WPLG & ABC Parting Ways

[ABC 7 Denver 1743]

11 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

My money’s still on FOX snatching up WPLG and makING it an O&O when Fox’s affiliation contract expires with WSVN.

 

I don't think that's realistic, given who PLG's owners are and their relationship with Graham.

[EVVTV12 150]

20 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

Good luck with that. WDFL's signal is very weak and unless they significantly upgrade it, more people will access ABC Miami via WSVN 7.2 than WDFL 18.1.

The 18.1 signal will be used mainly for cable and probably satellite services. 

[MediaZone4K 2319]

On 6/25/2025 at 8:23 PM, Samantha said:

I said this in BP and I think it goes here too.

 

There are two markets above all where you could produce a newscast of international and national news that has a meaningful difference in a local market. Honolulu is one, and KHON has kept World Report on its lineup now for 29+ years. Miami is the other. The mix of international stories of relevance is very different in a Miami than even in Orlando or Jacksonville, with a stronger Latin American and Caribbean pull. Think how a Spanish-language newscast's mix of national and international differs from the Big Three and you might get a sense of what they can do. (WPLG has a bureau in Havana, and that's one piece of the big-picture puzzle.)

 

It's giving 1994, but unlike some attempts post-New World that responded to "how can we look like we care about non-local news" (WDAF, for instance, did this for all of 12 months shortly after New World), Miami is not Kansas City. If they produce this correctly, this could actually be a useful news product. That's a big if.

On 6/25/2025 at 9:01 PM, Rusty Muck said:

The notion of over-diluting one’s brand with too much local news continues to feel self-destructive. In what way is WPLG going to benefit by airing more news to a smaller overall audience? And especially when they are simply Xeroxing the 6:30 network newscast, which is itself a game of total attrition?
 

To be blunt, WPLG might just be the biggest blotch on what was a sterling career for Warren Buffett. His successors can’t wait to offload it to Nexstar.

I also don't want to see yet another local station oversaturated with news. The all local news all the time bubble will eventually burst. There's no doubt 'Local 10 World News' will be a copycat of David Muir's show with significantly fewer on the ground live shots, and mostly anchor VOs from wire services.

 

That said, what choice does WPLG (and similarly WANF) have? Syndication options are few and costly.

 

I like the world news concept with a Caribbean and Latin American focus to appeal to Miami's demographics.

 

They're taking a page from Fox O&Os --- diversifying obscene news output with creative programming. KCPQ for example doing a Washington Stat based newscast, and KRIV having "The Isiah Factor" etc..

 

Edited 2 hours ago by MediaZone4K

[Rusty Muck 4431]

On 6/26/2025 at 6:13 PM, TheRolyPoly said:

 

Good luck with that. WDFL's signal is very weak and unless they significantly upgrade it, more people will access ABC Miami via WSVN 7.2 than WDFL 18.1.

The 18.1 placement really doesn't matter for anything but cable carriage. Not that it matters because LPTVs are excluded from must-carry rules.

[nathannah 2541]

1 minute ago, Rusty Muck said:

The 18.1 placement really doesn't matter for anything but cable carriage. Not that it matters because LPTVs are excluded from must-carry rules.

And for Comcast homes, it's not even the position they care about the most; they'll probably promote wherever they land in the HD 430s tier instead, because they know outside those who still haven't been moved to streaming/Xumo boxes, very few watch SD channels at that position, outside of DVR space saving/'stubborn olds'. It may even just take channel 431 from WPLG and they'll have to move and switch channel positions in the 430-450 tier with another station (444 is blank so that's a possibility).

 

But on YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo or anything else, it'll be seamless for ABC viewers, including recordings, while WPLG likely end up with having to start all over, and will find itself having to negotiate their own carriage in the future.