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Allbritton could be selling too.......


tyrannical bastard

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Politico is why they're selling the stations. They want to be able to invest fully in that venture, which has started to become a serious cash cow. So the amazing WJLA site will probably have to go in the sale, since they're running off the Politico CMS as far as I know.

 

 

 

I don't think it matters THAT much to have an O&O in Washington, DC. After all, CBS hasn't owned what is now WUSA since they ended a joint-venture with the WaPo in the 1950s, and seem to be satifisfed with WJZ.

 

Also, if WJLA has been run like a virtual O&O for as long as they have, wouldn't that make ABC not want to buy it? After all, Allibitron has been doing all the work and spending all the money on ABC's behalf.

 

I don't think it's having an O&O in DC as much as it is having an O&O in a top ten market. When a network-affiliated station is put up for sale, that's essentially beachfront property. We've seen how NBC has gotten when one of those major market stations goes up. They offered a shit ton of money for KRON only to see some idiot bid a shit ton more, and in the ensuing temper tantrum, NBC bought KNTV. Moreover, NBC was so obsessed over having a Philly O&O that there really was no serious competitor.

 

Plus, the virtual O&O would make them want to buy it. I mean, they're referring to themselves as "ABC 7", they're using the circle-7, the graphics look similar to the ABC house style. All the work is really done for ABC, and really if they slip in as owner nobody would really notice right away.

 

And lastly, as tw-804's link suggests, oh the political money. Virginia is a battleground state of the highest proportions, and the money they'll make over the next election cycle is huge.

 

This is the type of buy networks dream about, and it's the one instance where ABC would look at it. IF they're willing to sell WJLA separately, which they should. (Sinclair, which wants every broadcasting license at this point, would buy what's left.)

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Does Belo still have the Washington news bureau? If so, then I could see how WJLA would make sense...

 

As for Sinclair, this could be their chance to get into all three of VA's largest markets with WSET.

Ahhhh, hell no on S**tclair on WSET, I could see WSET go to Gray Television Group and WJLA not going to become an ABC O/O. I personally think that WJLA should be bought by Raycom Media.

KTUL-I could see it go to Hearst Television to create a statewide newscasts with KOCO-TV

WHTM, KATV, ABC 33/40- possibilty of Gray Television Group to prevent Nexstar and or S**tclair from even buying them!

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Ahhhh' date=' hell no on S**tclair on WSET, I could see WSET go to Gray Television Group and WJLA not going to become an ABC O/O. I personally think that WJLA should be bought by Raycom Media.[/font']

KTUL-I could see it go to Hearst Television to create a statewide newscasts with KOCO-TV

WHTM, KATV, ABC 33/40- possibilty of Gray Television Group to prevent Nexstar and or S**tclair from even buying them!

I don't know, Raycom going for WJLA seems a little unlikely. To start, only a handful of their stations hold ABC affiliations, but that's virtually irrelevant. My main doubt comes from the fact that D.C. would be a BIG jump upmarket for Raycom. Washington is 8 or 9, a big jump above Cleveland at #17, which itself (as their largest market now) is several spots up the ladder from most of their stations. D.C. would seem to me as an ambitious move...not impossible, but I highly doubt it.

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Please God, no more Sinclair buying any more shops. I hope FCC kills the Fisher deal, because Sinclair owning KOMO 4 and KATU 2 just doesn't seem right. What next The Wolfe Family selling WBNS & The Hubbard Family selling KSTP? However many folks in Detroit are hoping ABC/Disney would buy WXYZ back into the fold.

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I don't know, Raycom going for WJLA seems a little unlikely. To start, only a handful of their stations hold ABC affiliations, but that's virtually irrelevant. My main doubt comes from the fact that D.C. would be a BIG jump upmarket for Raycom. Washington is 8 or 9, a big jump above Cleveland at #17, which itself (as their largest market now) is several spots up the ladder from most of their stations. D.C. would seem to me as an ambitious move...not impossible, but I highly doubt it.

Agreed, at least I tried really hard on predicting on WJLA going to Raycom. if not, I don't know potentally Gray???

 

 

 

Please God' date=' no more Sinclair buying any more shops. I hope FCC kills the Fisher deal, because Sinclair owning KOMO 4 and KATU 2 just doesn't seem right. What next The Wolfe Family selling WBNS & The Hubbard Family selling KSTP? However many folks in Detroit are hoping ABC/Disney would buy WXYZ back into the fold.

I'm waiting on the FCC to really say no to this deal. :)
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Please God, no more Sinclair buying any more shops. I hope FCC kills the Fisher deal, because Sinclair owning KOMO 4 and KATU 2 just doesn't seem right. What next The Wolfe Family selling WBNS & The Hubbard Family selling KSTP? However many folks in Detroit are hoping ABC/Disney would buy WXYZ back into the fold.

Neither Hubbard nor the Dispatch are going to sell. Even though it's radio, Hubbard now has WTOP is in their portfolio, which is the other source of money printing in DC after the U.S. Mint. And the Wolfe Family owns the city's lone daily in addition to the market's leading TV station and an AM/FM duopoly that has flagship rights to THE Ohio State Buckeyes.

 

As and I've said earlier, the FCC doesn't kill off merger or buyout deals. They just don't. And the Sinclair/Fisher deal is a fait accompli.

 

Ahhhh' date=' hell no on S**tclair on WSET, I could see WSET go to Gray Television Group and WJLA not going to become an ABC O/O. I personally think that WJLA should be bought by Raycom Media.[/font']

KTUL-I could see it go to Hearst Television to create a statewide newscasts with KOCO-TV

WHTM, KATV, ABC 33/40- possibilty of Gray Television Group to prevent Nexstar and or S**tclair from even buying them!

Raycom buying WJLA would be out of character for them. And I mean it. The WOIO/WUAB duopoly in Cleveland is their highest-profile station cluster.

 

This all depends on if Allibritron sells off WJLA separately from the rest of the stations. Upon further review, I agree with HulkieD that Allibitron may have given ABC a right-of-first-refusal purchase offer in their group wide affiliation pact (maybe not the first pact, but in subsequent renewals). Which would explain why WJLA has been operated almost like an O&O ever since 1995.

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Politico is why they're selling the stations. They want to be able to invest fully in that venture, which has started to become a serious cash cow. So the amazing WJLA site will probably have to go in the sale, since they're running off the Politico CMS as far as I know.

Since the existing ABC O&O stations' websites could seriously use a redesign [and a ditching of the ridiculous abclocal.go.comm/xxxx URL structure], maybe ABC will be interested in keeping the existing WJLA site design and working out a deal with Allbritton to roll out similar designs to the other O&Os.
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This all depends on if Allibritron sells off WJLA separately from the rest of the stations.

Why would they not sell it off separately? I would think that being open to selling the stations independent of each other would actually improve the chances of finding buyers for each, as there'd be no pressure for any company to buy all seven stations.
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Agreed, at least I tried really hard on predicting on WJLA going to Raycom. if not, I don't know potentally Gray???

If Allibritron sells off the whole cluster WITH WJLA included, the list of buyers includes Scripps, Belo, Hearst and Hubbard. It would be close to a $1B deal because of WJLA alone.

 

If WJLA is sold separately, the list of buyers for WJLA would be: Disney and Hubbard.

 

Sinclair would desire that scenario, because quite frankly, that would mean they could afford the rest of the group. They can't if WJLA is in the deal.

 

And it's starting to look highly like WJLA IS going to be sold separately.

 

I'm waiting on the FCC to really say no to this deal. :)

Again, the FCC doesn't say no to deals like this. They never have, and never will. They only order that X stations need to be sold off in order to clear regulatory hurdles so that the deal can be consummated, and Sinclair can put those stations in their handy JSAs/SSAs.

 

If you're looking for the FCC to start becoming idealistic and all that jazz, sorry to disappoint you in advance.

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Agreed, at least I tried really hard on predicting on WJLA going to Raycom. if not, I don't know potentally Gray???

Scratch Gray off for WJLA because their highest market is Knoxville (WVLT) and it's in the upper 50's. Wait a sec: Gray owns The Charlottesville Newsplex (WCAV, WVAW and WAHU) and WHSV/WSVF in Harrisonburg. Hmm...will WSET in Lynchburg be their sixth Virginia station?
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If ABC and Sinclair end up battling over WJLA, it could get ugly...KRON style.

 

 

Sinclair getting WJLA could have major implications, like giving an arsonist a flamethrower. If they think covering politics for all of their stations is easy from Baltimore, then being across the river from it could amplify it that much more.

If they want it bad enough, you could see them dumping marginal stations and clusters from their group just to pull this off. They could potentially outbid ABC while they have the cash on hand to do it.

 

And if they were to outbid ABC, ABC would likely make them run WJLA to their demands (like how NBC did to KRON after they lost the bidding), which would likely prohibit them from pre-empting programming.

 

It's doubtful that Sinclair would tell ABC to take a hike based on those demands, because where would they go in DC? (unless WHAG is the future KNTV!)

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Politico is why they're selling the stations. They want to be able to invest fully in that venture, which has started to become a serious cash cow. So the amazing WJLA site will probably have to go in the sale, since they're running off the Politico CMS as far as I know.

 

 

 

 

I don't think it's having an O&O in DC as much as it is having an O&O in a top ten market. When a network-affiliated station is put up for sale, that's essentially beachfront property. We've seen how NBC has gotten when one of those major market stations goes up. They offered a shit ton of money for KRON only to see some idiot bid a shit ton more, and in the ensuing temper tantrum, NBC bought KNTV. Moreover, NBC was so obsessed over having a Philly O&O that there really was no serious competitor.

 

Plus, the virtual O&O would make them want to buy it. I mean, they're referring to themselves as "ABC 7", they're using the circle-7, the graphics look similar to the ABC house style. All the work is really done for ABC, and really if they slip in as owner nobody would really notice right away.

 

And lastly, as tw-804's link suggests, oh the political money. Virginia is a battleground state of the highest proportions, and the money they'll make over the next election cycle is huge.

 

This is the type of buy networks dream about, and it's the one instance where ABC would look at it. IF they're willing to sell WJLA separately, which they should. (Sinclair, which wants every broadcasting license at this point, would buy what's left.)

On the right of first refusal thing: it wasn't stated in this article, but there was reportedly a point when Disney was seriously going to buy the entire Allbritton group (this was probably spurred on in part by the Telecommunications Act of 1996-induced consolidation mania): http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1998/06/22/weekinbiz.html

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Scratch Gray off for WJLA because their highest market is Knoxville (WVLT) and it's in the upper 50's. Wait a sec: Gray owns The Charlottesville Newsplex (WCAV, WVAW and WAHU) and WHSV/WSVF in Harrisonburg. Hmm...will WSET in Lynchburg be their sixth Virginia station?

Maybe the appropriate solution, but time will tell based on what's going to happen with WJLA first, and then we'll see about WSET going to Gray, It could be the Virgina Newsplex in this case if Gray gets WSET in Lynchburg.

 

If Allibritron sells off the whole cluster WITH WJLA included, the list of buyers includes Scripps, Belo, Hearst and Hubbard. It would be close to a $1B deal because of WJLA alone.

 

If WJLA is sold separately, the list of buyers for WJLA would be: Disney and Hubbard.

 

Sinclair would desire that scenario, because quite frankly, that would mean they could afford the rest of the group. They can't if WJLA is in the deal.

 

And it's starting to look highly like WJLA IS going to be sold separately.

 

Again, the FCC doesn't say no to deals like this. They never have, and never will. They only order that X stations need to be sold off in order to clear regulatory hurdles so that the deal can be consummated, and Sinclair can put those stations in their handy JSAs/SSAs.

 

If you're looking for the FCC to start becoming idealistic and all that jazz, sorry to disappoint you in advance.

No disappointment here for the Sinclair stuff, I know their scruples and their "rusty dumpster" tactics from 2005 to present! :D and also their SSA/JSA materials and another thing, I agree with you on WJLA being sold separately!(if interested in what a rusty dumpster means, I'll explain later)
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Here's the Washington Post article, which includes Robert Allbritton's memo to the employees yesterday. Should the stations be sold separately, this is obviously ABC's one to lose. I would think Rebecca Campbell and the rest of the folks at ABC Owned Television Stations should be thinking really hard about whether WJLA would be their best option to acquire. I truthfully think this will really stick.

 

Now for the rest of the stations.

 

Someone said Belo. I think Belo has its eyes on the Griffin stations (KWTV/KOTV), should the Griffin family ever want to sell its kingdom. And Belo use to own KOTV back in its heyday.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if Scripps divest KJRH to get KTUL, but isn't KJRH is at least #2, after KOTV? I don't think they will break up WHTM, WSET & WCIV since they all in the east. I don't think Raycom will touch any of the rest of Allbritton stations. All that money Raycom has invested in WBRC and they pour in more hours of news on 6. It would be dumb for them to divest that to get 33/40/58.

 

Cox would've been interested in a Birmingham TV station, if they didn't sell its radio properties there (and the FCC greenlighted that not too long ago to SummitMedia). So I don't think Cox will acquire any of the stations. Maybe KATV, but not the rest of them, not even low rated WHTM.

 

I'll say let the Lighthouse get WBMA/WCFT/WJSU & KATV and let LIN get KTUL, WHTM, WCIV, WSET. LIN already own WJCL in Savannah GA. So WCIV can be their close sister.

 

Sinclair shouldn't get any one of those stations. They already have a duopoly with Cunningham in Birmingham & Charleston, SC. But we know what happen on their last major acquisition.

 

But If they do and they ending up getting bankrupt, the FCC wouldn't have to do any auctions in 2014 to reclaim the spectrum to the wireless companies for wireless broadband use. 130 some-odd stations would go under and immediately be surrendered to the FCC and an immediate resale of the spectrum would happen. *heavy exaggerated sarcasm*

 

Once again, I think ABC should really think hard about the possibilities of WJLA being one of their stations. And I think this is ABC's one to lose!

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Here's the Washington Post article, which includes Robert Allbritton's memo to the employees yesterday. Should the stations be sold separately, this is obviously ABC's one to lose. I would think Rebecca Campbell and the rest of the folks at ABC Owned Television Stations should be thinking really hard about whether WJLA would be their best option to acquire. I truthfully think this will really stick.

 

Now for the rest of the stations.

 

Someone said Belo. I think Belo has its eyes on the Griffin stations (KWTV/KOTV), should the Griffin family ever want to sell its kingdom. And Belo use to own KOTV back in its heyday.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if Scripps divest KJRH to get KTUL, but isn't KJRH is at least #2, after KOTV? I don't think they will break up WHTM, WSET & WCIV since they all in the east. I don't think Raycom will touch any of the rest of Allbritton stations. All that money Raycom has invested in WBRC and they pour in more hours of news on 6. It would be dumb for them to divest that to get 33/40/58.

 

Cox would've been interested in a Birmingham TV station, if they didn't sell its radio properties there (and the FCC greenlighted that not too long ago to SummitMedia). So I don't think Cox will acquire any of the stations. Maybe KATV, but not the rest of them, not even low rated WHTM.

 

I'll say let the Lighthouse get WBMA/WCFT/WJSU & KATV and let LIN get KTUL, WHTM, WCIV, WSET. LIN already own WJCL in Savannah GA. So WCIV can be their close sister.

 

Sinclair shouldn't get any one of those stations. They already have a duopoly with Cunningham in Birmingham & Charleston, SC. But we know what happen on their last major acquisition.

 

But If they do and they ending up getting bankrupt, the FCC wouldn't have to do any auctions in 2014 to reclaim the spectrum to the wireless companies for wireless broadband use. 130 some-odd stations would go under and immediately be surrendered to the FCC and an immediate resale of the spectrum would happen. *heavy exaggerated sarcasm*

 

Once again, I think ABC should really think hard about the possibilities of WJLA being one of their stations. And I think this is ABC's one to lose!

Agreed to Scripps to get all Alabama Stations and also KATV, LIN to grab the remainder station group. I personally am soo going to say this: Sinclair should not (I repeat 130 times) grab this station group, ever! I also agree to ABC grabbing WJLA.
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I think I heard somewhere that out of all of the Allbritton stations, WHTM somehow has the number #2 ratings out of the entire group, with WJLA #1 ...

 

I know it sounds like I am beating a dead horse here, so just bear with me, but this needs to happen to WHTM. Their scale of professionalism and integrity has been down ever since they dropped the WHTM News Center branding. Everything needs to be made new with WHTM. Image, look, sound, set, building, anchors, reporters, everything. If WHTM wonders why this is happening ... ask Brett Thackara ... ask Dennis Owens, ... ask Al Gonza ... and that's just for starters.

 

No matter what happens, in the HLLY market, WGAL is the source of news in the area. The rest just exist. I wish WHTM luck. They are going to need it.

 

-- Matt

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I think getting lost in all this is what could happen to NewsChannel 8.

 

Unless it is very profitable (I don't know if it is,) I can't imagine any new owner outside of Belo or MAYBE Hearst keeping that afloat...including ABC.

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I think I heard somewhere that out of all of the Allbritton stations, WHTM somehow has the number #2 ratings out of the entire group, with WJLA #1 ...

 

I know it sounds like I am beating a dead horse here, so just bear with me, but this needs to happen to WHTM. Their scale of professionalism and integrity has been down ever since they dropped the WHTM News Center branding. Everything needs to be made new with WHTM. Image, look, sound, set, building, anchors, reporters, everything. If WHTM wonders why this is happening ... ask Brett Thackara ... ask Dennis Owens, ... ask Al Gonza ... and that's just for starters.

 

No matter what happens, in the HLLY market, WGAL is the source of news in the area. The rest just exist. I wish WHTM luck. They are going to need it.

 

-- Matt

And bring Rick Wagner (was let go after more than 20 years with WHTM) back and Chuck Rhodes out of retirement. They along with Alicia Richards and Gregg Mace (both still with WHTM), as the evening news crew was the last one being professional and the highest integrity before WHTM went downhill for the past 10 years. Right now, WHTM is like TMZ...aka TMZ27.

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I think getting lost in all this is what could happen to NewsChannel 8.

 

Unless it is very profitable (I don't know if it is,) I can't imagine any new owner outside of Belo or MAYBE Hearst keeping that afloat...including ABC.

Allibritron could keep NC8 and merge it into Politico (although they may think twice after the disastrous TBD experiment a few years back). Or maybe they sell it to Comcast, which does have experience running cable-only regional news networks.

 

Heck, Hubbard could even want to buy it as a brand extension for both WTOP and Federal News 1500.

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If Hearst still wants to expand, I see them as being interested in KATV, KTUL, and possibly WBMA/WCFT/WJSU. KATV and KTUL are close to other Hearst-owned ABC stations (KHBS/KHOG for KATV, and KOCO for KTUL), and WBMA/WCFT/WJSU occupies that same general geographical area.

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About 15 years ago there were rumors that Albritton was planning to sell it's group (which at the time included WJXX-Jacksonville). Disney/ABC was *very* interested, but only wanted WJLA. Albritton said all or none and the deal withered on the vine. It wasn't too long after that Albritton spun off WJXX to Gannett. I can't see why they wouldn't be interested now.

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