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TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion


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There's another thing that hit me. Upon the split of Gannett's broadcasting arm into Tegna, will the stations' websites be altered in any way aside from changing from "A Gannett Company" to "A Tegna Company" at some point within a year from then?

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So basically... Gannett paid a marketing firm a lot of money to scramble the letters in their name, and create a definition for it.

 

They paid said firm a lot of money to create many names. But for some reason, the Gannett people felt "Tegna" best reflected some convergence of today and tomorrow or some such pile.

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There's another thing that hit me. Upon the split of Gannett's broadcasting arm into Tegna, will the stations' websites be altered in any way aside from changing from "A Gannett Company" to "A Tegna Company" at some point within a year from then?

 

That's it! Because the graphics package is pretty fresh still, neither that nor the web design will change for a few years. I suspect that the stations will continue the partnership with USA Today, as well.

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That's it! Because the graphics package is pretty fresh still, neither that nor the web design will change for a few years. I suspect that the stations will continue the partnership with USA Today, as well.

 

It'll also allow for full ownership of KGW and WHAS because they won't be bound under cross-ownership restrictions Gannett is under right now as well as allowing the purchase of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram and the Texas Tribune, especially for the former because it's within (and near the center of) WFAA's viewing area which for right now, bars Gannett from purchasing said newspaper.
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It'll also allow for full ownership of KGW and WHAS because they won't be bound under cross-ownership restrictions Gannett is under right now.

 

I would not be surprised if a year or two after the split, Tegna goes on another buying spree. There are quite a few stations ripe for the pickin'.

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I would not be surprised if a year or two after the split, Tegna goes on another buying spree. There are quite a few stations ripe for the pickin'.

 

Hubbard Broadcasting for example (except for KSTP and it's satellites and KSTC which can all go to Meridith), could net them markets in New Mexico, Duluth, MN/Superior, WI, Albany, and a return to the Rochester market if they buy said company. They could also buy Griffin Communications which could net them the OKC and Tulsa markets as well as KFMB in San Diego if they wanted to.
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Hubbard Broadcasting for example (except for KSTP and it's satellites and KSTC which can all go to Meridith), could net them markets in New Mexico, Duluth, MN/Superior, WI, Albany, and a return to the Rochester market if they buy said company. They could also buy Griffin Communications which could net them the OKC and Tulsa markets as well as KFMB in San Diego if they wanted to.

I definitely think they would expand in California.

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Hubbard Broadcasting for example (except for KSTP and it's satellites and KSTC which can all go to Meridith), could net them markets in New Mexico, Duluth, MN/Superior, WI, Albany, and a return to the Rochester market if they buy said company. They could also buy Griffin Communications which could net them the OKC and Tulsa markets as well as KFMB in San Diego if they wanted to.

 

But doesn't Hubbard already own stations in New Mexico, Duluth, MN; Albany, NY and Rochester? I got confused by what you said.

 

I know they don't own any in OKC, Tulsa and San Diego and I can see Hubbard owning KFMB if Midwest Television, Inc. decides to see it, but I don't see Griffin selling KWTV/KSBI, nor KOTV/KQCW, anytime soon.

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Speaking of, one change that will have to happen is that WUSA will stop being owned officially by "Detroit Free Press, Inc"...

 

I haven't seen that yet, but if it does say that WUSA is owned by "Detroit Free Press Inc", it'll have to change into being owned by "Tegna Inc." or "Tegna Company", or something like those.
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And yet, WUSA announced a wide-ranging partnership with the Washington Post a few weeks ago.

I believe even if the publishing and broadcasting divisions stayed together WUSA would still have partnered up with the Washington Post. Even though USA Today is headquartered in Tyson's Corner it is not a local paper by any means. Sure they cover national politics but that's it. A TV station partners up with a newspaper because of their local coverage not national.

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I believe even if the publishing and broadcasting divisions stayed together WUSA would still have partnered up with the Washington Post. Even though USA Today is headquartered in Tyson's Corner it is not a local paper by any means. Sure they cover national politics but that's it. A TV station partners up with a newspaper because of their local coverage not national.

 

In that case, wouldn't Gannett, the publising arm, acquire the Washington Post after the split?
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In that case, wouldn't Gannett, the publising arm, acquire the Washington Post after the split?

Thats not at all likely for two reasons:

 

One, there are plenty of local newsroom/local newspaper partnerships across the country that span corporate borders. At the local level, their main goal is to save money -- the local station can pick up a newspaper story without having to send a reporter out to actually investigate (ie doesn't have to spend more money), while the local paper can potentially increase their readership with more people picking up the paper to read in depth on the story. (At least that's how WVEC & Virginian Pilot have done their partnership over the years)

 

Two, is the more prominent reason: I don't think Jeff Bezos would sell WaPo.

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Thats not at all likely for two reasons:

 

One, there are plenty of local newsroom/local newspaper partnerships across the country that span corporate borders. At the local level, their main goal is to save money -- the local station can pick up a newspaper story without having to send a reporter out to actually investigate (ie doesn't have to spend more money), while the local paper can potentially increase their readership with more people picking up the paper to read in depth on the story. (At least that's how WVEC & Virginian Pilot have done their partnership over the years)

 

Two, is the more prominent reason: I don't think Jeff Bezos would sell WaPo.

 

But wouldn't Gannett buy the Fort-Worth Star Telegram or the Texas Tribune?
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But wouldn't Gannett buy the Fort-Worth Star Telegram or the Texas Tribune?

Why? Newspaper revenue is on the decline and the main reason Gannett is splitting broadcast and newspapers is because the print side is a cash black hole. That's why Time-Warner spun off Time, News Corp spun off 21st Century, and Tribune split into Print and broadcast.

 

I don't think there are too many media conglomerates looking to expand.

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Speaking of, one change that will have to happen is that WUSA will stop being owned officially by "Detroit Free Press, Inc"...

"WUSA-TV, Inc." will be the new subsidiary/licensee for WUSA. Gannett has already filed (and been granted) the pro forma TOCs and assignments related to their restructuring. And, FWIW I do believe WJXX has already been moved from Gannett River States Publishing Corporation to Multimedia Holdings Corporation.

 

Only here's the thing, when Gannett does split, its newspaper will be ready for aquisitions, and this article even says so. http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/11/after-it-splits-gannetts-newspaper-half-will-be-ready-for-acquisitions/

Yes, I agree they will be in a good position for potential acquisitions. However, News Corp. and Journal Media Group were similarly (or, even better) positioned post-spinoff. News Corp. started nearly two years ago with $2.6 Billion in cash and NO debt. Likewise, Journal Media Group started with $10 Million in cash, no debt or any significant pension obligations. Yet, neither have made any significant acquisitions.

 

On the flip side Tribune Publishing Company got dicked in their spinoff. They were saddled with $350 Million in debt to start, most of which was used to pay a special dividend to their former parent. And, as a added kick in the balls Tribune Media kept the real estate leasing it back to Tribune Publishing Company forcing them to pay rent to their former parent. Yet, of the recent newspaper spinoffs Tribune Publishing was the first to announce a significant acquisition.

 

The point I'm making here is just because they are well positioned to make acquisitions doesn't mean that they are going to run around like drunken sailors buying everything in sight. They will be ready for "mop up" time when it comes...no need to blow the war chest right away. And, some of that will surely need to be spent building up digital assets as well.

 

By the way, has anyone got the date when Gannett will split into the publishing arm that retains the Gannett name and the digital arm that will become Tegna?

They have not set a final date. They are still shooting for mid-2015, though.
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"WUSA-TV, Inc." will be the new subsidiary/licensee for WUSA. Gannett has already filed (and been granted) the pro forma TOCs and assignments related to their restructuring. And, FWIW I do believe WJXX has already been moved from Gannett River States Publishing Corporation to Multimedia Holdings Corporation.

 

I'm no expert in corporate parent-child structures... but that structure seems extremely convoluted, both before and after. I'm sure there are tax implications, etc. on why they are keeping the structure that way, but it just seems extra-busy to me.
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I'm no expert in corporate parent-child structures... but that structure seems extremely convoluted, both before and after. I'm sure there are tax implications, etc. on why they are keeping the structure that way, but it just seems extra-busy to me.

 

The structure is likely the results of each of the purchases Gannett made over the years, and cleaning that up would require lots of paper transactions needing regulatory approval and such and probably not being worth the hassle. For instance -- and what I found interesting -- is how WKYC is housed in a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Gannett that exists just for them. This likely stems from back when Multimedia bought 51% of the station from NBC, thus WKYC Holdings was how it managed it's partial interest in the station, until Multimedia/Gannett bought the rest of the station from NBC.

 

 

Will any of the stations update and/or change their logos as soon as the split happens?

 

I find that doubtful. None of the stations really trade on a look of a Gannett property or of the company itself, except WUSA, and their look is distinct enough from USA Today's (using a sort-of lowercase in its wordmark), to get away with it. Also, it looks like Tegna will be keeping the WUSA calls as is, given the creation of "WUSA-TV, Inc". (Didn't think they would give up on those calls, anyway.)

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