Nexstar Acquires 75% of The CW

[dzonershow 21]

its like more of a Notre Dame schedule but more half the size

[Rusty Muck 4264]

43 minutes ago, The Frog said:

 

There are some potential scheduling conflicts with Xfinity races.

 

 

Who gets bumped to NewsNation? 

Bold of you for assuming that Nexstar thought any of this through to begin with when they wanted to be the leader of forgettable Z-level sports. But "all part of the plan," I guess.

[tyrannical bastard 3504]

There's always Antenna TV and Rewind TV to take a game or two....

[MD TV 174]

At upfronts, they said they're looking for more sports rights, including events on Sundays when there's no LIV:

 

https://deadline.com/2024/05/sports-rights-the-cw-nexstar-espn-1235918874/

[Rusty Muck 4264]

On 5/16/2024 at 2:55 PM, MD TV said:

At upfronts, they said they're looking for more sports rights, including events on Sundays when there's no LIV:

 

https://deadline.com/2024/05/sports-rights-the-cw-nexstar-espn-1235918874/

They really should be begging on bended knee to find any affiliate in Detroit, Tucson and Miami, because there's no options available in either of those markets and they can't buy their way out of this crisis they placed on themselves, nor do they have Gray or Sinclair ready to bail out their sorry butts this time.

 

But I guess Uncle Perry wants to play pretend media mogul because something something "plan".

[mrschimpf 2076]

10 minutes ago, Rusty Muck said:

They really should be begging on bended knee to find any affiliate in Detroit, Tucson and Miami, because there's no options available in either of those markets and they can't buy their way out of this crisis they placed on themselves, nor do they have Gray or Sinclair ready to bail out their sorry butts this time.

 

But I guess Uncle Perry wants to play pretend media mogul because something something "plan".

If they have to CW+ cable-only those markets it'll be devastating, and you know cable/streaming companies would want a big cut to take a market-only channel like that in 2024.

[Rusty Muck 4264]

8 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

If they have to CW+ cable-only those markets it'll be devastating, and you know cable/streaming companies would want a big cut to take a market-only channel like that in 2024.

Not only that, it would undermine every single one of their current Z-level sports deals. Why would NASCAR want to be with a network that no longer has two top 20 affiliates? Or the ACC? Or the PAC-2?

 

And just imagine the hell that will come when Mission is forced to sell WPIX to a company hostile to the CW, like Scripps or Tegna.

[mer764KCTV5 73]

10 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

Not only that, it would undermine every single one of their current Z-level sports deals. Why would NASCAR want to be with a network that no longer has two top 20 affiliates? Or the ACC? Or the PAC-2?

 

And just imagine the hell that will come when Mission is forced to sell WPIX to a company hostile to the CW, like Scripps or Tegna.

That's one of the reasons I'm happier that KCWE is owned by Hearst because at least with Hearst, they won't mess it all up. Also, I know this (given Hearst) won't happen but if Mission Broadcasting is forced to sell it off to Hearst, that'll be unexpected. 

[channel2 886]

17 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

Not only that, it would undermine every single one of their current Z-level sports deals. Why would NASCAR want to be with a network that no longer has two top 20 affiliates? Or the ACC? Or the PAC-2?

 

And just imagine the hell that will come when Mission is forced to sell WPIX to a company hostile to the CW, like Scripps or Tegna.

 

Can't Nexstar just buy WPIX and unload whatever stations they need to unload in order to make room for it? Because selling WPIX off to somebody else just smacks of Fox buying WWOR and KCOP in the Chris-Craft deal and thus having their hand on UPN's throat.

[TVLurker 167]

16 minutes ago, channel2 said:

 

Can't Nexstar just buy WPIX and unload whatever stations they need to unload in order to make room for it? Because selling WPIX off to somebody else just smacks of Fox buying WWOR and KCOP in the Chris-Craft deal and thus having their hand on UPN's throat.

What is the problem with Nexstar unloading stations. If I owned it, I would do it.

 

How to buy voting stock is the question 

[channel2 886]

I didn't say there was a problem. I suggested that was what they should do.

[NowBergen 498]

1 hour ago, TVLurker said:

What is the problem with Nexstar unloading stations. If I owned it, I would do it.

 

How to buy voting stock is the question 

 

Clearly selling stations is not what Perry Sook wanted.  He wanted it all, utilizing the sidecar companies to skirt FCC rules.  WPIX is in DMA 1, so it would be a major sell off of small market stations or several larger markets to stay under the cap.  That is probably a hard pill to swallow, especially if his vision is to own most CW stations.

[TVLurker 167]

15 minutes ago, NowBergen said:

 

Clearly selling stations is not what Perry Sook wanted.  He wanted it all, utilizing the sidecar companies to skirt FCC rules.  WPIX is in DMA 1, so it would be a major sell off of small market stations or several larger markets to stay under the cap.  That is probably a hard pill to swallow, especially if his vision is to own most CW stations.

So Nexstar is just like Sinclair then? They're going to hold on to their stations until they're either broke or the FCC deals their hand.

 

I thought you were cool Nexstar.

[mrschimpf 2076]

14 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

So Nexstar is just like Sinclair then? They're going to hold on to their stations until they're either broke or the FCC deals their hand.

 

I thought you were cool Nexstar.

If they wouldn't have bought LIN with Frankly I'm sure we'd be still seeing their 2000s web design in 2024, no doubt (the two-hour newscast delay certainly shows that). Most of their 'new sets' are repainted hand-me-downs, Newsnation seems to be frozen into a 2007 understanding of cable news and their personalities, and The CW today is programming-wise the second coming of PAX TV with a few sports packages which were Speed Channel, Fox Sports Net and Golf Channel filler in the 2000s.

 

I still remember arguing with a creative last summer about how All American was only renewed by Nexstar for tokenism reasons (she was convinced they were all in and had no idea what Perry had done in the past) and now that prophecy is coming true with even The WB/CW's longest-tenured actor Jared Padelecki about to lose a job for the first time since Dean was written out of Gilmore Girls in 2005...he got an entire two month break before Supernatural. It's sad when the most consistent thing on their schedule now is the 3-hour Hearst rent-a-block on Saturday mornings, and I'm damned sure they'll eventually offload that and tell their affiliates 'we're done, you're on your own'.

[T.L. Hughes 763]

1 hour ago, mrschimpf said:

If they wouldn't have bought LIN with Frankly I'm sure we'd be still seeing their 2000s web design in 2024, no doubt (the two-hour newscast delay certainly shows that). Most of their 'new sets' are repainted hand-me-downs, Newsnation seems to be frozen into a 2007 understanding of cable news and their personalities, and The CW today is programming-wise the second coming of PAX TV with a few sports packages which were Speed Channel, Fox Sports Net and Golf Channel filler in the 2000s.

 

I still remember arguing with a creative last summer about how All American was only renewed by Nexstar for tokenism reasons (she was convinced they were all in and had no idea what Perry had done in the past) and now that prophecy is coming true with even The WB/CW's longest-tenured actor Jared Padelecki about to lose a job for the first time since Dean was written out of Gilmore Girls in 2005...he got an entire two month break before Supernatural. It's sad when the most consistent thing on their schedule now is the 3-hour Hearst rent-a-block on Saturday mornings, and I'm damned sure they'll eventually offload that and tell their affiliates 'we're done, you're on your own'.

Paramount and WBD should have only sold a combined 33% of their stakes in The CW to Nexstar, rather than giving up all but 25% of the network. By offloading the majority of the network to Nexstar, the company’s strategy for The CW seems to hinder it more in the name of making it profitable while making it more difficult for the network to make it into the black (even though they claim it’s slashed the network’s operating deficits, while simultaneously stating that the network’s revenue will soon no longer be disclosed publicly) by driving away its existing audience through the replacement of its more costly but better produced shows with low-cost fare and imports that make it less competitive with the Big Four.

 

It makes you wonder what the network would look like under a Paramount/WBD/Nexstar equal partnership. Would the programming be much like the CW pre-Nexstar or a hybrid of the old and new formats?

Edited May 23 by T.L. Hughes

[Rusty Muck 4264]

5 hours ago, TVLurker said:

What is the problem with Nexstar unloading stations. If I owned it, I would do it.

Because Perry Sook is a greedy, stupid idiot who has long promulgated the lie of himself being this suave, savvy businessman. Obviously he won't sell any stations because of a loss of clout with retransmission revenue against the telecoms. Plus he's been used to past FCCs that didn't give a flying crap over how many rules he violated or loopholes he exploited, and now the chickens have come home to roost.

 

Nexstar has only willingly sold two stations in the company’s history: KBTV and WJMN. That tells you all you need to know.

 

I expect him and Nexstar to completely fumble and bumble this and WPIX winds up being forced to be sold to a company hostile to Nexstar and the CW, and he can kiss the network's flagship goodbye.

Edited May 23 by Rusty Muck

[Route66Fan 76]

1 hour ago, Rusty Muck said:

Because Perry Sook is a greedy, stupid idiot who has long promulgated the lie of himself being this suave, savvy businessman. Obviously he won't sell any stations because of a loss of clout with retransmission revenue against the telecoms. Plus he's been used to past FCCs that didn't give a flying crap over how many rules he violated or loopholes he exploited, and now the chickens have come home to roost.

 

Nexstar has only willingly sold two stations in the company’s history: KBTV and WJMN. That tells you all you need to know.

 

I expect him and Nexstar to completely fumble and bumble this and WPIX winds up being forced to be sold to a company hostile to Nexstar and the CW, and he can kiss the network's flagship goodbye.

Nexstar did sell 6 other TV stations in 2016 to Heartland Media including:

KQTV, Ch. 2, St. Joseph, MO 

WAAY, Ch. 31, Huntsville, AL 

WFFT, Ch. 55, Ft. Wayne, IN 

WLFI, Ch. 18, West Lafayette, IN 

WTHI, Ch. 10, Terre Haute, IN 

KIMT, Ch. 3, Mason City, IA 

Edited May 23 by Route66Fan

[mre29 1348]

4 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

If they wouldn't have bought LIN with Frankly I'm sure we'd be still seeing their 2000s web design in 2024, no doubt...

 

Please. I've made great strides in repressing those memories...

 

That said, I miss LIN's early-2010s websites. They looked good. (Case in point.]

 

 

1 hour ago, Rusty Muck said:

I expect him and Nexstar to completely fumble and bumble this and WPIX winds up being forced to be sold to a company hostile to Nexstar and the CW, and he can kiss the network's flagship goodbye.

 

If WPIX ends up with Hearst or Graham, I will laugh.

 

[channel2 886]

32 minutes ago, Route66Fan said:

Nexstar did sell 6 other TV stations in 2016 to Heartland Media including:

KQTV, Ch. 2, St. Joseph, MO 

WAAY, Ch. 31, Huntsville, AL 

WFFT, Ch. 55, Ft. Wayne, IN 

WLFI, Ch. 18, West Lafayette, IN 

WTHI, Ch. 10, Terre Haute, IN 

KIMT, Ch. 3, Mason City, IA 

 

WAAY was a Raycom/Calkins overlap. Nexstar had to sell WFFT and WTHI as overlaps from the Media General buyout. I'm not sure why they dumped KQTV and forewent KIMT and WLFI but I guess every little bit of cap room helped.

[mer764KCTV5 73]

1 hour ago, Route66Fan said:

Nexstar did sell 6 other TV stations in 2016 to Heartland Media including:

KQTV, Ch. 2, St. Joseph, MO 

WAAY, Ch. 31, Huntsville, AL 

WFFT, Ch. 55, Ft. Wayne, IN 

WLFI, Ch. 18, West Lafayette, IN 

WTHI, Ch. 10, Terre Haute, IN 

KIMT, Ch. 3, Mason City, IA 

LIKE THEY COULD'VE OWNED KQTV, IT WAS ONE OF THE SMALLER MARKETS 

But they didn't because, why? I don't know. It would've been an better addition to WDAF if KQTV was still owned by Nexstar. Also, Nexstar never owned WAAY-TV, Calkins owned it but it overlapped with WAFF.

[Rusty Muck 4264]

35 minutes ago, channel2 said:

 

WAAY was a Raycom/Calkins overlap. Nexstar had to sell WFFT and WTHI as overlaps from the Media General buyout. I'm not sure why they dumped KQTV and forewent KIMT and WLFI but I guess every little bit of cap room helped.

It looks like they just lumped KQTV into the Media General divestiture package because, let's face it, it IS St. Joseph, Missouri. That small a market wouldn't give that much cap relief even though it would be... what... five or six WJMNs?

1 hour ago, mre29 said:

If WPIX ends up with Hearst or Graham, I will laugh.

Imagine Scripps repurchasing WPIX, divesting WPXN to an unrelated third-party, and relaunching WPIX as a sports-heavy indie.

[mer764KCTV5 73]

9 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

Imagine Scripps repurchasing WPIX, divesting WPXN to an unrelated third-party, and relaunching WPIX as a sports-heavy indie.

Just like in the Pre-1995 days.

 

But I feel like the CW probably is gonna cringe at the thought at them being without an New York affiliate because I don't know who's gonna give the CW an chance in NYC if WPIX does turn independent?

[Jase 834]

16 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Paramount and WBD should have only sold a combined 33% of their stakes in The CW to Nexstar, rather than giving up all but 25% of the network. By offloading the majority of the network to Nexstar, the company’s strategy for The CW seems to hinder it more in the name of making it profitable while making it more difficult for the network to make it into the black (even though they claim it’s slashed the network’s operating deficits, while simultaneously stating that the network’s revenue will soon no longer be disclosed publicly) by driving away its existing audience through the replacement of its more costly but better produced shows with low-cost fare and imports that make it less competitive with the Big Four.

 

It makes you wonder what the network would look like under a Paramount/WBD/Nexstar equal partnership. Would the programming be much like the CW pre-Nexstar or a hybrid of the old and new formats?

 

WBD & Paramount all but gave up on the CW in 2019 when they ended the Netflix deal and stopped selling CW shows oversees. They are the ones that set the CW down it's current path. Had Nexstar (or someone else) not assumed the network's $100 mil. debt in 2022/23, the CW likely wouldn't exist today.

 

I say this to say, that even if all three companies (WBD/Paramount/Nexstar) been equal partners, you still would need all three to be fully invested in the success of CW. It's clear that WBD and Paramount could care less about the network which leaves Nexstar to have to shoulder everything alone.

 

Yes they could have made more of an effort to keep/buy more expensive/higher quality programs, but again, if your main programming suppliers (WBD and Paramount) aren't willing to work with you, what can you do?????

[GraphicsMan 23]

22 hours ago, NowBergen said:

WPIX is in DMA 1, so it would be a major sell off of small market stations or several larger markets to stay under the cap.  That is probably a hard pill to swallow, especially if his vision is to own most CW stations.

He has to own WPIX if he wants to own all CW station I haven’t heard of any network owned group that doesn’t own their own flagship NY station to complete the job he needs New York. Perhaps he’ll sell of stations where there no chance that he’ll own a CW station there are a bunch of markets where he has no chance of getting CW control most are in small markets. 

[HanSolo 2]

20 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Paramount and WBD should have only sold a combined 33% of their stakes in The CW to Nexstar, rather than giving up all but 25% of the network.

They had good business reasons for doing so. The CW served its purpose and as the respective companies went through their own changes (good, bad and otherwise), it became apparent the that purpose was not a priority. That's ok, priorities change. If Nester was there to pony up the price and get them out of managing a business that didn't really fit their strategic plans, good for them.