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Sinclair...Again


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I find it shocking that one publication (B&C) announcing about the outside date approaching, but haven't stated the latest DOJ ruling that they had to divest WHTM. I find that shocking.

 

Anyway, if nothing pops today, we would have 7 business days left for the FCC to greenlight the deal.

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We have all our open enrollment information, and can start enrolling in SBG's medical, etc., now. No closing date announcement yet, but the enrollment period is set up so that there will be a 'smooth transition of benefits'.

 

I'd say this deal is certain at this point. Both parties seem to be 100% certain that by the start of August, Albritton will be no more.

 

I know you might want to remain anonymous, but are you at one of the stations Sinclair is looking to turn the license back in? If so, has your management developed a strategy for moving forward with branding, etc.?
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I know you might want to remain anonymous, but are you at one of the stations Sinclair is looking to turn the license back in? If so, has your management developed a strategy for moving forward with branding, etc.?

 

No, I'm at one of the six without any conflicts. So for all intents and purposes, it will be just another day, except the copyright on the newscast will change. As well, we have a rather small newsroom (staffwise) thanks to 2008 era staff reductions, so I'm not really picturing SBG rolling through and laying off people.
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I keep hearing about the NewsChannel infrastructure is what Sinclair wants but in all honesty what infrastructure is different from running a television station to a cable only outlet like NewsChannel 8? They'd still have to negotiate carriage with the rest of the companies that they want carriage for. I just don't see how much different it would be than programming a news heavy independent station or even a KCBS/KCAL situation. From what I have watched it's not that different from just that - But I wouldn't put it in the same realm as NECN.

 

There are more newscasts yes, but they share reporters with WJLA and they rerun ABC World News, Nightline, and This Week twice. I think the channel would be more enticing if Politico programmed the day part - but since Politico isn't part of the deal the point is null.

 

I could see them expanding NC8 into the WBFF and southern Harrisburg/Lancaster DMA (focusing along the MD-PA line) for people who commute to DC daily. But other than that they'd have to significantly retool the format if they want it to go national.

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I would imagine some kind of transitional service agreement (anywhere from 60 days to 6 months) to operated the affected stations so viewers can be notified, and cable/satellite companies can plan an orderly transition.

 

On the amendment which was posted a couple of weeks ago, they'd ask the FCC to operate the stations within 60 days after consummation, to notify cable providers of the change, and notify the public to rescan their tuners, 30 days before the shutoff date.

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I keep hearing about the NewsChannel infrastructure is what Sinclair wants but in all honesty what infrastructure is different from running a television station to a cable only outlet like NewsChannel 8? They'd still have to negotiate carriage with the rest of the companies that they want carriage for. I just don't see how much different it would be than programming a news heavy independent station or even a KCBS/KCAL situation. From what I have watched it's not that different from just that - But I wouldn't put it in the same realm as NECN.

 

The debacle involving WNWO is related to this. They're going to have to go through this every single time a contract is up for renewal. Hopefully Sinclair learned their lesson and won't try this stupid stunt with companies like Comcast or Charter.

 

As far as the channel itself, it's probably going to get more political content. But I still can't figure out why they're jumping on the cable news bandwagon 10-15 years after everyone else did.

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As far as the channel itself, it's probably going to get more political content. But I still can't figure out why they're jumping on the cable news bandwagon 10-15 years after everyone else did.

 

That's the thing though. People and companies are still jumping on that bandwagon to this very day in order provide something different from the CNNs, Fox News, and MSNBCs of the industry, but it's become more difficult these days in terms of initial reach and trying to convince cable and satellite companies to carry your channel, and that's a challenge Sincair would have to overcome if they wanted to create a national news network. Creating a regional one is a different story, which NC8 will probably be for the forseeable future.

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Ive read this thread for a while I haven't gotten a straight answer regarding the Alabama stations.

 

Currently Albrittom has WBMA-LD (Birmingham) and it's full power satellite stations WCFT (Tuscaloosa) & WJSU (Anniston)? Sinclair was initially planning to sell WABM to meet the requirements but they couldn't sell. So it appears they are going to keep WABM (Birmingham) programming and use multiplexing on WABMs signal to carry a feed WBMA-LD. But will WBMA's news operation stay the same? And finally will it cover the same area?

 

Update:I read the docket and I see they will also use WTTO (Birmingham) and it's satellite WDBB (Tuscaloosa) mux to carry WBMA-LD. But will it still cover Anniston?

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Ive read this thread for a while I haven't gotten a straight answer regarding the Alabama stations.

 

Currently Albrittom has WBMA-LD (Birmingham) and it's full power satellite stations WCFT (Tuscaloosa) & WJSU (Anniston)? Sinclair was initially planning to sell WABM to meet the requirements but they couldn't sell. So it appears they are going to keep WABM (Birmingham) programming and use multiplexing on WABMs signal to carry a feed WBMA-LD. But will WBMA's news operation stay the same? And finally will it cover the same area?

 

Update:I read the docket and I see they will also use WTTO (Birmingham) and it's satellite WDBB (Tuscaloosa) mux to carry WBMA-LD. But will it still cover Anniston?

 

The ABC stream will only be relayed on WBDD Bessemer, to serve the western sections. WABM's eastern sections serve the tip of Anniston, while WJSU's stretches all the way towards the state line.

 

I don't think that's enough for OTA viewers who probably need an outdoor UHF antenna. That's unless they plea to the FCC to place a new LP translator specifically for Anniston. Because i think the FCC has place a freeze on new digital replacement translators, although this wouldn't technically be a fill-in translator to fill-in an existing coverage area for WABM.

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The debacle involving WNWO is related to this. They're going to have to go through this every single time a contract is up for renewal. Hopefully Sinclair learned their lesson and won't try this stupid stunt with companies like Comcast or Charter.

 

As far as the channel itself, it's probably going to get more political content. But I still can't figure out why they're jumping on the cable news bandwagon 10-15 years after everyone else did.

The "One America News Network" and Newsmax TV are already clogging carriage positions by offering poor knockoffs of Fox News. If S!nclair wants to do their own crappy Fox News knockoff with NewsChannel 8, it's going to be a profound failure. The cable news pie isn't really that big, and is getting older every year.

 

The only way a cable news network will work is if S!nclair focuses it solely on news content with minimal opinion, and introduces a variety of portable subscriber-based content delivery. Streaming NC8 on an iPad or Droid, for example.

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The "One America News Network" and Newsmax TV are already clogging carriage positions by offering poor knockoffs of Fox News. If S!nclair wants to do their own crappy Fox News knockoff with NewsChannel 8, it's going to be a profound failure. The cable news pie isn't really that big, and is getting older every year.

 

The only way a cable news network will work is if S!nclair focuses it solely on news content with minimal opinion, and introduces a variety of portable subscriber-based content delivery. Streaming NC8 on an iPad or Droid, for example.

 

Yeah, David Smith is about 15 or so years late to the party.

 

Newschannel 8 does a good job as is because it focuses solely on DC-related news, sports, and yes they do talk to Politico (sister organization) from time to time, but it's only during a newscast. It needs to stay local. If they start outsourcing some of their programming to a national format (ie: something like the NewsCentral debacle), they're doomed to fail.

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Why can't Sinclair just buy One America? They have way more resources than the current owners and could move operations from San Diego to WJLA or Baltimore.

That actually makes sense. One America would also get them clearances in a bunch of non-S!nclair markets, something that S!nclair is going to have a mammoth challenge in markets where they don't have any stations.
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The ABC stream will only be relayed on WBDD Bessemer, to serve the western sections. WABM's eastern sections serve the tip of Anniston, while WJSU's stretches all the way towards the state line.

 

I don't think that's enough for OTA viewers who probably need an outdoor UHF antenna. That's unless they plea to the FCC to place a new LP translator specifically for Anniston. Because i think the FCC has place a freeze on new digital replacement translators, although this wouldn't technically be a fill-in translator to fill-in an existing coverage area for WABM.

 

I wonder if they are going to put ABC on 68.1 and My on 68.2. I wouldn't think that ABC would like being stuck on a .2 channel in a top 50 market. I could be wrong, but the more I think about it, I bet that they leave the branding ABC 33/40. With it jumping between second and third most watched in the market after WBRC, I wouldn't think they would want to mess with a good thing too much.
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TVNewsCheck announce that they are starting a new sports initiative called "American Sports Network".

 

So they're now trying to be like Raycom now? With all those stations they have, they surely have the scale to do it.

 

It actually might work. Especially since the bigger conferences are moving away from OTA to their own cable networks, this will help the smaller conferences get more media exposure. A lot of the Sinclair stations in the South carried the SEC Network so this will help give those stations something to fill the void with.
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It actually might work. Especially since the bigger conferences are moving away from OTA to their own cable networks, this will help the smaller conferences get more media exposure. A lot of the Sinclair stations in the South carried the SEC Network so this will help give those stations something to fill the void with.

 

It really is an actual added value, gives the conferences some measure of additional coverage (and revenue), and will be a product worthy of export outside Sinclair Country (unlike, say, Ring of Honor).

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http://m.conferenceusa.com/m/genrel/071714aaa.html

 

Sinclair is launching the American Sports Network which will be broadcasting college football games for the smaller conferences including CUSA. Being that WCCB is the flagship station for the Charlotte 49ers, wonder if Sinclair would want to buy the station from Bahakel? But WCCB is Bahakel's flagship.

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http://m.conferenceusa.com/m/genrel/071714aaa.html

 

Sinclair is launching the American Sports Network which will be broadcasting college football games for the smaller conferences including CUSA. Being that WCCB is the flagship station for the Charlotte 49ers, wonder if Sinclair would want to buy the station from Bahakel? But WCCB is Bahakel's flagship.

 

Not to say that Sinclair wouldn't want WCCB, but that wouldn't be a reason to buy a station. Besides, I don't think Beverly Poston has any desire to sell anytime soon.
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