Jump to content

TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion


ABC 7 Denver

Recommended Posts

52 minutes ago, ColumbusNewsFan said:

I Called this three years ago when they first sold The Dispatch. I knew this was coming and THIS VERY COMPANY TOO!

 

Here the thing if you are Sinclair or Nexstar this morning... Columbus has just become a WIDE OPEN MARKET where WCMH or WSYX could EASILY be #1 in the market!

Indy is not the most stable of places these days either. With the WTHR sale, WRTV becomes the only station not seeing a owner change in the near future. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ColDayNews said:

I’m sick. 

 

However, it was bound to happen. The paper was sold in 2014. Daily circulation for the Dispatch had significantly dropped before that. Real estate is the Wolfes’ main cash cow, not broadcasting. 

 

Very sad day for Columbus media.

 

However, my focus is more on the guys who have been working at 777 Twin Rivers Drive for 30+ years and are now in danger of losing their jobs, or being forced into retirement...

Not to mention the pensions of folks like Bob Gregory and Don Hein in Indy, or Jerry Revish, Dave Kaylor, Andrea Camburn, or Fritz "the Night Owl" Perinboom in Columbus...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, who?cares said:

Indy is not the most stable of places these days either. With the WTHR sale, WRTV becomes the only station not seeing a owner change in the near future. 

Yeah I think this is a bigger deal for the Indy market because that market is already going through many ownership changes. This just adds fuel to the fire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow. I'm in the minority on this forum when I say I love Tegna, but...I'm a little dissapointed they are buying WBNS and WTHR. Those stations are special and I would much rather prefer a more 'traditional' company buys them just to be on the safe side. BUT it will be interrsting to see how they utilize the music, graphics, social media, etc. I think they will benefit from Tegna's Verify brand and the company's emphasis on long-form storytelling.  If management at these stations doesn't take this too far the wrong way...I actually think this aquisition might be beneficial for these stations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, DirtyHarry said:

You forgot WKYC.

 

Still need Dayton (not going to happen anytime soon) and Cincinnati (very possible?) to get close to full coverage of Ohio. It may not be as valuable as we think since the state is trending red so it may not be a swing state in the future...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ColDayNews said:

I’m sick. 

 

However, it was bound to happen. The paper was sold in 2014. Daily circulation for the Dispatch had significantly dropped before that. Real estate is the Wolfes’ main cash cow, not broadcasting. 

 

Very sad day for Columbus media.

 

However, my focus is more on the guys who have been working at 777 Twin Rivers Drive for 30+ years and are now in danger of losing their jobs, or being forced into retirement...

 

After all, Scripps would have had no play for Dispatch, while Terrier is probably too busy with Meredith negotiations and Gray is probably looking at other stuff on the board right now. Can't think of anyone else who could have bought them.

 

As much as we had wished for someone like Hearst, many of us see them as a seller too right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Makes me wonder how the divestment of WISH/WNDY is going to hold up, or will they end up cashing out as well to a bigger owner like Terrier.

 

WRTV could find themselves getting out of the basement if Tegna sends WTHR back down there.  It took a while, but they climbed up with Dispatch's help and the botched relaunch at WRTV sent them down.

 

WTTV still needs some work, but WXIN could now be a top contender since they are the force that is keeping WTTV running and haven't tweaked their product too much.

 

Who would have ever thought I'd prefer a Nexstar station over a Gannett/Tegna one.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ColDayNews said:

I’m sick. 

 

However, it was bound to happen. The paper was sold in 2014. Daily circulation for the Dispatch had significantly dropped before that. Real estate is the Wolfes’ main cash cow, not broadcasting. 

 

Very sad day for Columbus media.

 

However, my focus is more on the guys who have been working at 777 Twin Rivers Drive for 30+ years and are now in danger of losing their jobs, or being forced into retirement...

 

2 hours ago, TexasTVNews said:

I've told you they'll be the bait when Dispatch caved. First, I'm shocked that Tegna is buying 'BNS & 'THR. Second, at least WTOL/Toledo will have a sister station soon.

 

2 hours ago, ColDayNews said:

I could definitely see NBC 4 getting back into #1. People know Colleen Marshall and Mark Taylor, and many in our market grew up with the former. NBC’s primetime lineup is a lot better now than it was 10 years ago as well when they lost that spot, so there is a quality lead-in now. Before NBC got their paws on WCMH they were their strongest affiliate — and later one of their strongest O&Os.

 

After NBC sold the station off, the news product took a huge hit with a lot of their quality reporters (i.e. Nancy Burton, Holly Hollingsworth, John Ivanic, Kyle Anderson, etc.) losing their jobs, their longtime ND (Stan Sanders) being fired, and the economic downturn. As cheap as Nexstar is, they’re slowly getting back what was there before Media General cut everything. 

 

😂🤣😂 I'd told you all that the Wolfe Family was going to sell.  Getting Yolanda Harris from WSYX was just a band-aid.  The Old man died and his children were itching to sell.  The Dispatch,  ONN all have been gutted. It was bound to happen.  As for WBNS yes, it an end of an era, but now WSYX & WCMH can battle for top spot.   WBNS may stay #1, but TEGNA a hot mess at times.   WOW.  Definitely, want to know what going on at Twin Rivers Dr.  I always thought TEGNA would be apart of BNS fabric.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TEGNA acquiring WTHR and WBNS.  Those stations, IMHO, would've been more suited for the likes of Graham, Hearst, or Terrier.  The soon-to-be former Dispatch stations wouldn't see changes to their graphics and music packages for at least another 6 months to a year.  It wouldn't surprise me if TEGNA could have their sights set on WRAL, KSL, and/or the Griffin stations in Oklahoma.  Nowadays, local media owners have adopted the "go big or go home" mentality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

Still need Dayton (not going to happen anytime soon) and Cincinnati (very possible?) to get close to full coverage of Ohio. It may not be as valuable as we think since the state is trending red so it may not be a swing state in the future...

 

The Tegna press release says that they now cover 2/3 of all households in the state of Ohio. That sounds like an exaggeration to me, but someone else can run the numbers.

 

Again, $535 million is a hefty price to pay for two TV stations, an LPTV and 1.1 radio stations (WBNS-AM is a non-factor). I don't see who else could have paid such a hefty price other than Tegna. They would be wise to leave existing management in place because that is top of the market and corporations have a history of screwing up their acquisitions.

 

Tegna isn't so bad compared to the alternatives.

 

 

29 minutes ago, atlnewsfan03 said:

Nowadays, local media owners have adopted the "go big or go home" mentality.

 

I don't see how you can be in the business other than to be big since it is so technology-driven these days. Tech is expensive to implement. Two stations bearing that cost instead of being able to spread out the cost over 50 stations is unsustainable.

 

And then you have the critical mass you need to negotiate with networks and to acquire programming. It's easy to see one of the big operators squeezing syndicators to pull Dr. Phil and the networks to pull affiliations away from a smaller company without a lot of leverage.

Edited by DirtyHarry
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

The Tegna press release says that they now cover 2/3 of all households in the state of Ohio. That sounds like an exaggeration to me, but someone else can run the numbers.

 

Again, $535 million is a hefty price to pay for two TV stations, an LPTV and 1.1 radio stations (WBNS-AM is a non-factor). I don't see who else could have paid such a hefty price other than Tegna. They would be wise to leave existing management in place because that is top of the market and corporations have a history of screwing up their acquisitions.

 

Tegna isn't so bad compared to the alternatives.

 

 

 

I don't see how you can be in the business other than to be big since it is so technology-driven these days. Tech is expensive to implement. Two stations bearing that cost instead of being able to spread out the cost over 50 stations is unsustainable.

 

And then you have the critical mass you need to negotiate with networks and to acquire programming. It's easy to see one of the big operators squeezing syndicators to pull Dr. Phil and the networks to pull affiliations away from a smaller company without a lot of leverage.

 

Since 1/3 of the Cincinnati market is in Kentucky, I think 2/3 is a reasonable estimate. They won't likely get anywhere near 100% in Ohio, since there is no realistic pathway into Dayton, at a minimum, right now.

 

$535M is reasonable market value for two market leading stations in top-40 markets. There really weren't too many other options: Nexstar is in both markets and capped out, Sinclair is in Columbus, Scripps is in Indianapolis, Terrier is probably too busy negotiating with Meredith, Gray is probably looking at better options on the board for less, the rest don't seem to be in a buying mood right now or biding their time (or this was out of their price range).

Edited by GoldenShine9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm too lazy to find the exact post about folks with 30+ years experience...Dispatch already took care of that to a degree. About a year ago they had a round of layoffs that didn't make the news. A dozen folks -- some even in sales (bad sign) were layed off or forced to retire. Others were in engineering or promotions.

 

Willing to bet that zero members of their staff are surprised by this. I did think, though, they'd at least wait until after the election.

 

EDIT: TEGNA saying they now reach 2/3 of Ohioans makes sense. WBNS is carried on cable much farther than the other Columbus stations.

Edited by H4UL4U
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Since 1/3 of the Cincinnati market is in Kentucky, I think 2/3 is a reasonable estimate. They won't likely get anywhere near 100% in Ohio, since there is no realistic pathway into Dayton, at a minimum, right now.

 

$535M is reasonable market value for two market leading stations in top-40 markets. ... (or this was out of their price range).

 

The reason I'm skeptical about that two-thirds number is because there are so many other markets that leaves out. Youngstown, Charleston/Huntington, Parkersburg, Wheeling/Steubenville, Ft. Wayne, Dayton, Cincinnati and Lima all take households away.

 

Absolutely a reasonable value, but still out of most other buyers' price range when you look at some of the other acquisitions of late. Cox sold for $3.1 billion for about a dozen stations, give or take. Roughly the same pricing, I guess.

 

Also, everybody assumed that the Dispatch would be sold to Gannett, since they were printing the Cincinnati Enquirer. That probably was the plan, but then Gatehouse came into the picture. Now with Gatehouse potentially merging with Gannett, they all kind of end up in the same place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$535 million for all of that isn't cheap, but it's definitely not what this collection of stations would have sold for 10 years ago.

 

We're seeing a lot of these sales not because the companies necessarily have "deep pockets", but because the stations value has plummeted to the point where groups like Tegna don't have to reach nearly as deep into said pockets to buy them.

 

Another factor is the market is beginning to level off, and investors for these mega groups are starting to feel comfortable with throwing large sums of money around again. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mre29 said:

Damn. I was hoping Hearst or Graham would get WBNS and WTHR. Silly me.

 

I knew TEGNA would get those two stations.  Hearst is very picky and uppity so to speak.  Meredith and Graham IMO should be making some backroom deals, for Graham to continue.  Sinclair & Nexstar have their footing in the market.

WBNS will stay the same for NOW, later in 2020 into 2021 it will not be the same Wolfe Banks News and Shoes. I think it great to shake up the market, and BNS yes it a legacy station, but the tide as turn.  Time for a new era in market 34.

Edited by Breaking News
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

https://www.10tv.com/article/wolfe-family-sells-wbns-wthr-tegna-2019-jun

 

$535 million? (Per Business First.) For just those two stations? That's an indicator of how dominant those two stations were in their markets.

 

Think of it this way. Cox had how many stations and they sold for 3 billion? In other words, not too many buyers out there with the Deep Pockets to buy these stations.

Cox had a baker's dozen of stations (13 total), so that's about $230.77 million per station compared to $267.5 million for each of the two stations the Wolfes sold to TEGNA. A difference of roughly $37 million.

 

I'm not surprised Dispatch cashed out when they did. The signs were there. Just didn't expect Deathstar 2.0(?) to pick them up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using TVNewsTalk you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.