WPLG & ABC Parting Ways

[ABC 7 Denver 1755]

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 155]

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 2340]

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 State based newscast, and KRIV having "The Isiah Factor" etc..

 

Edited June 27 by MediaZone4K

[Rusty Muck 4458]

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 2557]

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.

[l_miro 15]

On 6/27/2025 at 2:38 AM, 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.

 

A little birdie told me uncle Warren said no to a sale - if he sold it would have tax implications given how he acquired wplg. 

 

I still think Fox will buy 10, and that the ABC deal was a hedge by wsvn management since Their fox affiliation expires 2026 so...

[Rusty Muck 4458]

Don't look now but WSVN launched a subpage devoted to "ABC Miami 18".

[Rusty Muck 4458]

On 6/27/2025 at 6:42 PM, 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 sure enough, that's what happened:

[MediaZone4K 2340]

liking the "miami" in the abc font.

[TheRolyPoly 2706]

Off topic... TIL: Breezeline is the American division of the Canadian conglomerate Cogeco that was formerly known as Atlantic Broadband.

[mre29 1608]

15 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

And sure enough, that's what happened:

 

Looks like two providers didn't get the memo. I'd love to know what they have on their respective channel 18s* that they don't want to move.

 

 

* Or is that "channels 18"?

 

[TheRolyPoly 2706]

1 hour ago, mre29 said:

 

Looks like two providers didn't get the memo. I'd love to know what they have on their respective channel 18s* that they don't want to move.

 

 

* Or is that "channels 18"?

 

 

I researched so you don't have to!!!

 

According to Zap2it (errrrrrr... Gracenote), its C-SPAN on Blue Stream Channel 18 (Coral Springs and Weston, the only two cities it serves), and its H&I (WPLG 10.3) on Hotwire Channel 18.

[MediaZone4K 2340]

Per anchor Andrew Perez's IG, the expanded Local 10 Morning News promos are out.

[nathannah 2557]

A video is up now on the subpage showing that WSVN is going full in on the 18 position, including a 'circle 18' logo (and a 7.2 logo) that reminds me of ABC's advertising 'bullets' in the TV Guide days.

 

[Georgie56 3361]

WPLG has picked up rights to women’s soccer club Fort Lauderdale United FC.

[tyrannical bastard 4118]

19 hours ago, nathannah said:

A video is up now on the subpage showing that WSVN is going full in on the 18 position, including a 'circle 18' logo (and a 7.2 logo) that reminds me of ABC's advertising 'bullets' in the TV Guide days.

 

yeesh.  Seems like a fantasy or offshore TV station come to life in Miami.

Hopefully "ABC Miami" will be their main brand, but they have to educate the OTA & cable/satellite viewers on channel position. 

"ABC Miami" is enough for OTT.

 

I would imagine WPLG would continue on YouTubeTV. 

WJXT has always been carried as an independent so carrying WPLG post-switch should be a given.

ABC would pull the strings for getting "ABC Miami" on there.

Edited 4 hours ago by tyrannical bastard

[Georgie56 3361]

1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:

I would imagine WPLG would continue on YouTubeTV. 

WJXT has always been carried as an independent so carrying WPLG post-switch should be a given.

ABC would pull the strings for getting "ABC Miami" on there.

From their FAQ page:

 

Quote

Local 10 will no longer be available on DirecTV Streaming, Hulu Live, Fubo and YouTube TV, after August 4th.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Georgie56

[ABC 7 Denver 1755]

1 hour ago, Georgie56 said:

From their FAQ page:

 

 

 

So they're doubling down on linear television? That's not going to work well for them. BH doesn't have the infrastructure for that.... Frankly there's demand of non-linear targeted stories, but not without the cost offset for the SAAS development.

[nathannah 2557]

I can only assume they'll try to go the FAST direction or go heavy on promoting streaming through Local 10+/YouTube Live since they're ramping up the news schedule and there's no point in having that carriage when right now they only have three hours of syndicated programming on weekdays and by September, that will all be streaming next day itself (Live with Kelly is on Hulu, J!/WoF on Hulu/Peacock, The First 48 is on anything with an A&E library deal). It'll just simplify their digital reach overall.

 

I wish them luck, but not being on those platforms will likely backfire and be reeled back if they decide to go for pro rights.

[Georgie56 3361]

I suspect a lot of hotels in Miami-Fort Lauderdale will be dropping them from their lineups come next month, too.

Edited 24 minutes ago by Georgie56

[TheRolyPoly 2706]

5 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

WPLG has picked up rights to women’s soccer club Fort Lauderdale United FC.

 

Plus, HBCU GO sports as well from Allen.