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FCC Approves Sales of Allbritton to Sinclair


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Per DCRTV.com - Sinclair is already making changes - WJLA is adding a 4pm Newscast September 15th. (Smart move, about time really.)

 

I heard this was planned for awhile now. May not be Sinclair related.

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Received the word from a reliable source that WHTM will be officially sold to Media General this Sept. 1.

 

You mean close? I'm shocked they haven't found a way to close it out within this week, instead of waiting a full two weeks.

 

Well, by that time, they should be starting that 30-day countdown on the stations cut-offs & programming switches in Charleston & Alabama.

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You mean close? I'm shocked they haven't found a way to close it out within this week, instead of waiting a full two weeks.

 

Well, by that time, they should be starting that 30-day countdown on the stations cut-offs & programming switches in Charleston & Alabama.

Right. That's when WHTM will be under MG's control. It is going to be an interesting transition for the station and their people. Wondering what kind of changes we could see at WHTM - GFX, news content and employees.

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Per DCRTV.com - Sinclair is already making changes - WJLA is adding a 4pm Newscast September 15th. (Smart move, about time really.)

 

I wonder why the 4pm will be anchored by Leon Harris and Allison Starling. That means two straight hours they will anchor. Seems like there were better options:

1. Give it to Gordon Peterson and Maureen Bunyan. (they would do 4/6, and Leon/Allison would do 5/11)

2. Move Peterson and Bunyan to 5pm, and have Harris and Starling do 4/6/11

3. Keep Harris/Starling at 5/11, Peterson/Bunyan at 6, and give the 4pm to new anchor team (who would eventually take over the 6 after Peterson/Bunyan retire)

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I wonder why the 4pm will be anchored by Leon Harris and Allison Starling. That means two straight hours they will anchor. Seems like there were better options:

1. Give it to Gordon Peterson and Maureen Bunyan. (they would do 4/6, and Leon/Allison would do 5/11)

2. Move Peterson and Bunyan to 5pm, and have Harris and Starling do 4/6/11

3. Keep Harris/Starling at 5/11, Peterson/Bunyan at 6, and give the 4pm to new anchor team (who would eventually take over the 6 after Peterson/Bunyan retire)

 

#3 is the only one that makes sense, frankly.

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#3 is the only one that makes sense, frankly.

Of course this is Sinclair your talking about... I think it goes without saying that they would pay the premium to have a completely separate/new anchor team for a new newscast is pie in sky thinking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The deal is done!!!

 

WHTM is now a Media General station. It was consummated yesterday (9/2).

 

Also, Sinclair filed 316 pro formas for WSET, WBMA, KATV, & KTUL, to have those consistent licensee names (ie "KXXX Licensee, LLC"). Of course WCIV, WCFT & WJSU don't have one for obvious reasons (When they're going to inform viewers on the cutoff/switches? They're within that one month period now). And their new billion dollar baby, WJLA didn't have one either.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What am I looking at??

 

A brand new application regarding WCIV. Sinclair wants to sell the license assets to (get ready y'all) Howard Stirk Holdings for $50K. Just like the WTAT situation, Sinclair & HSH vowed not to have any joint sales or other sharing arrangements.

 

The timing is kind of not all that good, because Sinclair was suppose to surrender WCIV's license by September 29. And that's more than two weeks away.

 

This comes after FCC Chairman Wheeler praised Gray Television for selling its assets of the conflict stations to minority & female owners.

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What am I looking at??

 

A brand new application regarding WCIV. Sinclair wants to sell the license assets to (get ready y'all) Howard Stirk Holdings for $50K. Just like the WTAT situation, Sinclair & HSH vowed not to have any joint sales or other sharing arrangements.

 

The timing is kind of not all that good, because Sinclair was suppose to surrender WCIV's license by September 29. And that's more than two weeks away.

 

This comes after FCC Chairman Wheeler praised Gray Television for selling its assets of the conflict stations to minority & female owners.

 

I wonder what this could mean for WCFT and WJSU? Bah, I'm not holding my breath.

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What am I looking at??

 

A brand new application regarding WCIV. Sinclair wants to sell the license assets to (get ready y'all) Howard Stirk Holdings for $50K. Just like the WTAT situation, Sinclair & HSH vowed not to have any joint sales or other sharing arrangements.

 

The timing is kind of not all that good, because Sinclair was suppose to surrender WCIV's license by September 29. And that's more than two weeks away.

 

This comes after FCC Chairman Wheeler praised Gray Television for selling its assets of the conflict stations to minority & female owners.

Is WCIV's intellectual property still being moved to a WTAT multicast? They had to give the FCC advance notice in order to consummate the merger. You can't just walk a move like that back.

 

It almost looks like S!nclair is asking the FCC to have Stirk be the people that is selling the license to a third party based specifically on Gray's recent moves. A parallel would be Clear Channel's occasional donation of radio stations to the MMRC, who would then be the seller of the station or license.

 

Otherwise, this transaction request makes no sense.

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Is WCIV's intellectual property still being moved to a WTAT multicast? They had to give the FCC advance notice in order to consummate the merger. You can't just walk a move like that back.

 

It almost looks like S!nclair is asking the FCC to have Stirk be the people that is selling the license to a third party based specifically on Gray's recent moves. A parallel would be Clear Channel's occasional donation of radio stations to the MMRC, who would then be the seller of the station or license.

 

Otherwise, this transaction request makes no sense.

I'm thinking because of the Gray move, and since Sinclair feels that Wheeler likes what Gray have done, they want to use this opportunity to follow through on this. I don't think Sinclair is doing it the way Gray did. You know, part of me thinks that why shouldn't Williams get it. It's his home turf. He owns that station in Myrtle Beach, and Charleston is right next door. But I have a bad feeling that this plan ain't nothing more than just another way for Sinclair to keep everything in the fold, even if it doesn't include any sharing arrangements.

 

In regards to programming, I'm not sure what programming the station wants to place in, after WCIV's programming is moved to WMMP. And anyway, I don't know if this would fly with Wheeler, because they'd vowed to surrender WCIV's license by September 29. And that's two weeks away, and lets not forget they have to inform the public about the switches as well. The timing is surely not good for a fire sale like this.

 

And if the sale does go through, where WCIV is going to be housed at? It didn't include a lease agreement, so where the facilities is going to be? The current WCIV's building or WTAT soon-to-be standalone building.

 

I wonder what this could mean for WCFT and WJSU? Bah, I'm not holding my breath.

I think they'll just leave 33/40 there until the cut-off. Otherwise, they would've included these both with WCIV.
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As reported in the weekly TVNewsCheck station sale report: "HSH acknowledges that it is not buying the business of WCIV as a going concern. STG shall retain the right to the call letters "WCIV", certain FCC licenses, all programming, agreements with programmers, agreements with advertisers, employees, studio equipment, and studios and other offices used in the operation of WCIV."

 

So it's buying a license. WMMP's calls will probably become WCIV.

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The Washington Post has an article about the sweeping changes Sinclair has done with WJLA:

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/under-new-ownership-wjla-tv-takes-a-slight-turn-to-the-right/2014/09/16/a21ffa6e-3ac8-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html

 

Opinion: Sounds like Sinclair is doing the opposite of what they should be doing, as someone pointed out in the article, having anti-government rants from Mark Hyman isn't going to win over viewers in a market in which a large amount are employed by said government. They really need to tone down the politically biased garbage or they're just going to end up making viewer switch over to WRC or even WUSA. You think that for a company obsessed with sales would realize the concept of targeting to your audience.

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As reported in the weekly TVNewsCheck station sale report: "HSH acknowledges that it is not buying the business of WCIV as a going concern. STG shall retain the right to the call letters "WCIV", certain FCC licenses, all programming, agreements with programmers, agreements with advertisers, employees, studio equipment, and studios and other offices used in the operation of WCIV."

 

So it's buying a license. WMMP's calls will probably become WCIV.

 

Essentially, Howard Stirk has offered to buy what amounts to a piece a paper for $50K. Lucky him.
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68.2? They couldn't have put them on .1 and then the MyNet feed on .2? And aren't they supposed to also air the feed on WDBB .2? Because there is a viewer who posted this comment:

"VERY DISSAPPOINTED! When does this change take place. I live in rural Jefferson County and the only channels I get are abc 33 and cw 17, now because of this change I will loose 33. I have rescanned and cannot pick up the new 68.2 channel. I am, to say the least, very frustrated!"

 

And wouldn't adding the feed on 17.2 abate their concerns?

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68.2? They couldn't have put them on .1 and then the MyNet feed on .2? And aren't they supposed to also air the feed on WDBB .2? Because there is a viewer who posted this comment:

"VERY DISSAPPOINTED! When does this change take place. I live in rural Jefferson County and the only channels I get are abc 33 and cw 17, now because of this change I will loose 33. I have rescanned and cannot pick up the new 68.2 channel. I am, to say the least, very frustrated!"

 

And wouldn't adding the feed on 17.2 abate their concerns?

 

I agree, why leave My Network TV on 68.1? Is 68.2 at least in HD?

 

Maybe they'll move around once 33/40 go dark.

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