CircleSeven 1955 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Gray announced this morning that it will acquire stations from Quincy Media for $925M. The stations Gray will acquire: KBJR/KDLH, KTTC, WBMG, WEEK, WGEM (TV & Radio), WPTA/WISE, WREX, WSJV & WVVA. The stations Gray will divest: KVOA, KWWL, WKOW, WAOW/WMOW/WYOW, WQOW/WXOW & WSIL. I am stunned. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubsFan79 58 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Did not surprise me that GRAY would acquire Quincy. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256283 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Design4u 3 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 What does this mean for KVOA, KWWL etc? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256284 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottSchell 356 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 No surprise there knew they would acquire Quincy. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256285 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfiles 80 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 I'm curious to see who gobbles up the WI stations. The amount of stations that would need to be divested made me think Gray wouldn't have been a good fit, but obviously they saw things differently. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256286 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbleship 429 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 I wonder if Gray will make a play for the zombie carcass of Heartland to get WKTV and KQTV. They both fit Gray like a glove, WKTV even moreso after this deal. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256287 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1513 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Big surprise!! I am stunned too. Byron Allen has to be mad right now. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256289 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1513 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 37 minutes ago, hfiles said: I'm curious to see who gobbles up the WI stations. The amount of stations that would need to be divested made me think Gray wouldn't have been a good fit, but obviously they saw things differently. Scripps and Tegna can cleanly acquire them, along with KWWL. Scripps would own in every Wisconsin market if it did so. WSIL works for anyone. KVOA is a really tough one to figure out, since the companies that have nearby stations (in Phoenix) are either also in Tucson (Tegna, Scripps) or for sale itself (Meredith). If Hearst wanted a station, this is a good opportunity. Otherwise, I don't know. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256293 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfiles 80 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 35 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said: Scripps and Tegna can cleanly acquire them, along with KWWL. Scripps would own in every Wisconsin market if it did so. WSIL works for anyone. Hey Scripps, I have a million dollar idea for you. Acquire all the WI Stations and do the following: New Newscast - Wisconsin Tonight (6:30pm) - Yeah, I know. You've tried it before and it didn't work. Now you have 3 markets more worth of stories to tell in 30 minutes. Make it a deeper look at stories from across the state. Anchor it out of either WTMJ or WKOW. Model it after KARE11's Breaking the News. Make sure it's not just a Milwaukee/Madison-focused newscast. Air it state wide. Replay it on the sub channels at 9:30pm. Merge "Wake Up Wisconsin Weekend" with "TMJ4 Today Saturday/Sunday." Add the new newscast to WGBA. Or, if you deem Milwaukee too important for a shared newscast, just do this to WGBA. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256302 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1955 Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 Before you go overboard, Scripps can't acquire anymore stations. They're capped out after they completed the Ion deal last month. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256304 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd285 53 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 2 hours ago, CircleSeven said: I am stunned. To say you’re stunned is an understatement at this point. It truly is shocking, but expected considering they were on a buying spree these past few years. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256307 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3955 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 1 hour ago, GoldenShine9 said: Big surprise!! I am stunned too. Byron Allen has to be mad right now. I'm sure he will pursue the Quincy stations that Gray has to divest. Unlike most deals, this one firmly has Gray passing on the conflicts instead of choosing one or the other. This firmly establishes Gray's hold in West Virginia, the only in-state market they don't have a station in is Wheeling-Steubenville (of which WTRF used to be a Benedek station). You have to wonder if WIFR going low-power was part of the plan all along. It's free and clear to now be merged into the full-powered WREX. Perhaps their plan to launch a VHF station there was a backup plan? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256308 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1513 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 1 minute ago, tyrannical bastard said: I'm sure he will pursue the Quincy stations that Gray has to divest. Unlike most deals, this one firmly has Gray passing on the conflicts instead of choosing one or the other. This firmly establishes Gray's hold in West Virginia, the only in-state market they don't have a station in is Wheeling-Steubenville (of which WTRF used to be a Benedek station). You have to wonder if WIFR going low-power was part of the plan all along. It's free and clear to now be merged into the full-powered WREX. Perhaps their plan to launch a VHF station there was a backup plan? True, but there are other options that Allen could get snakebit. It also means WOAY has one less place to go if it decided to sell away from local ownership. I do expect WREX and WIFR will get merged though... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256310 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbleship 429 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 29 minutes ago, CircleSeven said: Before you go overboard, Scripps can't acquire anymore stations. They're capped out after they completed the Ion deal last month. Wouldn't this be remedied by selling some of the more puzzling Ion markets that Scripps kept to Inyo? I'm sure that they could make the room for the W?OW stations by leaving a few of them - Syracuse, Portland (ME), Scranton, Roanoke, and Greenville (NC) scream Inyo bait. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256311 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3955 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Allen Media (as it is now, and as it could be with the Quincy conflicts) is almost a side-by-side competitor to Gray in a number of their markets, going back to the Heartland group started by former Gray CEO Bob Prather. Is he still involved in Allen Media, or did that go away in the sale? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256312 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1513 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 4 minutes ago, scrabbleship said: Wouldn't this be remedied by selling some of the more puzzling Ion markets that Scripps kept to Inyo? I'm sure that they could make the room for the W?OW stations by leaving a few of them - Syracuse, Portland (ME), Scranton, Roanoke, and Greenville (NC) scream Inyo bait. A few of them, if money permits, could be traded to Gray in a market where Gray could gain a duopoly legally. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256313 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3955 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Gray passed on all of the Quincy conflicts because they didn't want to "dissect" them.... Get it? (Every time Quincy Media comes up, I can't not think of the Jack Klugman series from the 70s where he plays a medical examiner) With Gray being so standardized, it's a wise move, they're still trying to digest WVIR in Charlottesville (even though they've added a simulcast in Harrisonburg to fill out the market). Meanwhile, their Lockwood cast-offs still look like Gray stations and will probably be that way for a good while. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256316 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd285 53 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 21 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said: I do expect WREX and WIFR will get merged though... Get ready for Rockford News Now. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256317 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1513 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said: Gray passed on all of the Quincy conflicts because they didn't want to "dissect" them.... Get it? (Every time Quincy Media comes up, I can't not think of the Jack Klugman series from the 70s where he plays a medical examiner) With Gray being so standardized, it's a wise move, they're still trying to digest WVIR in Charlottesville (even though they've added a simulcast in Harrisonburg to fill out the market). Meanwhile, their Lockwood cast-offs still look like Gray stations and will probably be that way for a good while. A couple of the now-Lockwood stations they gave up in the Raycom deal - in Panama City and Dothan - I believe are now working with the Nexstar ABC affiliates in those markets. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256318 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodfreyGR 652 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 23 minutes ago, jd285 said: Get ready for Rockford News Now. Thinking of that... for KDLH/KBJR and WPTA/WISE, The singular branding was tried on both when owned by Granite (Northland's NewsCenter and Indiana's NewsCenter). It feels like, when watching the Duluth stations, they have had some successes with separate newscasts (to the point that when Quincy remodeled the Duluth building, each station got it's own studio). Is Gray going to try to consolidate newscasts/branding again? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256321 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1513 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 11 minutes ago, GodfreyGR said: Thinking of that... for KDLH/KBJR and WPTA/WISE, The singular branding was tried on both when owned by Granite (Northland's NewsCenter and Indiana's NewsCenter). It feels like, when watching the Duluth stations, they have had some successes with separate newscasts (to the point that when Quincy remodeled the Duluth building, each station got it's own studio). Is Gray going to try to consolidate newscasts/branding again? It's very likely they will. Rockford is probably the big loser here. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256323 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3955 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 A lot of these Quincy markets were ones that Gray passed on initially back in 2003 when they merged with Benedek. In Duluth, they're finally getting KDLH, even though it's a shell of its former self and it's former CBS affiliation is on KBJR/KRII. Other markets like Peoria and Quincy had the market flipped, where Gray is getting the OTHER station that they could have owned in the Benedek merger. (WEEK over WHOI....WGEM over KHQA) Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256324 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1377 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 With Gray acquiring Quincy Media, what's the future for WSJV? Are they going to drop H&I and become an independent station or thinking about rejoining ABC. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256325 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd285 53 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, TexasTVNews said: With Gray acquiring Quincy Media, what's the future for WSJV? Are they going to drop H&I and become an independent station or thinking about rejoining ABC. They might pick up circle if it’s not carried in the market already. Most likely it will stay in its current form. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256327 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd285 53 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 28 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said: It's very likely they will. Rockford is probably the big loser here. I have no idea if Gray will carry on with their plans for a new transmitter near Freeport or will they just put the CBS channel on a sub channel of WREX. Either way, it really marks the end of an era for television in that area. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18143-gray-to-acquire-quincy-media/#findComment-256329 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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