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LIN is merging with Media General


CircleSeven

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Maybe now that MG is buying KXRM they will throw some money at them. Barrington established a news department though and it's run cheaply. No sports department, the news director doubles as the main anchor and I think the morning show has no co-anchor. LIN has shown they are willing to invest in the also-rans to make them competitive, like WJCL. So this will be good for them.

 

And for WJCL, wow. Hearst is buying them. Who would've thunk that? Just seven years ago they were a Piedmont Television property and WJCL had their slew of problems with crappy equipment, a facility literally falling apart, barely any local news, GM's getting arrested and indicted, and with each successive owner that's taken over they have just invested more and more and I think Hearst will continue that and that finally they have a stable owner after going through three different owners in less than ten years.

 

And, maybe Hearst is just using Sinclair as a shell. Maybe they will continue that partnership because WJCL and WTGS have been commonly associated with each other since the late 90's. I can't see Sinclair just running a Fox affiliate standalone when they can pay Hearst to do it and to continue the local news. Savannah can't really sustain four separate news operations. Also WTOC may be so dominant but I think they put out the crappiest product too. WJCL has a superior product to WTOC and it's definitely more watchable on the occasions I've watched them. I hate being constantly reminded I'm watching the leader, this is "THE News", etc. They seem to bask in their dominance and act like they're bigger and better than everyone else...

 

Also the mid-90's era cuts of Newschannel have not aged very well and the blue/orange Raycom graphics and it do not go together at all.

 

 

Meredith owning WALA could be interesting, and it could shift the direction of the product, especially in the mornings. WALA's current morning newscast is pretty straight forward and devoid of fluff and filler; basically repeating the news and weather over the course of 4 1/2 hours with time and traffic updates peppered in. Since Meredith is more of a female focused company, I would expect a lot more "news you can use" features, and more "around the town" live shots. The line is firmly drawn between their morning news and their lifestyle show "Studio Ten", but it could be blurred especially if they take the "Better" approach, a la CBS 46 with their "Better Mornings Atlanta".

And prepare yourselves for the "Surprise Squad".....

 

I think "Studio Ten" will just be retooled into the "Better" format their other stations use. I really want Meredith to end the practice of hiring their journos right out of school. Mobile isn't supposed to be a starter market. WEAR, WKRG, WPMI hire people with experience and then WALA doesn't.
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I think "Studio Ten" will just be retooled into the "Better" format their other stations use. I really want Meredith to end the practice of hiring their journos right out of school. Mobile isn't supposed to be a starter market. WEAR, WKRG, WPMI hire people with experience and then WALA doesn't.

 

I'm hoping the same thing about the level of talent. WALA has gone to hell in this regard over the last several years as their veteran and more experienced talent has left in favor of interns getting promoted into their first job.

 

When looking at WPMI and especially their morning news, it seems much more like a Meredith than a Sinclair station. Lots of time filler, chat, and even working in popular music for when they're coming back from break. Now with Darwin Singleton anchoring with Kelly Jones, it's a gabfest. The irony in this is because BOTH Kelly and the GM, Bobby Totsch both came from a Meredith Station....KCTV in Kansas City.

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Maybe now that MG is buying KXRM they will throw some money at them. Barrington established a news department though and it's run cheaply. No sports department, the news director doubles as the main anchor and I think the morning show has no co-anchor. LIN has shown they are willing to invest in the also-rans to make them competitive, like WJCL. So this will be good for them.

 

And for WJCL, wow. Hearst is buying them. Who would've thunk that? Just seven years ago they were a Piedmont Television property and WJCL had their slew of problems with crappy equipment, a facility literally falling apart, barely any local news, GM's getting arrested and indicted, and with each successive owner that's taken over they have just invested more and more and I think Hearst will continue that and that finally they have a stable owner after going through three different owners in less than ten years.

 

And, maybe Hearst is just using Sinclair as a shell. Maybe they will continue that partnership because WJCL and WTGS have been commonly associated with each other since the late 90's. I can't see Sinclair just running a Fox affiliate standalone when they can pay Hearst to do it and to continue the local news. Savannah can't really sustain four separate news operations. Also WTOC may be so dominant but I think they put out the crappiest product too. WJCL has a superior product to WTOC and it's definitely more watchable on the occasions I've watched them. I hate being constantly reminded I'm watching the leader, this is "THE News", etc. They seem to bask in their dominance and act like they're bigger and better than everyone else...

 

Also the mid-90's era cuts of Newschannel have not aged very well and the blue/orange Raycom graphics and it do not go together at all.

 

Agree, the whole basking in that dominance gets old and tiring. Geez, and from what I saw in a video somewhere in the past, WTOC was not the leader or the dominant leader until about the mid 80's. Before that WSAV ruled the market. The only thing that got WTOC to the top was new ownership back then that invested in stealing talent and major money from Aflac into the product. Even WJCL was much more competitive during a stint in the early to mid 80's when they poached some well known talent.

 

Brings me to my current thoughts. With the "new MG" holding onto WSAV and with Hearst/Sinclair entering the market, I believe WTOC's dominance may drop a little - at least it can if the new MG and Hearst aggressively invest into their news and station brands. Maybe they will poach some WTOC talent to help in that process. It would seem both the revived post-LIN MG and Hearst could outspend Raycom if they wanted to and create some needed disruption in the market.

 

Back to @sanewsguy's thoughts over WTOC and their boasting - it's nuts that they have become "so" dominant over time that they've been able to keep THE news as their positioning. I guess since their rise in the early to mid 80's when they adopted that moniker that they are afraid to change it. Their prior GM Bill "iron military man" Cathcart played a role in holding on to that and some of those dated, tired Newschannel cuts. He was resistant to evolve with the times, from what I've always heard.

 

In a nutshell, the Savannah changes may bring some much-needed competitive spirit to the market. I'd love to see WTOC fall some, or to second place, just because of the smugness that oozes out of every crevice of their existence.

 

*drops the mic*

adds appropriate cue from Newschannel Series I or II.

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They are a close 2nd/3rd now, and WVTM is 4th. How well does the WABM signal reach compare to the rest?

 

What will happen to WIAT back under Media General? They made huge gains last time they were under their ownership (they were a dog station under Park and other owners previously) but MG did nothing to improve WVTM and left it in 4th. So many unknowns in Birmingham. WBRC could either be smiling or scared - the beacon of stability has to wonder if the others will move forward or stagnate under new ownership.

 

Actually, while the Media General merger with Park back in 1998 did cause significant improvement at WBMG/WIAT, most of the improvements at the station came during the New Vision ownership from 2006-2012. Seems to me that LIN has pushed the station backwards with the new "WIAT 42" branding, CBS 42 was much better at least to me. Also, they advertise the news as "WIAT 42 News", even though the logo says "WIAT News 42."

I am looking for Hearst to make vast improvements to Channel 13's news and programming, and leave Channel 42 and 68/33/40 to battle it out for 3rd and 4th.

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The WVTM acquisition by Hearst will make things interesting over at Alabama's 13. This means that just this year alone, two big four affiliates have changed ownership and there's about to be a big affiliation swap.

 

This M&A craze just gets crazier; I can't keep up!

 

Why would there be an affilaition swap? Are you thinking ABC to 13 and NBC to 33/40 since Hearst is heavy on ABC affilaites? I don't believe that the 33/40 contract with ABC expires until 2016 or 2017, unless Sinclair moving it to 68 would cause ABC to pull out early?
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Why would there be an affilaition swap? Are you thinking ABC to 13 and NBC to 33/40 since Hearst is heavy on ABC affilaites? I don't believe that the 33/40 contract with ABC expires until 2016 or 2017, unless Sinclair moving it to 68 would cause ABC to pull out early?

On top of that, Hearst is actually the second-largest owner of NBC stations, behind Gannett.

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So, the WLNS/WLAJ (abc-CW) will still be until say 2016 when they will have to be unwound right ???

Yes, the MG JSA/SSA's will be able to continue as-is for now. It may already be compliant with the new rules but, it's irrelevant to the application.

 

Like all other preexisting JSA's they will have to make their JSA's rule compliant prior to the deadline. This means they can do the following:

  • Do nothing. If the the JSA is already compliant with the new JSA rules it can stay in place and remain "non-attributable".
  • Do nothing and allow said JSA to become "attributable" provided that in doing so they don't run afoul of local ownership limits or, the ownership cap.
  • Restructure the JSA to bring it in compliance with the new rules. Thereby making it "non-attribuable"
  • Unwind the JSA.

There seems to be a misunderstanding that JSA's (and shells) were "banned."

 

By the way , I notice (via web stream) that the Young broadcasting stations (now under the MG ownership) STILL use the Young broadcasting copyright graphic..

Young Broadcasting is now a wholely owned subsidiary of Media General. The licenses are all still held by the same entities that held them under Young.
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Maybe now that MG is buying KXRM they will throw some money at them. Barrington established a news department though and it's run cheaply. No sports department, the news director doubles as the main anchor and I think the morning show has no co-anchor. LIN has shown they are willing to invest in the also-rans to make them competitive, like WJCL. So this will be good for them.

 

And for WJCL, wow. Hearst is buying them. Who would've thunk that? Just seven years ago they were a Piedmont Television property and WJCL had their slew of problems with crappy equipment, a facility literally falling apart, barely any local news, GM's getting arrested and indicted, and with each successive owner that's taken over they have just invested more and more and I think Hearst will continue that and that finally they have a stable owner after going through three different owners in less than ten years.

 

And, maybe Hearst is just using Sinclair as a shell. Maybe they will continue that partnership because WJCL and WTGS have been commonly associated with each other since the late 90's. I can't see Sinclair just running a Fox affiliate standalone when they can pay Hearst to do it and to continue the local news. Savannah can't really sustain four separate news operations. Also WTOC may be so dominant but I think they put out the crappiest product too. WJCL has a superior product to WTOC and it's definitely more watchable on the occasions I've watched them. I hate being constantly reminded I'm watching the leader, this is "THE News", etc. They seem to bask in their dominance and act like they're bigger and better than everyone else...

 

Also the mid-90's era cuts of Newschannel have not aged very well and the blue/orange Raycom graphics and it do not go together at all.

 

I think "Studio Ten" will just be retooled into the "Better" format their other stations use. I really want Meredith to end the practice of hiring their journos right out of school. Mobile isn't supposed to be a starter market. WEAR, WKRG, WPMI hire people with experience and then WALA doesn't.

 

Savannah's not the only market in this state with stale, yet dominant news operations. But yeah, the whole "THE News" thing can get annoying when there are other good operations in the market.

 

 

Why would there be an affilaition swap? Are you thinking ABC to 13 and NBC to 33/40 since Hearst is heavy on ABC affilaites? I don't believe that the 33/40 contract with ABC expires until 2016 or 2017, unless Sinclair moving it to 68 would cause ABC to pull out early?

 

Sorry, I forgot to clarify; it's not an "affiliation swap". I was talking about the imminent ABC move to WABM.

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* Providence: WHOA!!! If Sinclair manages WJAR decently, they should do well. But if they try to get political in a very blue region, they will plunge in the ratings fast. Media General might have got a coup there. WPRI/WNAC cannot be broken up by anyone (if Sinclair acquired those, they have to take both and keep both without breaking it), so that might have been MG's thinking. As for WLNE, they are likely stuck in a distant 3rd for a while. But WLNE is likely for sale soon too...

 

* Tampa: WTTA goes away and WFLA gains a sister station at last. But Hearst still has WMOR on its back (which I thought would be trade bait here) - Scripps or Gannett might want it? Any trade bait for them?

 

That was my reaction in re WJAR. First time that WCMH and WJAR will have separate owners since about 1975. WTTA going to WFLA makes a lot of sense, though it surprised me that MG didn't get WWHO thrown in as part of the deal.

 

 

 

 

* Birmingham: This is a game changer, folks. While I doubt Hearst will do much in Savannah, they have a huge opening here. But this - combined - is a HUGE loss for WABM/WBMA (33/40). I expect them to fall to 4th place, especially with the loss of coverage. Media General also makes big gains, and all this puts Raycom/WBRC on notice as well.

 

 

 

I think you guys really overestimate what will happen after the loss of two rimshot signals. The key is almost always to have a stick right in the center of the market. ABC 33/40 will do just fine, if not much better with their new centrally located signal.

 

WVTM? Toss up in my opinion. WVTM was the stronger legacy operation, but WIAT had better ratings and a better signal plus the SEC. They probably made the right choice here.

 

 

 

 

 

* Green Bay: Another situation that not much will likely happen in. WBAY is already dominant and Packers revenue couldn't lure Media General away. WLUK actually doesn't fit too badly with Sinclair given their large Midwest presence, and since Quincy and Gray were not interested in WBAY (the most suitable for them), it might be basically status quo there. WGBA is the wildcard, will Scripps improve it?

 

 

 

I think you guys overestimate the importance of football. Yes it adds revenue, provides a natural base of programming and gets the station "out in the community", but it is not going to be the primary driver of what a station is worth, not to mention the networks pulling out revenue from the stations because of the costly nature of sports.

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Agree, the whole basking in that dominance gets old and tiring. Geez, and from what I saw in a video somewhere in the past, WTOC was not the leader or the dominant leader until about the mid 80's. Before that WSAV ruled the market. The only thing that got WTOC to the top was new ownership back then that invested in stealing talent and major money from Aflac into the product. Even WJCL was much more competitive during a stint in the early to mid 80's when they poached some well known talent.

 

Brings me to my current thoughts. With the "new MG" holding onto WSAV and with Hearst/Sinclair entering the market, I believe WTOC's dominance may drop a little - at least it can if the new MG and Hearst aggressively invest into their news and station brands. Maybe they will poach some WTOC talent to help in that process. It would seem both the revived post-LIN MG and Hearst could outspend Raycom if they wanted to and create some needed disruption in the market.

 

 

I was in Hilton Head a couple of summers ago and was curious about what I was going to see on WSAV wrt their news operation. What I saw astounded me. I was really surprised by the small-market, bush league nature of their newscasts. It easily could have been because I wasn't used to their talent or of being a station in the South, but let's just say I was not impressed. I was expecting more from a legacy station like that. My first impression was that MG was simply asleep at the switch.

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I was in Hilton Head a couple of summers ago and was curious about what I was going to see on WSAV wrt their news operation. What I saw astounded me. I was really surprised by the small-market, bush league nature of their newscasts. It easily could have been because I wasn't used to their talent or of being a station in the South, but let's just say I was not impressed. I was expecting more from a legacy station like that. My first impression was that MG was simply asleep at the switch.

 

Yeah, that's the impression I've had as well. The whole market needs to be shaken up and maybe all of these changes will finally do something about the lackluster boring presentation of the market. WTOC needs to have a few steps knocked off their ladder and with continued improvement at WJCL under Hearst should spur everyone to up their game. I think WSAV will up theirs too since the new MG will essentially have the LIN corporate staff and their prior mentality of doing things, which to me was a few steps up from Media General...... We can only hope.
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With WFNA swapping duopoly partners, I have to ask if this is a first. There have been partner shifts with virtual duopolies before (JSA/SSA/LMAs), but I don't recall an instance since the FCC legalized duopolies in '99 where one legal duopoly was broken up and a new one was formed, much less an instance where a legal duopoly was fully broken up. It's not like the KTVK/KASW situation (Meredith may have created a new legal duop between KTVK and KPHO, but it now runs KASW under an SSA for the time being) or Raycom's virtual triop in Tucson after Gannett turned KMSB to Sander and KTTU to Tucker. It's a true duopoly breakup, the third station involved is not being added, it's the one that a partner in the original duopoly is being completely transferred to with no sharing agreements involved.

 

Also, with Meredith now buying WALA, it'll kind of make WHNS look more the sore thumb of the group's Fox affiliates news-wise. WHNS isn't really news-intensive (being the only one without at least an early evening newscast) like WALA, KVVU and KPTV are.

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I'm hoping the same thing about the level of talent. WALA has gone to hell in this regard over the last several years as their veteran and more experienced talent has left in favor of interns getting promoted into their first job.

 

When looking at WPMI and especially their morning news, it seems much more like a Meredith than a Sinclair station. Lots of time filler, chat, and even working in popular music for when they're coming back from break. Now with Darwin Singleton anchoring with Kelly Jones, it's a gabfest. The irony in this is because BOTH Kelly and the GM, Bobby Totsch both came from a Meredith Station....KCTV in Kansas City.

 

You've hit the nail on the head with regard to WALA and the exodus of many of the fine reporters they had. The modus operandi was to keep folks so off-kilter that they felt they had no choice but to look elsewhere, and then offer - if they did at all - too little, too late. They lost some great people that way; Adam Walser, an excellent investigative reporter now in Tampa comes immediately to mind. They pay reporters squat, don't fill openings, and browbeat everyone into "doing more with less." I'm just waiting for the day when they get sued because one of the utterly green reporters makes some glaring error that wasn't caught. There are a few good, longtime newspeople both behind the scenes and on-air (how Bob Grip puts up with it is beyond me; he must be counting the days until retirement.) Without them it would be an even bigger disaster.

 

I know that Raycom had been nosing around the market for a while, with a former major player at one of the stations handling things for them. My friends there tell me that at least 3 potential buyers had people tour WALA recently, Meredith and Raycom among them. Employees have heard fairly good things about Meredith from former WALA people who now work for them, so there is some hope. The biggest hope is that the current disaster of a ND, who is a former WALA intern ("he sat in a corner and never said a thing") and total lightweight (think the boss in Dilbert) gets the boot quickly; he is way over his head and flailing around.

 

It should get pretty interesting in the market in the next year or so.

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You've hit the nail on the head with regard to WALA and the exodus of many of the fine reporters they had. The modus operandi was to keep folks so off-kilter that they felt they had no choice but to look elsewhere, and then offer - if they did at all - too little, too late. They lost some great people that way; Adam Walser, an excellent investigative reporter now in Tampa comes immediately to mind. They pay reporters squat, don't fill openings, and browbeat everyone into "doing more with less." I'm just waiting for the day when they get sued because one of the utterly green reporters makes some glaring error that wasn't caught. There are a few good, longtime newspeople both behind the scenes and on-air (how Bob Grip puts up with it is beyond me; he must be counting the days until retirement.) Without them it would be an even bigger disaster.

 

I know that Raycom had been nosing around the market for a while, with a former major player at one of the stations handling things for them. My friends there tell me that at least 3 potential buyers had people tour WALA recently, Meredith and Raycom among them. Employees have heard fairly good things about Meredith from former WALA people who now work for them, so there is some hope. The biggest hope is that the current disaster of a ND, who is a former WALA intern ("he sat in a corner and never said a thing") and total lightweight (think the boss in Dilbert) gets the boot quickly; he is way over his head and flailing around.

 

It should get pretty interesting in the market in the next year or so.

I wonder if Sinclair wanted in if they knew they could get away with owning 5 or 6 stations in the market? Raycom sounds like they were outbid for it.
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I wonder if Sinclair wanted in if they knew they could get away with owning 5 or 6 stations in the market? Raycom sounds like they were outbid for it.

 

I'm guessing the same about Raycom. Don't have any info re: Sinclair. Trying to find out who the 3rd interested party was.

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I was in Hilton Head a couple of summers ago and was curious about what I was going to see on WSAV wrt their news operation. What I saw astounded me. I was really surprised by the small-market, bush league nature of their newscasts. It easily could have been because I wasn't used to their talent or of being a station in the South, but let's just say I was not impressed. I was expecting more from a legacy station like that. My first impression was that MG was simply asleep at the switch.

 

The Savannah stations besides 11 have stepped up in the last couple years. WJCL actually has put money in the news product with 5pm news and more money. I remember just a few years ago when they didn't even run news on weekends and ran sitcoms, and only had morning news, 6, and 11 on weeknights. WSAV is better than they used to be too.

 

WTOC is #1 only because they dominate the rural areas around Savannah, while the other stations focus on Chatham (Savannah), Effingham (a major suburb), Jasper, and Beaufort (the two largest SC counties in market). WTOC on the other hand covers every grape stomp and parade within a 60 mile radius of Savannah with their main anchor Sonny Dixon and a couple of others.

 

It is a big difference compared to its sister station in Charleston (WCSC) which acts like a large market station.

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With WFNA swapping duopoly partners, I have to ask if this is a first. There have been partner shifts with virtual duopolies before (JSA/SSA/LMAs), but I don't recall an instance since the FCC legalized duopolies in '99 where one legal duopoly was broken up and a new one was formed, much less an instance where a legal duopoly was fully broken up. It's not like the KTVK/KASW situation (Meredith may have created a new legal duop between KTVK and KPHO, but it now runs KASW under an SSA for the time being) or Raycom's virtual triop in Tucson after Gannett turned KMSB to Sander and KTTU to Tucker. It's a true duopoly breakup, the third station involved is not being added, it's the one that a partner in the original duopoly is being completely transferred to with no sharing agreements involved.

 

Also, with Meredith now buying WALA, it'll kind of make WHNS look more the sore thumb of the group's Fox affiliates news-wise. WHNS isn't really news-intensive (being the only one without at least an early evening newscast) like WALA, KVVU and KPTV are.

 

Come to think of it, WWHO in Columbus was run out of WCMH in the mid-1990s before Outlet sold to NBC (under an LMA).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jvQiHTWw4o (This video shows a tour of their shared master control facility circa 1995)

 

WWHO was owned by Fant Broadcasting who later sold to Paramount which broke away operations from WCMH. Paramount/Viacom sold the station to LIN, who later sold the station to Stephen Mumblow (Manhan) and THEN outsourced operations to WSYX/WTTE with an SSA. While not a direct swap, it was one shared station eventually merging with another.

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The Savannah stations besides 11 have stepped up in the last couple years. WJCL actually has put money in the news product with 5pm news and more money. I remember just a few years ago when they didn't even run news on weekends and ran sitcoms, and only had morning news, 6, and 11 on weeknights. WSAV is better than they used to be too.

 

WTOC is #1 only because they dominate the rural areas around Savannah, while the other stations focus on Chatham (Savannah), Effingham (a major suburb), Jasper, and Beaufort (the two largest SC counties in market). WTOC on the other hand covers every grape stomp and parade within a 60 mile radius of Savannah with their main anchor Sonny Dixon and a couple of others.

 

It is a big difference compared to its sister station in Charleston (WCSC) which acts like a large market station.

 

Let's not forget WTOC is run by Bill "Hooray Waterboarding" Cathcart.

 

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Let's not forget WTOC is run by Bill "Hooray Waterboarding" Cathcart.

 

 

 

Recently that changed. Cathcart "retired" sometime during the last few months. I rememeber the announcement, but forgot to see what had transpired with that. Looking at their website, he was replaced by Scott Dempsey. We may finally see some "slow" modernizing of the station from an 80's and 90's look and feel to something that at least resembles the late 20th or early 21st century if we're lucky.

 

Here is the LinkedIn page for new GM Dempsey.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/scott-dempsey/10/2b2/684

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Recently that changed. Cathcart "retired" sometime during the last few months. I rememeber the announcement, but forgot to see what had transpired with that. Looking at their website, he was replaced by Scott Dempsey. We may finally see some "slow" modernizing of the station from an 80's and 90's look and feel to something that at least resembles the late 20th or early 21st century if we're lucky.

 

Just goes to show that not everybody in TV is a pinko liberal. Waterboarding is a less permanent solution than beheading.

 

That said, Cathcart is an old timer (Age 71). This photo below (from the WLW Facebook page) dates back to the late 1960's. Bertha Mae LIVES!!! Jerry Rasor and Bill Cathcart (in the dress) on Dance Party at WLWC. If he was 25-ish then, that seems about right. From what they say about him on the Facebook page, I gather he was a bit of a character.

 

A lot of very talented people worked at the WLW stations.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1603160845014&set=gm.178771022168228&type=1&theater

 

180775_1603160845014_1107136_n.jpg?oh=4d4637d007fd7425050962c61359d711&oe=545D7104&__gda__=1417695794_eb0eb7d9b6a5fe5451c43b273820d2a4

 

I also didn't realize that he had a "PhD" from The Ohio State University:

 

http://www.wtoc.com/story/25413456/wtocs-general-manager-bill-cathcart-retires

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Reps of Meredith came to WALA today. Heard that most folks left feeling pretty good about the sale, benefits, etc. Sounds as if they wanted to prevent any mass panic before it could start. Feeling is that - at least from what they've heard so far - it could have been a lot worse. Remains to be seen if Ch. 10 folks got the better part of this deal.

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The Paperwork Is Up!!!!

 

All the stations involved in the divestiture plan of the MG/LIN deal is listed on the FCC site.

 

Of course Sinclair is the main buyer of divestiture plan. Along with the $83.4M they're receiving from MG for the soon to be close acquisition of WHTM, MG has also bought Sinclair's WTTA for $40M & KXRM/KXTU for $53.1M. In exchange of all of that Sinclair is buying WJAR from MG for $120M, WLUK/WCWF for $70M, and WTGS from Vaughan Media for $17.5M.

 

Hearst bought the two stations for $62.5M ($58M for WVTM & $4.5M for WJCL). And Meredith bought WALA for $86M.

 

All the stations involved will have a 6-month transitional service agreement, after closing of the MG/LIN deal.

 

Now with this, the FCC can FINALLY docket this deal.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What's holding this deal up from being done before the end of this year? They've always said they don't expect it to be finalized before early 2015, but now that they've found buyers for the conflict stations and the FCC's okay with LIN's existing duopolies, virtual and official...

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See with this MG/LIN deal being massive, the FCC still have to docket the deal to have public comments, and place it on a 180-day shot clock (now that doesn't mean they're going to go the entire 6 months, as many deals have gotten FCC approval sometime within the second half of that period).

 

As you remember they did that with several similar deals last year. So it's not one of those deals that's going to get the greenlight in a snap of a finger. I think the Gannett/Belo & Tribune/Local TV last about five months after it was docketed. We know how long Sinclair/Allbritton was docketed.

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  • 4 weeks later...

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/79738

 

Since we have yet to hear about any future plans about WFNA, and the upcoming restrictions on JSAs, It does beg the question if Media General will cash in some of their spectrum. And if this only factors in the company before the LIN merger is consummated, it could be even more valuable.

 

WFNA can continue as a duopoly partner, but the upcoming acquisitions in Dayton, Youngstown and especially Albuquerque could necessitate some sell off of excess spectrum, and could come in handy to start paying down the debt incurred in this merger. It was debt after the NBC deal and the collapse of the newspaper side that nearly brought Media General to its knees...

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