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Media General, Young to merge


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This will finally give MG a flagship station in their home market of Richmond. I just hope that by acquiring KRON with the other stations, it doesn't bring down the entire company, like it nearly did with Young.

 

It's good to see a good-old fashioned TV merger without the extensive use of SSAs and JSAs (well...except for WLNS/WLAJ and WTEN/WXXA)

 

Perhaps Sinclair will finally get their hands on WTVR and some of the other Local TV stations after all! We'll see....

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Guest NewsHound

Looks like according to the article, Media General wants to be the next Nexstar or Sinclair. Oh lord.

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Wow, wouldn't have expected this one either. Could be a good move but hopefully they won't eventually take it too far like certain companies out there.

 

 

 

Perhaps Sinclair will finally get their hands on WTVR and some of the other Local TV stations after all! We'll see....

 

Speaking of which - I've already given in that Sinclair is probably going to get most if not all the Local TV group, and I'm just hoping I'll be wrong and somebody else is involved.

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In this deal, the combined company will still be known as Media General, and still headquartered in Richmond, Virginia with George Mahoney retaining his title as CEO.

 

The twist is that Media General's dual-stock setup will be eliminated (which had members of the founding Bryan family owning the majority of their class-A shares), and Young's current board will have a precedence over Media General's current board of directors. Edit: Media General will keep 5 board seats, Young will keep 5 board seats, and a new director will be elected. The combined company will be comprised of 67.5% Young shareholders and 32.5% Media General shareholders.

 

Glancing over their new combined portfolio, it will give Media General a large group of ABC affiliates to add to WJBF, an SSA with WXXA giving them control of their first ever FOX affiliate, and KRON in San Francisco (which could be considered as a quasi-MNTV affiliate)

 

With the new influence that Young's former shareholders could have over the combined company, there could be some changes in how Media General does things. We could see another hub being set up in any market with an ABC affiliate (Richmond, Nashville, Knoxville, etc...) if Media General decides to hub their new stations. Currently, they have a CBS hub in Spartanburg (that now controls WJBF and WYCW) for all their CBS affiliates and an NBC hub in Columbus, OH for all of their NBC stations. Expansions may have to be made in Spartanburg and Columbus if they pick up any new stations as well.

 

Since most of Young's stations have a similar package and style to them (not to the extent that Media Genral does), it could be a third look that MGFX (their graphics hub in Richmond) could port out to their stations. Speaking of MGFX, if they hub out graphics as well to the new Young stations, they would have to either expand the hub in Richmond or establish another one somewhere else.

 

As for their websites, WorldNow does sites for both groups now, so any changes should be minimal...

 

I wonder if we could see MG making a play for some of the Local TV stations (besides WTVR). Acquiring WREG in Memphis would give them a station in virtually every market in Tennessee (besides Jackson and Chattanooga). WTKR would also strengthen their position in Virginia and give them a station in Hampton Roads as well.

 

Then again, they could be in a divestiture mood for certain stations....If Raycom wants WKRG in Mobile bad enough to complete their Alabama News Network...if Sinclair wants to buy off WJTV and WHLT in Mississippi to expand their presence...etc....it's anybody's guess.

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Well I knew Young was going under. There was no way that they would keep a small group, while many stations are merging and expanding left and right.

 

One more thing. Which is the next group to go on the block? We know Local TV is of course also on the block. We know Titan & Fisher is going in the shelves of Sinclair. Grant could also be on the block as well. Granite has a great chance there will be going on the block, since their parent is Silver Point Capital (also the parent of ComCorp). I also don't think Young will last either. If Nexstar have a chance to go back to Albany, they should be the first to get WTEN/WXXA. Cox should get WKRN. And whoever has the money to pony up and acquire KRON 4.

But I never thought that they would merge with a company that just sold its newspapers. At least four of those Young markets are Media General territory, including a television return in its true homebase in Richmond. But with this move MG doesn't have to divest any of its current line of stations. Almost 13 months ago (5/7/13), LIN bought out New Vision Television, with no divestitures they had to do. This will be a true merger, having some of the heads of both MG & Young at the board.

 

KRON 4 will no doubt be MG's largest station by market size and the only west coast station. I would feel a lot better if MG would find someone to get KRON 4, just to get that giant monkey off its back. Young did the dummy buying KRON 4 and y'all seen how they did with it. And I don't see any difference with new ownership. It will stay as a status quo as the 'big white elephant' of the group.

 

Should everything be finalized and each of those stations get cosmetic changes with the current MG standard, several stations could be losing its longtime theme songs, including KELOland (Enforcer), WKRN using 615 Music (since the 1984 company's foundation, 16 years continuously since News One) and KRON 4 (Boyd's Instant Classics, since the SESAC attack). I hope that won't be the case, but at this rate we would never know.

 

Perhaps Sinclair will finally get their hands on WTVR and some of the other Local TV stations after all! We'll see....

 

Speaking of which - I've already given in that Sinclair is probably going to get most if not all the Local TV group, and I'm just hoping I'll be wrong and somebody else is involved.

Now why y'all had to say that? But yeah. With this news, this could be [OPEN SEASON] for the suits in MD to continue with the close to two-year acquisitive streak. I'm hoping it'll be buyers that are not Sinclair. Anyone but Sinclair.

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If KRON goes back on the block (which it may not; it would be the combined company's only station in a top-ten market), I don't think it'll be much more than duopoly bait. The fact that someone else hasn't gobbled it up is probably because the economy crapped out when they tried to sell it, and the station's financial state probably isn't healthy either.

 

And as nickp said, dumping the newspapers and expanding in broadcasting makes sense.

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Here's B&C's follow-up article.

 

Many investors who were caught off-guard, applauded MG on this shocking merging. After the completion of the merger, Young's President & CEO Deborah McDermott will be appointed as new Senior VP and will oversee all the MG stations. With 14% of U.S. coverage, MG will be nearly on par with Nexstar and Belo.

 

IMHO, the day Vincent left the company his late-father Adam built, the 'Young' name should've left with it.

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Should everything be finalized and each of those stations get cosmetic changes with the current MG standard, several stations could be losing its longtime theme songs, including KELOland (Enforcer), WKRN using 615 Music (since the 1984 company's foundation, 16 years continuously since News One) and KRON 4 (Boyd's Instant Classics, since the SESAC attack). I hope that won't be the case, but at this rate we would never know.

 

And WRIC dropped "Interceptor" after 9 years for "Always Worth Your Time" last month, making it the third ABC station in Virginia to use the package (after WSET [until 2011] and WVEC).

 

I'm shocked that Media General is merging with Young. But I'm glad MG will make a return to TV here in Richmond.

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And WRIC dropped "Interceptor" after 9 years for "Always Worth Your Time" last month, making it the third ABC station in Virginia to use the package (after WSET [until 2011] and WVEC).

 

I'm shocked that Media General is merging with Young. But I'm glad MG will make a return to TV here in Richmond.

 

I'm guessing WRIC-TV is going to be one of the three flagship stations that Media General will have besides Tampa, Florida.

I have less than pre-conceived notions that this was a surprise to most of us who read the article about this merger earlier today. I wonder what's going to really happen to KRON 4???

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I could still picture KRON San Francisco being sold to NBC

 

 

And if KRON would be sold to NBC, where would that lead KNTV 11?

 

At the time KRON was on the selling block, I remember that one of the other companies interested (besides NBC and Young) was News Corporation/Fox Television Stations. Perhaps Mr. Murdoch/Mr. Ailes/Mr. Abernethy would like to make another run at the station?

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And if KRON would be sold to NBC, where would that lead KNTV 11?

 

The most likely scenario would turn KNTV into a Telemundo outlet; or possibly they could keep KNTV as an NBC O&O strictly focusing on the South Bay like they once did, as KRON could be NBC for the rest of the market. But I highly doubt either scenario. If I had to guess, I'd say MG will keep KRON, try to get it to profitability and just eat Young's losses.
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KRON definitely seems out of place, since MG is centered on the East coast. I don't know how the MG look would translate to San Francisco.

 

That WCMH/WAGT red circles package has KRON written all over it (They're both red circle 4's too; just use video in it instead of stills and it'd work quite well)

 

Nothing will ever beat Look F though.

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And if KRON would be sold to NBC, where would that lead KNTV 11?

Direct station swap. What NBC did for WCAU (traded KUTV and KCNC to CBS).

 

Update:

 

Additional possibilities:

  • Or, yeah, the license, transmitter, and virtual channel mapping.
  • The new company will most likely take the Media General name.
  • I wouldn't be surprised if KRON 4 is sold.
  • KTVU would probably become the MyTV affiliate. Though I can't see that going over well.

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