Breaking News 802 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 No. Especially when you consider the Local branding has been largely dropped by all but WDIV in the group. I wonder about that, because WDIV was the first station in the group chain to do the "Local" branding followed by the other stations in the group. I was told that DIV and XYZ were dead heat in the ratings at the time. Some consultant came through and the suggestion was to rename it Local 4, and the next ratings period Channel 4 over took Channel 7 in the Detroit ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 423 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 With the major sale of MG and Nexstar finally closing, some of the divested stations have shown up. One of those was WSLS (Which personally got the best of the deal) being sold to Graham. Here is the piece they did about the closing of the sale to Graham: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 New M&A. It appears that the SagamoreHill is buying another LP. They're buying KGLU-LD in Ottumwa, IA from DTV America for $71K. No telling what there'll be doing with this new LP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 802 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Ajit Pai name tapped to be FCC Chairman http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/trump-picks-ajit-pai-to-be-fcc-chairman/184614 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Okay. So remember about three years ago, the FCC (under Wheeler) made a public notice to scrutinize transactions involving stations with sharing arrangements (LMA/JSA/SSAs and the like)? Well new Chairman Pai's FCC has rescinded that provision today. And Commissioner Clyburn wasn't pleased. Remember because of this notice, Sinclair had to modify its deal to acquire Allbritton several times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Okay. So remember about three years ago, the FCC (under Wheeler) made a public notice to scrutinize transactions involving stations with sharing arrangements (LMA/JSA/SSAs and the like)? Well new Chairman Pai's FCC has rescinded that provision today. And Commissioner Clyburn wasn't pleased. Remember because of this notice, Sinclair had to modify its deal to acquire Allbritton several times. It was the deal that would never end! And Sinclair was trying every end run in the book. Good times, when I got an email seemingly every week from Clifford Harrington and was mailed pages of redacted material. What a waste of black ink. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 The FCC has partially lifted the "quiet period" among the broadcasters. The lifting of the hush period, broadcasters can now communicate amongst themselves on post-auction issues such as repacking. But this will also open up the floodgates for new M&As. Full write-up from the FCC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRob 920 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 The spectrum auction quiet period has ended. Big station groups are revealing the revenue, but not the specific allocations sold. http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/with-tribunes-take-spectrum-auction-proceeds-top-630-million/185533 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 The spectrum auction quiet period has ended. Big station groups are revealing the revenue, but not the specific allocations sold. http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/with-tribunes-take-spectrum-auction-proceeds-top-630-million/185533 The groups probably won't say which stations was sold, until the FCC releases its post-repacking "Table of Allotments". That'll happen at the completion of the auction. EDIT: Two college-owned PBS outlets are going away. WCMZ & WUSF announced that they're going dark once they receive the auction proceeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 The clock is ticking on WCMZ Flint. It's going bye-bye as a result of the auction. CMU netted $14 million and says 99% of households in its coverage area are served by other PBS members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Pittsburgh's PBS outlet, WQED, received $9.9M for its spectrum. And it will move to a lower frequency in the repack. What Scripps is getting in the auction? Nada. Zilch. Meanwhile, the clock phase of the forward auction was closed today, racking up $19.6B. Now after the assignment phase of the forward auction (which that could take up to a couple of weeks), then the FCC will release the final Public Notice stating the results of the auction (winners of both reverse auction sellers & forward auction bidders), and the post-repack table of allotments. Hmmm... Wonder why our "Spectrum Speculators" are so quiet. How much of the $10B they got? 50 cents per station? LOL! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJClementeFan69 477 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 I think you can kiss pretty much any standalone CW/My station in a duopoly bye. You can easily cash in and put the affiliation on a subchannel and it's nothing but a paperwork shuffle to anyone but people like us. I'm sure plenty of Jesus stations will cash in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLETVFan 363 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Any word on how those "Franken-FM" stations (Analog TV-6/87.77 MHz FM) will or will not survive the auction? They were extended past 2015 because of the spectrum decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsbot 269 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Any word on how those "Franken-FM" stations (Analog TV-6/87.77 MHz FM) will or will not survive the auction? They were extended past 2015 because of the spectrum decision. Chairman Pai is a noted fan of broadcasting (quite unlike former Chairman Wheeler) so I assume they're safe for now. And who knows, maybe this underutilized spectrum will be repurposed for FM expansion as many have advocated. That way the EMI interference-laden AM band can finally be retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Pittsburgh's PBS outlet, WQED, received $9.9M for its spectrum. And it will move to a lower frequency in the repack. What Scripps is getting in the auction? Nada. Zilch. Meanwhile, the clock phase of the forward auction was closed today, racking up $19.6B. Now after the assignment phase of the forward auction (which that could take up to a couple of weeks), then the FCC will release the final Public Notice stating the results of the auction (winners of both reverse auction sellers & forward auction bidders), and the post-repack table of allotments. Hmmm... Wonder why our "Spectrum Speculators" are so quiet. How much of the $10B they got? 50 cents per station? LOL! I'm curious about WLVI... and WADL (Kevin Adell made it public that he would be willing to turn in channel 38 entirely IIRC). It wouldn't surprise me to see groups like OTA quietly either disperse of their stations piecemeal or take them off the air entirely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 The owners of former CW affiliate WGSA in Savannah, GA, has now filed for Chapter 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3464 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 This is probably one of the first instances that we're hearing...but it makes complete sense given it's Raycom's largest market. But it is a very sad "end" to a station Raycom has systematically driven into the ground over the last 15 or so years. WUAB was the station I REALLY watched growing up. It was before we had cable. They had all of the cartoons I watched, and I stuck around to watch their off-network reruns of shows. I even remember watching "Barnaby" and "Superhost" in their final days of television back in the late 1980s early 1990s. It would be a few years later that I would get into news and all of the other nostalgia of Cleveland TV, but their shows were my "must-see-tv" when independent TV was still a viable thing. Flash forward to Raycom taking over, flooding WUAB with third-rate court and talk shows like all of the other MyNetworkTV stations. They had a chance to keep their dominance, but gradually pared down their more expensive programming, only to have WBNX pick it up. In the process, they became one of the top WB affiliates in the country, and won the chance to get the CW affiliation. The stigma of Ernest Angley and mild swear words being bleeped out disappeared because WBNX was more willing to run a better station than WUAB was. And to make matters worse, WUAB will live on as a subchannel on WOIO's anemic, abysmal VHF frequency. A signal so terrible that they had to sign on an LD in Akron just to cover most of the market decently. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsMaster 226 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 The spectrum auction has claimed its next victim: WBIN. The station will go off the air and NH1 News will be radio and digital only. WMUR will once again be New Hampshire's only television news source. http://www.nh1.com/news/WBIN-TV-sold-in-FCC-Auction-NH1-News-to-invest-in-new-digital-platforms/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRolyPoly 1847 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 The spectrum auction has claimed its next victim: WBIN. The station will go off the air and NH1 News will be radio and digital only. WMUR will once again be New Hampshire's only television news source. http://www.nh1.com/news/WBIN-TV-sold-in-FCC-Auction-NH1-News-to-invest-in-new-digital-platforms/ Pretty sad if you ask me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLETVFan 363 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Raycom issues a statement on selling the WUAB frequency: http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/raycom-issues-statement-about-sole-station-sold-in-spectrum-auction/186046 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin2kx 229 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 This is probably one of the first instances that we're hearing...but it makes complete sense given it's Raycom's largest market. But it is a very sad "end" to a station Raycom has systematically driven into the ground over the last 15 or so years. WUAB was the station I REALLY watched growing up. It was before we had cable. They had all of the cartoons I watched, and I stuck around to watch their off-network reruns of shows. I even remember watching "Barnaby" and "Superhost" in their final days of television back in the late 1980s early 1990s. It would be a few years later that I would get into news and all of the other nostalgia of Cleveland TV, but their shows were my "must-see-tv" when independent TV was still a viable thing. Flash forward to Raycom taking over, flooding WUAB with third-rate court and talk shows like all of the other MyNetworkTV stations. They had a chance to keep their dominance, but gradually pared down their more expensive programming, only to have WBNX pick it up. In the process, they became one of the top WB affiliates in the country, and won the chance to get the CW affiliation. The stigma of Ernest Angley and mild swear words being bleeped out disappeared because WBNX was more willing to run a better station than WUAB was. And to make matters worse, WUAB will live on as a subchannel on WOIO's anemic, abysmal VHF frequency. A signal so terrible that they had to sign on an LD in Akron just to cover most of the market decently. Anyone has similar sentiments for WLVI to wax on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 More Spectrum Auction News: One of the spectrum-guzzling broadcasters, Univision announced in its Q4 earnings report that they'll receive $376M in proceed from the auction. Still waiting of what TBN & Ion got. In what could be a big surprise, a FORWARD auction bidder revealed how much they bought in the auction. In a filing to the SEC, U.S. Cellular made $327M in bids in the clock phase of the auction (it could get more in the assigment phase, which will start 3/6). Even though the FCC lifted the quiet period for the broadcasters, the wireless carriers (as of now) are still under the quiet period. Howard University owned-WHUT, withdrew from selling its spectrum in the auction. This is also a first, as this broadcaster announced its channel number for its post-repack. Bowling Green State University's WBGU in Ohio announced it is moving from RF 27 to RF 22. The station also withdrew from participating in the auction. Sonoma County, CA PBS outlet KRCB will receive $72 million in the auction. The station will move to the VHF dial. The station said it will use the proceeds to buy equipment for the repack, and the remaining of it to start an endowment. And PBS station WVTA in Vermont will receive $56M in the auction. It has said it will "re-engineer" its three remaining PBS outlets in the state to fill-in the gap lost from WVTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eat News 4738 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 More Spectrum Auction News: One of the spectrum-guzzling broadcasters, Univision announced..,. Spectrum-Guzzeling??? That's classic! (almost nasty) Please let me steal or reuse that term. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3464 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 More Spectrum Auction News: One of the spectrum-guzzling broadcasters, Univision announced in its Q4 earnings report that they'll receive $376M in proceed from the auction. Still waiting of what TBN & Ion got. I'll bet they will be cashing in their the majority of their exclusively UniMas afffiliates and stations like WQHS in Cleveland they aquired from USA Broadcasting. That would spell the second demise for channel "61" in Cleveland, as Kaiser-owned WKBF operated there from 1968-1975, went dark and a new licensee signed on WCLQ in 1981, attempting to run it as an independent/Preview station. When WBNX and WOIO signed on in 1985, WOIO immediately rose to the top of the independents, leading to a gradual adoption of HSN programming that lasted until the sale to Univision. The call letters reflect the changeover to HSN as "Quality Home Shopping". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3464 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Anyone has similar sentiments for WLVI to wax on? Although it never reached the heights of WTBS, WGN or WWOR, it did have a sizeable audience outside of the Cleveland Area as a mini-superstation...sort of like WTTV or WSBK. Losing the Indians telecasts and the growth of subchannels with MyNetworkTV programming replaced WUAB in these areas. While the Gaylord era (1977-1991) was considered second-rate to the original United Artists era (1968-1977), the station changed a little during the Stephen J. Cannell era (exclusively until 1994), and when Malrite...then Raycom started the LMA. Raycom purchased them outright in 2000 when it became legal to do so. I guess we'll see what subchannels are going away (if any) because WUAB has 2 (Bounce & Grit) and WOIO has 1 (MeTV). Perhaps push some off to the WOIO-LD repeater in Akron? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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