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TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion


ABC 7 Denver

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18 hours ago, oknewsguy said:

Couple things.

 

First, we don't know if Kim had actually engaged in activities that were illegal, Tegna is just looking intro it is all they're doing right now.

 

Second, you do have a point about Tegna not having to sell if they don't want to but my issue is I haven't seen any legitimate reasons for why Tegna shouldn't sell other than the obvious ones. In fact looking at the PDF file, Apollo had actually approached Tegna as early as in early 2019 around the time Apollo had announced acquisition of Cox, somehow not only was it not reported on until last August. So for Tegna to go just over a year of reports and somehow for them to just brush it by is not very good business for anybody.

 

Any good business (Media and otherwise) would've gone to the table and talked about the bids and if things work out towards a deal can be made, great. If not, fine. But instead of coming to the table to talk to Apollo about the bids like what Tegna should have done, Tegna and their board decided to not only brush it off any of those talks but then acquired the rejects from Nexstar and Tribune that the combined company had to sell at a price that just isn't reasonable. That's like them paying a TV station company to acquire the WXXX stations for $300 million yet only sell for only say $85 million. Those are figures similar to that example that Tegna has came up with that (other than the WTOL/KWES acquisition and maybe the Dispatch acquisition) just doesn't add up.

 

Also whoever said I was "clamoring" for sale that is completely fabricated and music and the graphics should be left out of the conversation and besides I don't even think the problem is those things anymore I think the problem is the people running Tegna they have become nothing more but obstructionists to any and all deals that makes good sense and should be done with a fair and due process. Unfortunately we're not seeing that on the part of Tegna or its board and quite frankly I can't blame Gray and Apollo from walking away the way they did. No company should ever have to jump through hoops just to talk to them about a deal and that's what were seeing on the part of Tegna, especially at a time when were dealing with a challenging time that were in.

 

I think @channel2 was spot on when he asked about Tegna not wanting to sell and that I think was spot on. However, it wasn't COVID that doomed Tegna's sale talks it was Tegna itself that doomed the sale talks and they did it to themselves.

That's funny because Standard General is making the same claim that TEGNA is investigating them for

The reported acquisition multiples are grossly understated TEGNA has done deals at much higher multiples (well over 10x), which are above average transaction multiples in the spaceIn its presentation of valuation multiples, TEGNA makes several non-traditional adjustments and misleading synergy categories like “revenue improvements” and “amortizing TEGNA’s successful strategic initiatives”

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On 4/8/2020 at 4:31 PM, oknewsguy said:

That's like them paying a TV station company to acquire the WXXX stations for $300 million yet only sell for only say $85 million. Those are figures similar to that example that Tegna has came up with that (other than the WTOL/KWES acquisition and maybe the Dispatch acquisition) just doesn't add up.

 

The Dispatch stations were supposedly going to be paid for out of earnings. When you do things that way, it's almost the same way the Wolfe's did things. You're just farming money.

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2 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

The Dispatch stations were supposedly going to be paid for out of earnings. When you do things that way, it's almost the same way the Wolfe's did things. You're just farming money.

Exactly, to me Tegna at minimum is farming out money almost to the point of hemoraging money for example, Tegna bought the KFMB stations (Radio/TV) for $325 million, I'm not exactly sure how much the KFMB stations was actually worth but in my eyes I think Tegna overpaid for the KFMB stations and on top of that they only sold the KFMB radio stations for only $5 million dollars.

 

My question is how can anyone justify paying over $300 million to acquire a large piece of property (TV and Radio stations) yet turn around and only sell the radio stations for $5 million? I don't think you can justify that in my opinion.

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From the Tegnaverse today:

 

https://www.tegna.com/tegna-applauds-iss-rejection-of-soohyung-kim-and-his-campaign-to-replace-leadership-of-tegna-board/

 

Quoted are a few paragraphs I found interesting. The presser has a lot more.

Quote

TEGNA applauds ISS’s rejection of Soohyung Kim and two other Standard General nominees and their campaign to replace the leadership of the TEGNA board. However, TEGNA disagrees with the recommendation to vote for one Standard General nominee.

ISS says in its rejection of Mr. Kim: “Kim’s role in pursuing a suboptimal deal while on the board of Media General is directly relevant to the situation at hand. Shareholders must also be concerned about the potentially heightened impact of boardroom dysfunction, given the current environment and the attendant need for management and the board to focus on navigating through the pandemic.”

[...]

Further, the TEGNA Board’s actions demonstrate that such a check is not necessary. As ISS acknowledges in its report: “TEGNA’s board has undergone significant refreshment in recent years and makes convincing arguments that it is neither entrenched nor unwilling to consider an eventual sale.”

 

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2 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

From the Tegnaverse today:

 

https://www.tegna.com/tegna-applauds-iss-rejection-of-soohyung-kim-and-his-campaign-to-replace-leadership-of-tegna-board/

 

Quoted are a few paragraphs I found interesting. The presser has a lot more.

 

That's the problem right there, Tegna is focused on getting through the pandemic before thinking about selling but yet Kim is over here saying "Tegna should sell now."

 

It's becoming clear that the pathway to getting all 4 of the board seats is going to be very difficult for Standard General and if they're lucky they may get one of them on there.

 

The question becomes can there be a compromise that would finally put an end to this proxy war and is getting maybe one or two of Kim's nominees on the board in exchange for Kim himself, along with his other 2 nominees not getting a board seat feasible? I know that's not what Tegna wants to do but as much as this proxy fight is interesting to watch and follow, however there's got to be an ending to this and knowing Kim he's not going to be satified until he gets what he wants so I think the only way how this is going to end is a compromise, the problem is neither side is showing any interest in making concessions here.

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On 4/8/2020 at 2:25 PM, channel2 said:

I'm not clamoring for a sale. I just worry about what it would mean for the likes of KUSA if TEGNA ended up being sold to private equity and, likely, sold for parts. I am worried about TEGNA's direction as a whole, given that they seem to have no broader strategy than "not being bought out." I don't like standardization either, and I love Troika but find their TEGNA look to be a little bland and inflexible. But I have no idea who might do a better job running the group than the current TEGNA management. Sure as hell not private equity firms or hedge fund guys.

I'd love to see KUSA as an NBC O&O, not that I'm a fan of Comcast by any means. But maybe NBC would force KUSA to do more hard news instead of the  "Story Tellers" & "Spangler Science" series stuff they currently do.     I'd like to see KUSA replicate what KCNC did in the early 90s with all of the news broadcasts they used to have outside of network programing.

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1 hour ago, DENDude said:

I'd love to see KUSA as an NBC O&O, not that I'm a fan of Comcast by any means. But maybe NBC would force KUSA to do more hard news instead of the  "Story Tellers" & "Spangler Science" series stuff they currently do.     I'd like to see KUSA replicate what KCNC did in the early 90s with all of the news broadcasts they used to have outside of network programing.

NBC would treat KUSA well but I don't see Tegna (new or old) selling that affiliate any time soon

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22 hours ago, Al-SA-TX said:

 

Glass Lewis & Co was particularly scathing toward Kim

Quote

“Given what we found to be several unverifiable or flatly false allegations levied by the Dissident with respect to the company’s performance and strategic plan, as well as a lack of specific ideas to better optimize Tegna’s performance going forward, together with Standard General’s own track record of pushing for ‘transformative’ M&A in the industry … we believe the extensive board changes that Standard General seeks are unwarranted and that Tegna shareholders would be better served by voting for the entire board slate proposed by the company.”

 

ISS seemed skeptical of him too

Quote

“While Soo Kim’s industry experience and significant ownership of Tegna support the logic of his candidacy, Kim’s apparent focus on conducting a strategic review and selling the company, when taken in concert with the cautionary tale of Media General’s sale process, seems to outweigh the potential benefit of his personal involvement in this case,” ISS wrote.

 

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I, too, am really skeptical of Kim, but the facts are clear. Tegna's stock is around $10 a share. They posted strong first quarter profits but are still furloughing workers. Management continues to make unpopular decisions and they continue to undervalue their top 20 assets. This is a huge issue for shareholders. While it may make a sweet deal for any potential M&A who see what the raw station assets can be spun into, it means persistent undervalue of station employees. This is the biggest thing that drives me crazy about capitalism. Put your employees first and everything else will follow.

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21 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

Tegna's value is $10 a share and they're furloughing workers because the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on everyone. Everyone is down. I'm not sure what that has to do with the board votes (of which Tegna employees get to vote in).

 

And yet... https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tegna-announces-strong-preliminary-first-100000110.html

 

Quote

"Estimated GAAP net income is expected to be $86 million, up 17 percent, and diluted earnings per share is expected to be $0.39, up 15 percent. This performance reflects the strong growth in Adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by higher intangible amortization expense and interest expense related to acquisitions in 2019."

 

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2 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

As much as some are skeptical of Kim (not saying I am skeptical of him) honestly I think that if he gets an opportunity he should make a tender offer of taking over Tegna because now that I think about it I have to question their first quarter performance here how in the world can you have a "strong" 1st quarter results when:

 

1. Tegna is trading at just above $10 a share

2. Tegna has rebuffed at every buyout offer available over the last year and 3+ months

3. Furlough your own employees in the middle of the crisis

 

Clearly worthy of being called out by people and I can't imagine Kim being the only one questioning the first quarter results and if he is something is clearly wrong with that picture.

 

I'm starting to wonder too if the goal of the board at Tegna is to drive the company into bankruptcy? With this virus I think so. Without the virus I would seriously doubt that Tegna would go bankrupt but the furloughs coupled with this certain virus is leading me to believe that Tegna, unless they get taken over will go bankrupt.

Edited by oknewsguy
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42 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

As much as some are skeptical of Kim (not saying I am skeptical of him) honestly I think that if he gets an opportunity he should make a tender offer of taking over Tegna because now that I think about it I have to question their first quarter performance here how in the world can you have a "strong" 1st quarter results when:

 

1. Tegna is trading at just above $10 a share

2. Tegna has rebuffed at every buyout offer available over the last year and 3+ months

3. Furlough your own employees in the middle of the crisis

 

Clearly worthy of being called out by people and I can't imagine Kim being the only one questioning the first quarter results and if he is something is clearly wrong with that picture.

 

I'm starting to wonder too if the goal of the board at Tegna is to drive the company into bankruptcy? With this virus I think so. Without the virus I would seriously doubt that Tegna would go bankrupt but the furloughs coupled with this certain virus is leading me to believe that Tegna, unless they get taken over will go bankrupt.

 

Their performance is the result of strong profit margins, but not better content. You can still be profitable and not provide any value to anyone other than current shareholders. They aren't providing a superior product, just lower costs.

4 minutes ago, TexasTVNews said:

WFAA and KHOU got new web layouts today.

 

So did KUSA, finally.

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1 hour ago, JCB4TV said:

KFMB, KUSA, KTVB, KARE, KSDK, WFAA, KHOU, WVEC, and all the Nexsrar acquisions have the Tegna 2020 website layout, meanwhile, neither of the Dispatch stations have been converted.

 

I wonder what the reasoning is for holding on to their layouts from Dispatch.

 

Although I'm not holding my breath much, I personally would prefer that they keep the Dispatch layout.   I really like the way Dispatch did their sites--especially WBNS. 

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23 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

 

I wonder what the reasoning is for holding on to their layouts from Dispatch.

 

Although I'm not holding my breath much, I personally would prefer that they keep the Dispatch layout.   I really like the way Dispatch did their sites--especially WBNS. 

 

It's the GMs decision about when/if to launch that... Part of the business integration process. I feel that, though, the Dispatch layout is superior and I think both GMs have that opinion as well.

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Somehow we missed this one but the Tegna sale is still a possibility.

 

And not only that but Gray might actually come back to the table at a later date with an offer to acquire Tegna plus:

 

Nexstar may want part of Tegna (the only question is which ones does Nexstar actually want out of Tegna should they do that)

 

And don't rule out Standard Media acquiring Tegna either (yes, Standard Media) 

 

https://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/the-last-belle-at-the-ball-tegna-broadcastings-investment-appeal

 

I don't think the shareholder meeting will be the end of this stuff for Tegna

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1 minute ago, oknewsguy said:

Somehow we missed this one but the Tegna sale is still a possibility.

 

And not only that but Gray might actually come back to the table at a later date with an offer to acquire Tegna plus:

 

Nexstar may want part of Tegna (the only question is which ones does Nexstar actually want out of Tegna should they do that)

 

And don't rule out Standard Media acquiring Tegna either (yes, Standard Media) 

 

https://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/the-last-belle-at-the-ball-tegna-broadcastings-investment-appeal

 

I don't think the shareholder meeting will be the end of this stuff for Tegna

Well we know Nexstar won’t be getting WCNC or WFMY...

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