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Granite sells stations to Scripps & Quincy.


CircleSeven

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TVNewsCheck states early this morning that Quincy Newspapers (owners of WGEM in Quincy, IL) announced that it will acquire the smaller market Granite stations, including WEEK, WPTA, KBJR/KRII & WBNG. Quincy will provide services to WISE & KDLH, which those will be assigned to SagamoreHill.

 

Here's a map of their proposed portfolio after closing:

3271770_G.jpg

 

Wow, I didn't see this coming a mile away.... But did I say something alone the lines of wishing Quincy getting one of those stations?:

 

WEEK/WHOI: I wished Quincy (Quincy Newspapers) can acquire WEEK and Granite can acquire WHOI.

In some form or fashion, the footprint makes total sense, since Quincy is already clustered up in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, & Iowa, so boosting in Peoria, Fort Wayne and northern Minnesota would be a big plus for them. They would also be entering Upstate NY for the first time.

 

Again, I could've thought that Nexstar would've used the Mission card for WEEK so it would basically be a Sinclair/Nexstar competition in the Heart of Illinois. Also, WBNG was Prather's to beat. With Gray's latest acquisitive streak in the Central Plains, I would've vision them getting KBJR/KDLH.

 

Now the question is, who will acquire WTVH & KOFY?

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I wish that at least the new owner would terminate the JSA/SSA with Sinclair so that Sinclair could start up it's own news operation for HOI 19. It's interesting to see how they may handle this but no way am I waiting 3 years for that.

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I would love to see James Gabbert taking over KOFY, giving its cult iconic story of a past. Nonetheless I'm sure this forum is celebrating the fact that Granite is basically going under eventually, no? By the way, what made Granite horrible owners, can anyone tell me, not familiar with it. (Besides the WKBW part that is, though it's somehow surprising that KOFY is successful as an indy again.)

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WBNG looks so out of place with Quincy...but the rest do make sense. Nonetheless quite shocking to say the least, I don't think ANYONE expected that!!! I also thought Bob Prather had the inside track there.

 

Nonetheless, chalk up a win for all of us predicting Granite was good as gone.

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WBNG looks so out of place with Quincy...but the rest do make sense. Nonetheless quite shocking to say the least, I don't think ANYONE expected that!!! I also thought Bob Prather had the inside track there.

 

Nonetheless, chalk up a win for all of us predicting Granite was good as gone.

 

Seems like the Lilly stations would fit quite nicely into the Quincy portfolio, if they should decide to sell.

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I'm going to predict that with pressure to sell and value in one of the nation's largest markets, KOFY goes to a spectrum speculator.

 

KOFY is an icon in the Bay Area broadcasting landscape, and the thought of this happening bums me out. The only shows that pull in real numbers on KOFY is the KGO 9pm newscast and the various rebroadcasts (7am, 7pm and 11:30pm). If (albeit a big if) the KRON lease arrangement with KGO/ABC ever turns into a full-on SSA for the sake of merging the news operations, KOFY is probably done.

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I admit, I don't know a whole lot about QNI. Are they any good?

 

I watched WGEM (their flagship) off and on while I was in college. The quality of the newscasts are usually pretty good. presentation tends to look cheap compared to others but since they mostly operate in small-markets, it's hardly noticeable.

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I wish that at least the new owner would terminate the JSA/SSA with Sinclair so that Sinclair could start up it's own news operation for HOI 19. It's interesting to see how they may handle this but no way am I waiting 3 years for that.

 

Based on what I've read, Quincy's WEEK will keep the JSA/SSA with WHOI. So if it ever gets dissolved, it will have to be Sinclair to make that call (which is something I doubt they want to do unless they're forced to).

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I would love to see James Gabbert taking over KOFY, giving its cult iconic story of a past. Nonetheless I'm sure this forum is celebrating the fact that Granite is basically going under eventually, no? By the way, what made Granite horrible owners, can anyone tell me, not familiar with it. (Besides the WKBW part that is, though it's somehow surprising that KOFY is successful as an indy again.)

 

They refused to invest in their stations.

 

I think these stations will be in good hands with Quincy. They're a decent company. And they pay their interns, a rarity in the field.

 

I could see them buying WTVH. Upstate NY is an area where station groups should bulk up where they can, because honestly these stations don't make much from advertising. That's why Nexstar, Sinclair, etc. have clusters in that state. WTVH still has their old building they can move back to, they just have to rehire a full news staff. but if Quincy gets them that would be great news for that market.

 

I have no idea who would want KOFY. Maybe Media General? And although KOFY doesn't pull in high numbers, they do serve a niche audience and their local programming has somewhat of a cult following there. Maybe a local group would buy them.

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KCNS is owned by "spectrum speculator" NRJ TV. There's no guarantee it will still be on the air after the incentive auction.

 

NRJ has two stations (that's double trouble), KCNS & KTNC. OTA Broadcasting has KTLN (use to be owned by Jerry Rose (which formerly owned WCFC TV 38 in Chicago)). LocusPoint is not in this market (yet, and I hope it stays that way). The only one that I would like to see get KOFY this second is Media General, to make it a duo with KRON. Any other owner would likely would (either be willing, or being pressured to) participate in the auctions and that channel would go bye-bye after that.

 

Anywho, Quincy President/CEO Ralph Oakley was at the WPTA/WISE facilities yesterday.

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NRJ has two stations (that's double trouble), KCNS & KTNC. OTA Broadcasting has KTLN (use to be owned by Jerry Rose (which formerly owned WCFC TV 38 in Chicago)). LocusPoint is not in this market (yet, and I hope it stays that way). The only one that I would like to see get KOFY this second is Media General, to make it a duo with KRON. Any other owner would likely would (either be willing, or being pressured to) participate in the auctions and that channel would go bye-bye after that.

 

A two-independent duopoly in San Francisco? If MG wants to "fall harder," buying KOFY is their ticket just to do that.

 

If you work for KOFY, I hope you have your Spanish brushed up. Especially if you're an Account Executive.

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I just found out about this, the Quincy/SagamoreHill deal, I heard the rumor of Scripps buying WMYD and WKBW. I am surprised though that Scripps, Quincy and SagamoreHill got some of the stations. Good for them. I did think, given all the speculation around here and a report hinting at its interest, that Nexstar might have been interested. There's still some stations left to go, so they might get some, if Granite doesn't sell some of the remaining ones to other station groups.

 

With Scripps buying WKBW, will they change their longtime Circle 7 with the current logo that ABC O&Os and non-ABC O&Os are using?

 

 

 

Not necessarily, seeing as everyone's Circle 7 is a little different. I doubt that their straight-lined version is anything that can't be used.

 

Also, consider the fact that Scripps owns KMGH. Their "Circle 7" is the same one used since the late 1990s, which doesn't look too much like the original. The only Scripps station that uses the original "Circle 7" (and the only other ABC affiliate on Channel 7 that the company owns) is WXYZ.

 

It is interesting that they bought WMYD though (however, the people there are going to have to get their resumes ready), I wasn't really sure that the Detroit market had enough full-power stations for a second duopoly.

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If I'm not mistaken, ABC gave Scripps usage of the proprietary original "Circle 7" logo design for WXYZ when ABC sold the station off. Given that KMGH's logo dates back many years, it would be silly to flip that logo to the standard design. (KMGH's logo follows most design conventions otherwise, from color selection to the embedded ABC bug on the corner.)

 

It's not just WKBW's logo. The entire image of WKBW has been trashed so badly over the past 10 years that they need to pull a WATN-like makeover.

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A two-independent duopoly in San Francisco? If MG wants to "fall harder," buying KOFY is their ticket just to do that.

 

If you work for KOFY, I hope you have your Spanish brushed up. Especially if you're an Account Executive.

Or does S!nclair buy KOFY, then turn around and swap several small-market stations with MG for KRON? (Stations in Harrisburg or Birmingham, perhaps?) S!nclair would have more than enough bargaining chips in order to do so.

 

And such a swap could be enough to clear the Allbritton deal.

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Or better yet, bring it to WXYZ so they can at least do Action News properly for once.

It's kinda fun to note that both WKBW (with Irv Weinstein) and WXYZ (with Bill Bonds) had two lead anchors that literally defined their respective news departments.

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It is interesting that they bought WMYD though (however, the people there are going to have to get their resumes ready), I wasn't really sure that the Detroit market had enough full-power stations for a second duopoly.

I had actually wondered this myself. They only have 9 full-power stations (2, 4, 7, 20, 31, 38, 50, 56, and 62), and 8 separate ownerships thanks to the CBS 62/50 duopoly. I wasn't sure if they could count the Windsor stations, or perhaps a Flint station actually has its transmitter within the Detroit DMA, or some other wacky shenanigans involving creative math.

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I had actually wondered this myself. They only have 9 full-power stations (2, 4, 7, 20, 31, 38, 50, 56, and 62), and 8 separate ownerships thanks to the CBS 62/50 duopoly. I wasn't sure if they could count the Windsor stations, or perhaps a Flint station actually has its transmitter within the Detroit DMA, or some other wacky shenanigans involving creative math.

 

When Sinclair made KDBC/KFOX a duopoly of some sort I think Mexican stations were counted as market media voices.

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