Michigan and take WXMI -- still shudder to think if Sinclair took over.. Although having WXMI be a Fox O&O would be interesting too... I don't know how WXMI does against the competition in its market -- stations owned by Sinclair (WWMT), Nexstar (WOOD/WOTV), and Tegna (WZZM) -- but I bet it would be fun to watch Hearst wipe the floor with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth Kissel 280 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Here is My Opinion on what is Best for Tribune to sell its stations with Hearst as the Main Partner. WPIX, KTLA, WGN, WDCW, WTVR,WTKR, WGNT, KCPQ, KZJO, KPLR, KTVI, WXIN,WTTV, WPMT, WITI ,WGHP, and WGN America should go to Hearst. WSFL, KDAF, and KWGN to CBS Corp. KIAH, KRCW, and WXMI To Tenga KDVR,WJW, KTXL, and KSWB, To Fox. WTIC,WCCT, WNEP, WHNT, WQAD, KFSM,KXNW , CLTV, This TV, and Antenna TV To Sinclair WDAF, WGNO, WNOL to Scripps KSTU to Bonneville International KFOR, KAUT, WREG, WHO to Cox WGN (AM) goes to Entercom to be run similar to WCBS and WNIS (which Entercom will acquire with CBS Radio) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5276 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 WPIX, KTLA, WGN, WDCW, WTVR,WTKR, WGNT, KCPQ, KZJO, KPLR, KTVI, WXIN,WTTV, WPMT, WITI ,WGHP, and WGN America should go to Hearst. [...] WTIC,WCCT, WNEP, WHNT, WQAD, KFSM,KXNW , CLTV, This TV, and Antenna TV To Sinclair CLTV folds before it's separated from WGN. It's barely viable, as is. Hardly is it worth the investment for a new owner to move their operations and build a new team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Too much thinking here. If the Fox-financed Blackstone deal goes through, the new entity will be a Tribune Broadcasting II - legally separate from Fox, but with capital from Fox to run it. And they'd be in it, by and large, for the long term. WGN 720 stays in the family like WBAL 1090 for Hearst and the Fisher radio stations for Sinclair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 743 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 KFOR, KAUT, WREG, WHO to Cox Cox already owns WHBQ, so a sale of WREG to them would not make any sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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