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WMGM Atlantic City, NJ Sold For $6M


Weeters

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I am sure it won't help for the channel. So much likes in Facebook can't save Hub Network, can it?

 

Someone there is a little too inspired by the end of "UHF", I think.

 

Though come to think of it, an independent WMGM would probably be a lot like the station in that movie. Unfortunately, I don't think they have the studio space for "

".
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  • 1 month later...

Unfortunately, one WMGM freelancer of 30 years doesn't understand the meaning of "inevitable" and "lost cause."

 

Or he probably wants to publicly shame Access.1 for not engaging in what would be a money-incinerating move; that is, keeping a NBC-less WMGM alive until the spectrum auction - at which point the station would go away anyway - with a combination of infomercials and bare-bones newscasts, if that.

 

Or maybe Pinky's tone-deaf to the current economics of broadcast television. But what he suggests to his readers can not work and will never work. There are no minds to change, and the spectrum auction will take place regardless of how many people in Atlantic City send cards and letters to WMGM management. He's telling people to give their hopes up on a pointless exercise, and when WMGM signs off for good, he can shrug his shoulders and say, "Welp, I tried, and you tried too, blah blah blah."

 

The following portion of Pinky's column simply melts my brain with its outright ignorance:

I’m sure that, by now, you know of my feelings as to Atlantic City and its environs. The loss of our television station is beyond my comprehension. The station is filled with a group of young people who are determined to bring you news, sports and an assorted array of programming of interest to many of you. They work diligently and endeavor to do their very best. You can look at some of the Philadelphia stations and others to see some of those who started at WMGM TV40.

 

How can we stop this from happening? Talk with some of your merchants and owners of varied properties and entities that could serve as a home for the future of this station. Besiege WMGM TV40 with letters and cards urging them to do whatever they can do to find a new location and begin broadcasting again.

 

The outcry of the public from the loss of the only television station in southern New Jersey should be momentous. This can be stopped if each of us talks to people we know that could possibly step in and help to find the necessary funding.

 

Let us show the media folks around the country that we care about our community and the one major means of providing news with pictures and people talking directly to them.

 

We are fortunate in having a newspaper that gives us excellent coverage of what takes place in our area and provides pictures from the scene via the Internet. In addition, we have radio stations that offer local talk shows and present news every half hour throughout the day.

 

Television stations will be able to improve their product as there is more equipment available to produce news whereever they are taking place as well as within their studios.

 

The future of WMGM TV40 will be decided within the next 33 days. This portion of the column was written to make you aware of the possibility of the loss of our local television station. Don’t let it happen!

GardnerFacepalmBig.jpg

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Unfortunately, one WMGM freelancer of 30 years doesn't understand the meaning of "inevitable" and "lost cause."

 

Or he probably wants to publicly shame Access.1 for not engaging in what would be a money-incinerating move; that is, keeping a NBC-less WMGM alive until the spectrum auction - at which point the station would go away anyway - with a combination of infomercials and bare-bones newscasts, if that.

 

Or maybe Pinky's tone-deaf to the current economics of broadcast television. But what he suggests to his readers can not work and will never work. There are no minds to change, and the spectrum auction will take place regardless of how many people in Atlantic City send cards and letters to WMGM management. He's telling people to give their hopes up on a pointless exercise, and when WMGM signs off for good, he can shrug his shoulders and say, "Welp, I tried, and you tried too, blah blah blah."

 

The following portion of Pinky's column simply melts my brain with its outright ignorance:

 

GardnerFacepalmBig.jpg

 

To be fair, there is a precedent. But it took place in Canada in Victoria, BC.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHEK-DT#Ownership_by_CHEK_Media_Group

 

But the key difference was that CHEK was just going to go dark which would've been a total loss for Canwest. Access.1 is going to make money selling off the frequency so you're right, there's no way to talk them into giving up something that will eventually make them money.

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To be fair, there is a precedent. But it took place in Canada in Victoria, BC.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHEK-DT#Ownership_by_CHEK_Media_Group

 

But the key difference was that CHEK was just going to go dark which would've been a total loss for Canwest. Access.1 is going to make money selling off the frequency so you're right, there's no way to talk them into giving up something that will eventually make them money.

CHEK was and is a miracle story. But as you noted, Canwest wanted to unload it and the other CH/E! netlet stations at fire sale rates. (CHCA/Red Deer was the only one that didn't survive.)

 

It's a different story here, in not only was the sale of WMGM already committed to, but even if the sale collapsed and WMGM miraculously stayed on, the spectrum auction will ultimately kill it off.

 

Plus the Victoria region can support a scrappy indie** like CHEK admist the neighbouring Vancouver stations.

 

**CHEK has a nominal affiliation with the CBC for newsgathering purposes, and simulcasts CBUT's noon, 6 and 11 newscasts.

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Very sad for WMGM and their employees, WMGM made a mistake years ago when it decided to remain an NBC affiliate and not enforce its must carry rights throughout the entire Philadelphia DMA. Through the magic of consolidation Comcast & NBC cancelled their affiliation agreement and left them with no viable programming strategy. Due to their restricted cable footprint the station is worth more in the auction.

 

There are two other TV stations licensed to Atlantic City WMCN and WACP both full power both with full distribution throughout the Philly DMA. Both stations programming lineups consist primarily of paid infomercial programs...While the citizens of South Jersey and AC will not have a local TV news, at least they will still be able to get a good deal on a George Forman Grill !

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To be fair, there is a precedent. But it took place in Canada in Victoria, BC.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHEK-DT#Ownership_by_CHEK_Media_Group

 

But the key difference was that CHEK was just going to go dark which would've been a total loss for Canwest. Access.1 is going to make money selling off the frequency so you're right, there's no way to talk them into giving up something that will eventually make them money.

 

CHEK's previous owners were willing to sell the station to the employees at a favorable cost
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WMGM made a mistake years ago when it decided to remain an NBC affiliate and not enforce its must carry rights throughout the entire Philadelphia DMA. Through the magic of consolidation Comcast & NBC cancelled their affiliation agreement and left them with no viable programming strategy.

Do you think this will happen with WHAG Hagerstown MD (Washington DC)?
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Do you think this will happen with WHAG Hagerstown MD (Washington DC)?

 

WHAG is owned by Nexstar, so they have a bit more clout with the network than one-off owner WMGM.

 

 

Very sad for WMGM and their employees, WMGM made a mistake years ago when it decided to remain an NBC affiliate and not enforce its must carry rights throughout the entire Philadelphia DMA. Through the magic of consolidation Comcast & NBC cancelled their affiliation agreement and left them with no viable programming strategy. Due to their restricted cable footprint the station is worth more in the auction.

 

There are two other TV stations licensed to Atlantic City WMCN and WACP both full power both with full distribution throughout the Philly DMA. Both stations programming lineups consist primarily of paid infomercial programs...While the citizens of South Jersey and AC will not have a local TV news, at least they will still be able to get a good deal on a George Forman Grill !

 

You raise an interesting specter here—did Comcast (which, as we know, uses WCAU as a showcase of the network, since it is based in Philly) want to revoke the network agreement in order to expand WCAU's effective reach? We do know from the FTVLive report that NBC notified the station of the termination of their affiliation.

 

Checking the FCC station database, it looks like WMGM's NBC affiliation contract took effect in January 1999. It's actually listed with "no expiration date" in a form from November 2013. That's a very lengthy contract. In the 2014 LocusPoint sale this item is replaced with a "NBCUniversal/NBC Television Network Consent to Assignment of WMGM-TV's Affiliation Agreement" effective for the duration of 2014.

 

The only analog I can see to what happened here is when, in the aftermath of ABC affiliating with WFTS Tampa, the network notified WWSB (at first informally, then formally) of the termination of its affiliation contract. WWSB did not go down without a fight, lodging a complaint with the FCC; eventually their case was basically settled out-of-court on terms favorable to the station (including the renewal of their relationship with ABC).

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Very sad for WMGM and their employees, WMGM made a mistake years ago when it decided to remain an NBC affiliate and not enforce its must carry rights throughout the entire Philadelphia DMA. Through the magic of consolidation Comcast & NBC cancelled their affiliation agreement and left them with no viable programming strategy.

Even if WMGM achieved "must-carry" status in the Philadelphia metro, the station would have wound up targeting the Philadelphia market exclusively as a rimshot. Its time as a Atlantic City-oriented station would have been severely limited.

 

Regardless, I thought that it was Access.1 that cancelled the affiliation at the end of the year and not the Comcast Death Star. Why keep the affiliation if no station is available to carry it?

 

A similar situation existed with two ABC affiliates in the Cleveland/Akron metropolitian area: WAKR-TV/WAKC in Akron and WEWS in Cleveland. WAKR-TV/WAKC's ABC affiliation was superfluous even back in the 1960s, and lasted despite protests from Scripps-Howard about audience cannibalization and the eventual 1994 ABC-Scripps affiliation pact.

 

It only ended when Paxson bought WAKC, fired the entire news department and terminated the ABC affiliation, and moved the station's operations to Warrensville Heights as a Cleveland rimshot.

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  • 2 weeks later...

An article from the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning includes some new information:

 

The statement said Access.1 - which employs about 60 people and whose contract with LocusPoint to operate the station ends Dec. 31 - would take the current news, sales, management, and administration teams and seek a new broadcast channel to continue operations.

 

The company said it was hopeful that this expanded newscast would find a home (and financial backing) by the spring or summer of 2015.

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An article from the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning includes some new information:

This article also confirms that Comcast was responsible for terminating the NBC affiliation. I thought that it was the other way around, so my apologies and retracting of previous posts that say otherwise.

 

Of course, I don't know if anyone could blame NBC for not wanting to renew with WMGM-TV, given the dubious future the station had anyway.

 

And I don't know how, or if, Access.1 can pull off what they are claiming to want to do.

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Do you think this will happen with WHAG Hagerstown MD (Washington DC)?

WHAG is owned by Nexstar, so they have a bit more clout with the network than one-off owner WMGM.

 

You raise an interesting specter here—did Comcast (which, as we know, uses WCAU as a showcase of the network, since it is based in Philly) want to revoke the network agreement in order to expand WCAU's effective reach? We do know from the FTVLive report that NBC notified the station of the termination of their affiliation.

 

Checking the FCC station database, it looks like WMGM's NBC affiliation contract took effect in January 1999. It's actually listed with "no expiration date" in a form from November 2013. That's a very lengthy contract. In the 2014 LocusPoint sale this item is replaced with a "NBCUniversal/NBC Television Network Consent to Assignment of WMGM-TV's Affiliation Agreement" effective for the duration of 2014.

Their agreement expires next year. So, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Agreed that WHAG/Nexstar has a bit more clout but, I suppose that won't stop big, bad Comcast from non-renewing WHAG to protect WRC, Right? [insert sarcasm here]

 

I don't buy the theory that this is all Comcast's doing and I haven't from the get go. At best/worst it was a mutual decision. Yes, Comcast opted terminate (or, not renew) the agreement. But, who said LocusPoint wanted to renew? I brought this up when it was announced but, why would LocusPoint want to make those reverse compensation payments? They could just as easily run WMGM-TV (the full power station) on cheap public domain programming and infomurtials. And, according to serveral sources including B&C WMGM-TV's affiliation agreement expired at the end of 2012 and NBC granted them a two year extention. Yes, NBCU was a joint venture then but, still under Comcast's control. So, Why didn't Comcast pull the plug then?

 

 

That brings me to Access.1....

An article from the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning includes some new information:

 

The statement said Access.1 - which employs about 60 people and whose contract with LocusPoint to operate the station ends Dec. 31 - would take the current news, sales, management, and administration teams and seek a new broadcast channel to continue operations.

 

The company said it was hopeful that this expanded newscast would find a home (and financial backing) by the spring or summer of 2015.

It's possible (and, I think likely) that Access.1 wanted to renew the affiliation agreement with NBC. However, they no longer own WMGM-TV (the full power station) and their programming agreement with LocusPoint ends at the end of this year. But, they do still own WMGM-LP(/LD), the low power station, and move everything there. That would have entailed Access.1 entering into a new agreement with NBC for WMGM-LP(/LD), though. Unfortunately, The digital outlet still has yet to be built out. Would NBC want to affiliate with a station that is currently analog-only and may not be able to transition to digital?

 

I think that was the original plan. Sell the full power license, transmitter and tower for WMGM-TV to LocusPoint. Then, over the next 365+ days Access.1 could build out the digital facilities and move exclusively to the low power outlet(s), WMGM-LP(/LD). All the employees would have remained with (and, by all accounts did) Access.1. It should have been a "seamless" transition. But, I think Access.1 either ran out or didn't have the money to build the low-power digital facilities. Sadly, I think this doomed their plan.

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Unfortunately, The digital outlet still has yet to be built out. Would NBC want to affiliate with a station that is currently analog-only and may not be able to transition to digital?

Their construction permit expires 9/1/15, so they got time. The virtual channel is 40, but the RF is VHF 10. Despite being licensed to Atlantic City, it would be a rimshot at best, needing a good outdoor antenna. And I don't think NBC would want to affiliate with a relocated WMGM, since it would encroach on WCAU's turf in Camden, Cherry Hill, etc.

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=191421#station

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1558697&map=Y

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I wonder if the the termination of the no expiration date was exclusive to Access 1 ownership? I believe in many affiliation agreements ownership changes require notification and permission essentially of the network and that the network may terminate the agreement with out liability.

 

Here's an excerpt from the ABC affiliation agreement with WJLA, which I'm using as an example because NBC's affiliation agreements are hard to find:

 

(b) if the assignee or transferee is not reasonably qualified to own and operate the Station

So I'm assuming that if the station were still owned by Access 1 communications or sold to another station group the affiliation agreement would stay in tact. Simply because LocusPoint is a spectrum speculator and is a reasonably new company that could make them unqualified to own and operate a station especially since the contracted Access 1 to continue to operate the station.

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Do you think this will happen with WHAG Hagerstown MD (Washington DC)?

I doubt this will happen in Hagerstown simply because WRC's signal would be practically impossible to receive in Hagerstown itself because of the mountains. The same thing applies to WHAG it would be equally as impossible to receive the signal in the metropolitan DC area. Take a look at this map showing the expected coverage of both WRC and WHAG and you can see that the signals won't can cannabalize each others programming. Where as WCAU's signal can easily be viewed with an outdoor antenna in the majority of WMGM's coverage area.

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The only analog I can see to what happened here is when, in the aftermath of ABC affiliating with WFTS Tampa, the network notified WWSB (at first informally, then formally) of the termination of its affiliation contract. WWSB did not go down without a fight, lodging a complaint with the FCC; eventually their case was basically settled out-of-court on terms favorable to the station (including the renewal of their relationship with ABC).

Here's a map of WFTS and WWSB's coverage areas. WWSB's circle is right inside WFTS' circle.

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1302056&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1323703&cir=&circen=27.8425%2C-82.2622222222

 

And while both WWSB and WFTS are carried in SD on Comcast Sarasota, only WWSB is carried in HD.

http://www.zap2it.com/rmp/tvgrid/tvgridprint?lineupid=USA-FL58778-X&tz=US/Eastern&time=0

 

Also, WFTS isn't carried at all on Comcast Venice.

http://www.zap2it.com/rmp/tvgrid/tvgridprint?lineupid=USA-FL09429-X&tz=US/Eastern&time=0

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The reason ABC had WWSB in the first place was because WTSP, their original affiliate, did not adequately cover Sarasota. Its transmitter was north of Tampa (for short-spacing to Miami, much like WCIX/WTVJ was south of Miami for short-spacing to Orlando — I imagine that like that situation, this no longer is the case). You are saying exactly what ABC did, that WWSB became superfluous (to the network) when they signed with WFTS.

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[WTSP's] transmitter was north of Tampa (for short-spacing to Miami, much like WCIX/WTVJ was south of Miami for short-spacing to Orlando — I imagine that like that situation, this no longer is the case).

WZZM's transmitter is still located north of Grand Rapids for short-spacing to Toledo, even after the DTV transition (both WZZM and WTVG broadcast on RF 13).

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=49713#station

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=74150#station

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Here are the coverage maps for NTV under the call letters KWNB and KHGI and partner station KFXL and KLKN combined altogether with the Pappas operated FOX affiliated KFXL operating on as a standalone station in Lincoln and being on the DT2 of the Pappas operated NTV ABC affiliated station KHGI in Kearney and KWNB in Hayes Center and the Citadel standalone ABC affiliated station KLKN in Lincoln:

 

Here's the coverage area between NTV satellite station KWNB and NTV parent station KHGI:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1316012&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1338853&cir=&circen=40.6255555556%2C-101.029722222

 

Here's the coverage area between NTV parent station KHGI and KFXL:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1338853&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=2000686&cir=&circen=40.65775%2C-98.8680555556

 

Here's the coverage area between KLKN and NTV parent station KHGI:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1316970&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1338853&cir=&circen=40.8830555556%2C-97.3055555556

 

Here's the coverage area between KFXL and KLKN with the coverage map of KLKN actually completely entirely overlaping the coverage map of KFXL:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=2000686&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1316970&cir=&circen=40.8527777778%2C-96.6769444444

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Here are the coverage maps for NTV under the call letters KWNB and KHGI and partner station KFXL and KLKN combined altogether with the Pappas operated FOX affiliated KFXL operating on as a standalone station in Lincoln and being on the DT2 of the Pappas operated NTV ABC affiliated station KHGI in Kearney and KWNB in Hayes Center and the Citadel standalone ABC affiliated station KLKN in Lincoln:

 

Here's the coverage area between NTV satellite station KWNB and NTV parent station KHGI:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1316012&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1338853&cir=&circen=40.6255555556%2C-101.029722222

 

Here's the coverage area between NTV parent station KHGI and KFXL:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1338853&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=2000686&cir=&circen=40.65775%2C-98.8680555556

 

Here's the coverage area between KLKN and NTV parent station KHGI:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1316970&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1338853&cir=&circen=40.8830555556%2C-97.3055555556

 

Here's the coverage area between KFXL and KLKN with the coverage map of KLKN actually completely entirely overlaping the coverage map of KFXL:

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=2000686&map=Y&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=1316970&cir=&circen=40.8527777778%2C-96.6769444444

Honestly, nobody except maybe Raymie cares.
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Since this ventured off-topic and then got thread-jacked I will attempt to get us back on topic...

 

When does WWSB's contract expire?

It's OT but, I'll quickly answer this. Their agreement expires at the end of the month (or, December 2014) based on the most current publicly available information.

 

Their construction permit expires 9/1/15, so they got time. The virtual channel is 40, but the RF is VHF 10. Despite being licensed to Atlantic City, it would be a rimshot at best, needing a good outdoor antenna. And I don't think NBC would want to affiliate with a relocated WMGM, since it would encroach on WCAU's turf in Camden, Cherry Hill, etc.

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=191421#station

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1558697&map=Y

Yeah I know. However, I think the goal was to get "moved" over to WMGM-LD(/LP) by the end of this year. The reason being they could work with MPVD's to "replace" the current WMGM-TV with WMGM-LD(/LP) creating a seamless transition for cable viewers. Yes, they would have lost their "must-carry" rights by moving to low-power. But, could have at least worked with MVPD's to keep "NBC40" on the air since they were already being carried. They now face the uphill battle of trying to regain carriage after being removed from MPVD systems.

 

WRT the signals of WMGM-TV vs. WMGM-LD. Exempting for the moment the fact that WMGM-LD is on VHF the coverage areas between the two are pretty equal. So, their OTA coverage wouldn't change much with a move exclusively to low-power. And, It is a heavily cabled area so, the issues of being on VHF are mostly offset by carriage on cable systems.

 

Technically speaking WMGM-LD's Virtual Channel is 40 due to the fact that it is currently (or, would be) a translator of WMGM-TV. Translators are required by the PSIP standard to map to the same virtual channel number (unless a conflict is created by doing so) as the "parent" station.

I wonder if the the termination of the no expiration date was exclusive to Access 1 ownership? I believe in many affiliation agreements ownership changes require notification and permission essentially of the network and that the network may terminate the agreement with out liability.

 

So I'm assuming that if the station were still owned by Access 1 communications or sold to another station group the affiliation agreement would stay in tact. Simply because LocusPoint is a spectrum speculator and is a reasonably new company that could make them unqualified to own and operate a station especially since the contracted Access 1 to continue to operate the station.

It has way more to do with Access.1's financial issues than an "exclusivity" clause. And, LocusPoint's likely indifference towards continuing a "major network" affiliation meant they were unlikely to continue/renew the agreement.

 

***Mini-Rant Time***

It seems like I'm beating a dead horse here. But, I don't get the "tinfoil hat" theory that Comcast is behind this and out to shut down or cripple WMGM-TV in order to protect WCAU. The facts don't support the theory. Yet, everyone reporting on this story seems to run with that as the narrative.

 

Fact: Access.1 has for years had financial issues. The company defaulted on a $53 million dollar loan from Guggenheim in 2005. The loan was reworked at a higher rate which led to a second default in 2008. After this in 2009 Guggenheim petitioned the court to be allowed to place Access.1 into receivership and, was eventually granted the ability to do so in 2010. This eventually led to the company restructuring and majority control transferring from Sydney Small's estate to the creditors in 2013.

 

Fact: Access.1's founder, Sydney Small's death in August 2010 seemed exacerbate the problems. With the threat of receivership hanging over the company Small's death appeared to cause more uncertainty and chaos within Access.1. In fact, this "internal disarray" lead to WMGM-TV missing the deadline for electing must carry/retransmission consent for the 2012-14 election period. Thankfully, for them Comcast and DirecTV were willing to continue carrying WMGM-TV despite being under no obligation to do so. However, Dish denied their request for carriage after missing the deadline. As a result Access.1 terminated sending a feed to Dish's Local Receive Facility. This made the issue worse and lead to Dish denying two additional requests.

 

Fact: Despite having "no expiration date" on their affiliation agreement with NBC (as noted in several FCC ownership reports) multiple outlets reported WMGM-TV's agreement expired December 31, 2012. A logical conclusion would lead you to believe NBC sent a "notice of termination" after Access.1 breached their agreement. This likely due to their financial situation at the time and/or their "must-carry" faux pas.

 

Fact: Comcast granted a two-year extension to their affiliation agreement (now expiring December 31,2014) while Access.1 searched for a buyer. The remaining duration of said agreement was transferred to LocusPoint as a result of the sale.

 

Fact: WMGM-TV was sold to a LocusPoint, a "spectrum speculator", that has no desire to operate their stations long term. In fact, their website states that LocusPoint is "an early stage wireless communications company."

 

I realize Comcast doesn't need me to defend them. And, they deserve a majority of the venom they get. But, given the facts I don't see how they deserve it in this case. A couple rhetorical questions...Why would Comcast continue to carry WMGM-TV on their cable system(s) despite being under no obligation to due so? Why would Comcast grant WMGM-TV a two-year extension to their agreement? If we are to believe that Comcast wants WMGM-TV gone in order to "protect" WCAU then why do this? They could have dropped them from their cable systems after December 21, 2011...but didn't. They could have ended their affiliation agreement on December 31, 2012...but didn't. These actions seem to be the exact opposite of Comcast trying to "shut down" WMGM-TV.

 

Yes, for I get all practical purposes NBC is "terminating" the agreement. And, yes it will indirectly benefit WCAU. However, has anyone given thought to the fact that LocusPoint may not want to continue the affiliation for WMGM-TV going forward. Why would they want to make reverse compensation payments to NBC? Is it possible Access.1 wanted to continue the affiliation via WMGM-LD? Does NBC want to affiliate with a station that has yet to take the air? Is it possible that NBC/Comcast no longer wishes to conduct business with Access.1 based on their rocky history? These are the questions that need to be asked. But, it doesn't fit the narrative and make for sexy headlines. "NBC rips affiliation from WMGM-TV" or "Atlantic City station loses NBC affiliation" sound better than "Struggling Atlantic City station sold, NBC to leave" or "Despite best efforts, NBC to leave Atlantic City station."

 

The facts are the facts. Access.1 has been struggling for years. Their new "creditor" owners sold the full-power station, WMGM-TV, to a group that will likely seek to "shut down" the station as a result of the incentive auction. Access.1 would like to stay on-the-air via another outlet, likely WMGM-LD, but ran out (or, is running out of) time and money. The facts are the facts. Don't let anyone mislead you as to "why" this is happening or omit relevant facts from their stories.

 

***Mini-Rant #2***

Their are two entities here (Access.1-WMGM-LD/LP & LocusPoint-WMGM-TV) and people reporting on this story have done nothing but confuse everyone by ignoring this fact. Access.1 still owns WMGM-LD(/LP) and is retaining (or hopes to retain) their staff. LocusPoint owns WMGM-TV. Access.1 is currently "programming" WMGM-TV however, that agreement will end at the end of the year. WMGM-TV will continue solely under LocusPoint going forward. In fact, they have submitted must-carry requests for the current election period with both Dish and DirecTV. Based on statements the Access.1 group would like to continue going forward but, may not be able to. WMGM-TV isn't shutting down, that entity will remain under LocusPoint. The Access.1 group is being "evicted" from WMGM-TV and depending upon if they can keep things going or not that will be the entity to "shut down"...not WMGM-TV.

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