Gray Media - General Thread

[CLETVFan 367]

Here's more coverage of WOIO's Telemundo Cleveland.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/top-news/programming/article/woio-tv-to-launch-cleveland-telemundo-station/

 

I think it will put a dent into WQHS/Univision.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

The format fits the former WLFN-LP, as it was a prior Franken-FM (on 87.7 FM) broadcasting a Regional Mexican format.  Having a local news department gives it some credence against WQHS, which has basically been a pass-thru for Univision and their partners ever since they got the station from Barry Diller/USA Broadcasting.

 

Still think it needs to relay WOIO in some form to Cuyahoga County, since WOIO/WUAB's VHF signal has been problematic from day one.

[Yankees4life 558]

I can't believe it took this long for Cleveland to have a Telemundo affiliate but here it is. Gonna be interesting to see how they'll handle it...

[CLETVFan 367]

Wonder if WQHS will start investing in a local news department in reaction to WOIO and the new WCLT?

 

I think WOIO/WUAB needs a translator for the areas up north in Cleveland (Lake County in particular) that cannot receive the stations.

Edited September 26, 2021 by CLETVFan

[LexTVandRadio 418]

Since WDKY is cutting ties with WKYT. 

 

WKYT will move the 7AM and 10PM news to the CW 27.2.

 

Quote

“WKYT’s been just a great partner to WDKY for all these years,” said Mark Glover, who joined WDKY as news director this summer. “Now, I guess they’ll just become a worthy competitor.”

After WKYT’s agreement with FOX 56 ends at the end of this year, WKYT plans to keep producing newscasts for the same time slots it had been filling for WDKY, only now those newscasts will air on The CW Lexington, said Robert Thomas, of WKYT.

Thomas said both the 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. news shows WKYT previously produced for WDKY will move to The CW. The 7 a.m. show will be expanded to continue through the 8 a.m. hour, he said in a statement.

“This allows us to continue to further develop The CW Lexington into a source of original local programming, and many of the same faces in front of and behind the scenes will be part of those newscasts,” Thomas said.

 

Read more here.

https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/article254424693.html 

[GoldenShine9 1512]

The 6 Gray stations in the Carolinas (WBTV, WCSC, WECT, WIS, WITN and WMBF) are launching "Carolina Now", which will be a streaming exclusive. I'm sure WHNS will join it when Gray finishes that deal.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by GoldenShine9

[nathannah 2401]

On 9/23/2021 at 3:38 PM, CLETVFan said:

Wonder if WQHS will start investing in a local news department in reaction to WOIO and the new WCLT?

Nothing is going to change with any Univision station until the Televisa sale closes (if it does, of course). They also have coverage gaps in the market due to systems preferring the revenue the local breaks the national feed offers for them over WQHS carriage, so that would also have to be addressed.

[LexTVandRadio 418]

6 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

The 6 Gray stations in the Carolinas (WBTV, WCSC, WECT, WIS, WITN and WMBF) are launching "Carolina Now", which will be a streaming exclusive. I'm sure WHNS will join it when Gray finishes that deal.

 

 

Nice! They could pull that off here in KY as well as many stations Gray has here. 

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

When WHNS joins the fold, that will add Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina as well. 

Gray may as well add a digital presence in Raleigh/Durham to fill out the rest of the state. 

And they could do a much better job in the Triad than Sinclair does with their so-called "local" news being piped in from San Antonio. 

 

Those moves fill out both of the Carolinas right there and how Gray can compete in markets they aren't in already.

[CircleSeven 1955]

So Dakota News Now continues is fulfillment of expanding newscasts by adding weekend morning shows. It was launched a couple of weeks back (9/18).

 

To not compete with KELOland, their shows are aired on the late morning hour at 9am. It airs on KSFY on Saturdays after the 2nd hour of Good Morning America; and on KDLT on Sundays after Meet The Press.

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by CircleSeven

[GodfreyGR 650]

8 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

So Dakota News Now continues is fulfillment of expanding newscasts by adding weekend morning shows. It was launched a couple of weeks back (9/18).

 

To not compete with KELOland, their shows are aired on the late morning hour at 9am. It airs on KSFY on Saturdays after the 2nd hour of Good Morning America; and on KDLT on Sundays after Meet The Press.

 

Very good choices- not necessarily where they put them, but for not trying to go directly against the stranglehold that KELO seems to have on the market

[GoldenShine9 1512]

Weird question, but I noticed that KCRG in Cedar Rapids had to give up its Circle channel due to bandwidth being maxed out. Are there any loose LP's or low-ranked or dark stations in the market that Gray could acquire? That can shove off the CW affiliation and provide subchannel relief.

[east-tx-tv 120]

1 hour ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Weird question, but I noticed that KCRG in Cedar Rapids had to give up its Circle channel due to bandwidth being maxed out. Are there any loose LP's or low-ranked or dark stations in the market that Gray could acquire? That can shove off the CW affiliation and provide subchannel relief.

 

Just quick-glancing at the Rabbit Ears list, I would guess a new LP would have to crank up to return Circle to the market.  The others already there seem to be set with ownership and subchannels/channel line-ups.

 

ETA::: Didn't catch that both KWKB and KPXR have Laff.  I guess, barring some kind of contractual situation, KWKB could replace its Laff subchannel with Circle.

Edited October 4, 2021 by east-tx-tv

[tylerSC 61]

On 9/30/2021 at 11:15 PM, tyrannical bastard said:

When WHNS joins the fold, that will add Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina as well. 

Gray may as well add a digital presence in Raleigh/Durham to fill out the rest of the state. 

And they could do a much better job in the Triad than Sinclair does with their so-called "local" news being piped in from San Antonio. 

 

Those moves fill out both of the Carolinas right there and how Gray can compete in markets they aren't in already.

WBTV-3 already puts a very strong signal into much of Western NC and Upstate SC, well beyond the official Charlotte market. In fact their signal comes in strong just like a local channel in Spartanburg and extends into Greenville. But of course WHNS will bring more Upstate SC focused news as WBTV focuses more on the main Charlotte metro.

[CircleSeven 1955]

New M&A from Gray. 

 

Remember back during the Schurz deal six years ago, Gray divested what was "KOTA" to a female-ran broadcaster? Now Gray wants that station. 

 

It is acquiring MeTV outlet KHME/KQME from Legacy Broadcasting for $500K. 

Pai's dereg order eliminated the Eight Voice Test. So it can easily acquire a non top-4 outlet.

 

They say that "the new" KOTA (formerly KEVN) is ranked #1, and KHME is not in the top-4.

 

I should also point out the only other Legacy outlet is KMLU in northern Louisiana. Could they be snagging that too?

Edited October 14, 2021 by CircleSeven

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

12 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

New M&A from Gray. 

 

Remember back during the Schurz deal six years ago, Gray divested what was "KOTA" to a female-ran broadcaster? Now Gray wants that station. 

 

It is acquiring MeTV outlet KHME/KQME from Legacy Broadcasting for $500K. 

Pai's dereg order eliminated the Eight Voice Test. So it can easily acquire a non top-4 outlet.

 

They say that "the new" KOTA (formerly KEVN) is ranked #1, and KHME is not in the top-4.

 

I should also point out the only other Legacy outlet is KMLU in northern Louisiana. Could they be snagging that too?

A brilliant plan.   Sell off a station to another owner, only to let them wither away enough to buy them back when it falls below the threshold of owning multiple stations.

[CircleSeven 1955]

So a new M&A. Gray is acquiring another LP. 

 

Gray is buying this LP WYMP-LD in Bryce, MS from 5GTV, LLC for $500K.

 

Now I was thinking why would they want an LP close to Tupelo when they don't have a full power signal in that market? 

 

As I was looking at RabbitEars, WYMP applied to move the RF 14 signal closer to Memphis.

 

Back in September of last year, I'd explained about WMC applying for a digital replacement translator on RF 14. Since FCC had placed a permanent freeze on new fill-in translators, the station asked for a "waiver" to get approval. As of today, the FCC hasn't acted on this application.

 

So I guess they're new approach is to buy an already-established LP, so they can move it closer to Memphis and light it up as an in-city translator of WMC.

 

Also this need to be mentioned, too. Back last November, WMC filed a petition to move its full-power signal from VHF 5 for UHF 30. And almost 11 months later, this petition has yet to be acted on.

 

 

 

 

[GoldenShine9 1512]

On 10/26/2021 at 6:11 AM, CircleSeven said:

So a new M&A. Gray is acquiring another LP. 

 

Gray is buying this LP WYMP-LD in Bryce, MS from 5GTV, LLC for $500K.

 

Now I was thinking why would they want an LP close to Tupelo when they don't have a full power signal in that market? 

 

As I was looking at RabbitEars, WYMP applied to move the RF 14 signal closer to Memphis.

 

Back in September of last year, I'd explained about WMC applying for a digital replacement translator on RF 14. Since FCC had placed a permanent freeze on new fill-in translators, the station asked for a "waiver" to get approval. As of today, the FCC hasn't acted on this application.

 

So I guess they're new approach is to buy an already-established LP, so they can move it closer to Memphis and light it up as an in-city translator of WMC.

 

Also this need to be mentioned, too. Back last November, WMC filed a petition to move its full-power signal from VHF 5 for UHF 30. And almost 11 months later, this petition has yet to be acted on.

 

 

 

 

 

Calhoun County (Bruce) is in the Columbus-Tupelo or the Greenville market? I know it has to be close to the boundary, being right down the middle of the state. Regardless, those are the two markets in Mississippi that Gray is not in, and their most likely pathway to each of them is completely different (forced divestiture for the former market vs. trade for the latter market).

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by GoldenShine9

[JCB4TV 347]

9 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

Calhoun County (Bruce) is in the Columbus-Tupelo or the Greenville market? I know it has to be close to the boundary, being right down the middle of the state. Regardless, those are the two markets in Mississippi that Gray is not in, and their most likely pathway to each of them is completely different (forced divestiture for the former market vs. trade for the latter market).

 

It appears that a change to the COL would be warranted as a review of the signal contours indicate that the station's service area is nowhere near Calhoun County.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

There could be a future Gray repeater in the Mobile area.

 

There's a new station (W31FB-D) currently licensed to Eastabuchie, MS (outside of Hattiesburg) but has a transmitter in Baldwin County east of Mobile and west of Pensacola.  They're owned by Lowcountry 34 Media.  A similar station exists in Laurel, MS, the COL for Gray station WDAM, and Gray picked up that station from Lowcountry.

 

I guess any action depends on when the Meredith sale closes, but this station could possibly be tied to WALA in some form, even if its a low power UHF repeater.   WDAM is also VHF, and may have the same issues that is causing Gray to move to UHF wherever and however possible.

[NewsMaster 226]

Gray has renewed its CBS affiliations.

[GodfreyGR 650]

Gray has begun converting the websites of the former Quincy properties.

 

https://www.kbjr6.com/

https://www.cbs3duluth.com/

https://www.fortwaynesnbc.com/

https://www.wpta21.com/

https://www.week.com/

https://www.hoiabc.com/

 

They have a few to go.

[GoldenShine9 1512]

KTIV, KTTC, WGEM, WBNG, WVVA - I think that's all the ex-Quincy stations now with Gray.

 

I wonder if they are already building templates for the soon-to-be-acquired Meredith stations?

Edited November 12, 2021 by GoldenShine9

[RGSJenkins 434]

WABI’s new set is very interesting.

 

[who?cares 254]

It looks like a large-ish room in a convention center.