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SJL buys KITV from Hearst


NEOMatrix

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Wow. Why were they selling them in the first place?

 

Running a television station in Hawai'i is an unusual business due to its distance from the mainland and the increased cost of living, goods, services and especially technical infrastructure. I imagine Hearst is selling KITV to clear up ownership cap space and raise cash for a possible acquisition or another station.

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I'm surprised seeing as they rarely by and sell. But looking at their list of stations most of their properties are East of the Mississippi (or close proximity.) I wonder how much they got for the station and if this could be the beginning of future sales.

 

Could this be related to their acquisition of WVTM and WJCL?

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Hearst has 1 Big Six network, Media General has 2 and Raycom has 3. A lot harder to compete economically, when you have fewer slices of the pie.

 

Having been there a bunch recently, I find their production to be well behind KHON and Hawaii News Now.

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Running a television station in Hawai'i is an unusual business due to its distance from the mainland and the increased cost of living, goods, services and especially technical infrastructure. I imagine Hearst is selling KITV to clear up ownership cap space and raise cash for a possible acquisition or another station.

I'm on my phone and having trouble editing my previous post. I don't know how their ratings are but I imagine competing against a simulcast newscast on KHON and KGMB in most time slots is difficult. It also doesn't help that KHON and KGMB are affiliated with the #1 and #2 networks respectively. The only positive sign is that KITV has much better syndicated programming with Dr. Oz, Steve Harvey and Ellen.

 

Aside from ratings the only other reason I can think of is maybe they want to even their books out given their acquisition of WVTM and WJCL. Surely the acquisition was not much and shouldn't matter since Hearst is well managed, makes a great profit and has no debt.

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But why SJL? They just sold WTVG and WJRT to Gray. It must be costly to own a station in Hawai'i, which is probably why none of the big media companies (except Schurz, which may or may not count as one) own stations in Alaska.

 

To answer @rkolsen's ratings question, I believe KITV is dead last in ratings. It's one of the few stations in the Hearst chain where this is true AFAIK (WVTM, WJCL and WAPT are the others).

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SJL wants to flip again, and perhaps profit even more from KITV than they did from WJRT and WTVG.

 

I'm surprised we AREN'T seeing more buy-then-flip acquisitions lately. Perhaps there aren't as many because private equity firms and other flippers feel that the bubble is going to burst very soon, but still.

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But why SJL? They just sold WTVG and WJRT to Gray. It must be costly to own a station in Hawai'i, which is probably why none of the big media companies (except Schurz, which may or may not count as one) own stations in Alaska.

 

To answer @rkolsen's ratings question, I believe KITV is dead last in ratings. It's one of the few stations in the Hearst chain where this is true AFAIK (WVTM, WJCL and WAPT are the others).

 

Isn't WMTW still at the bottom of the ratings in Portland, Maine?

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But why SJL? They just sold WTVG and WJRT to Gray. It must be costly to own a station in Hawai'i, which is probably why none of the big media companies (except Schurz, which may or may not count as one) own stations in Alaska.

 

To answer @rkolsen's ratings question, I believe KITV is dead last in ratings. It's one of the few stations in the Hearst chain where this is true AFAIK (WVTM, WJCL and WAPT are the others).

I know KHON is the top-dog in Hawaii but isn't KITV higher-rated than KGMB or KHNL is you count them separate?
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New England synergies aside, I wouldn't be shocked if Hearst sold WMTW. I would think that at the very least Gray, Nexstar, and Media General would like to grow their holdings further in that region.

I'm not so sure. If there's any station Hearst should sell it's KSBW. Could be a good one for Nexstar. You could also put in KHBS and KHOG (40/29) in NW Arkansas, which I'm sure Sinclair would love to have.
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I'm not so sure. If there's any station Hearst should sell it's KSBW. Could be a good one for Nexstar. You could also put in KHBS and KHOG (40/29) in NW Arkansas, which I'm sure Sinclair would love to have.

 

Why if KSBW 8 is #1 in that market? Giving up a #1 for possibly, a crappy station later down the road? Besides, Hearst also has KCRA 3/KQCA 58 in Sacramento.
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I'm not so sure. If there's any station Hearst should sell it's KSBW. Could be a good one for Nexstar. You could also put in KHBS and KHOG (40/29) in NW Arkansas, which I'm sure Sinclair would love to have.

 

I've always thought WMOR was Hearst's odd station. A stand-alone independent with no news department. Is there room for another duopoly in Tampa Bay, because that would seem to be a good fit for Scripps, maybe as a swap for a Journal property they don't want.

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I've always thought WMOR was Hearst's odd station. A stand-alone independent with no news department. Is there room for another duopoly in Tampa Bay, because that would seem to be a good fit for Scripps, maybe as a swap for a Journal property they don't want.

KMTV, perhaps?
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I've always thought WMOR was Hearst's odd station. A stand-alone independent with no news department. Is there room for another duopoly in Tampa Bay, because that would seem to be a good fit for Scripps, maybe as a swap for a Journal property they don't want.

 

I'd like to see Scripps buy WMOR and possibly add "ABC Action News This Morning on MOR TV" as well as "ABC Action News at 10:00 on MOR TV."

 

So far, I haven't heard of anything if WFLA 8 will add news back to their newest sister station, WTTA 38.

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I'm not so sure. If there's any station Hearst should sell it's KSBW. Could be a good one for Nexstar. You could also put in KHBS and KHOG (40/29) in NW Arkansas, which I'm sure Sinclair would love to have.

Would they really sell a station that serves the region where Hearst Castle is located? Most of the property is now a state park but the family kept a guest house or two for their own private use.

 

Anyway this is a bit speculative.

Forget ratings and all that regular stuff. I would ask if the land the studio sits on was included in the deal. The land is a major part of the transaction in Hi.

I don't think lands an issue as it appears their studio is in the first floors of an apartment building. But if they had their own space it probably would be decent amount of money.

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Getting back to a speculative WMOR swap to Scripps, I would think KIVI or KERO might be close to being an even swap (smaller-market ABC for large-market no-news indie). However, I would imagine the station Scripps would love to give up is WMAR.

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