IndyNewsGuy 13 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 BREAKING: CW Moving to WISH-TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 BREAKING NEWS!!!! WISH-TV announced tonight that it will carry the CW affiliation, effective January 1st. It won't be on Tribune's WTTV 4.2 as originally planned. Wait, What? Nothing like waiting until the last minute. The folks at Tribune have to be a little ticked-off. They were strung along all summer making plans and got the rug pulled out. Granted they still came out with the better end of the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glimmer 238 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Wait, What? Nothing like waiting until the last minute. The folks at Tribune have to be a little ticked-off. They were strung along all summer making plans and got the rug pulled out. Granted they still came out with the better end of the deal. I heavily doubt this was done without Tribune's blessing or outright plodding. The CW doing well continues to give Tribune leverage in whatever disputes Liguori has with network management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfuego35 89 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Wait, What? Nothing like waiting until the last minute. The folks at Tribune have to be a little ticked-off. They were strung along all summer making plans and got the rug pulled out. Granted they still came out with the better end of the deal. Considering that Tribune sold the CW affilation to WISH-TV, I don't think they to unhappy. That may explain why the leaked schedule for WISH-TV had essentially filler programming for Primetime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOneManHerd 553 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Wait, What? Nothing like waiting until the last minute. The folks at Tribune have to be a little ticked-off. They were strung along all summer making plans and got the rug pulled out. Granted they still came out with the better end of the deal. I wouldn't call it "getting the rug pulled out" when Tribune actually sold WISH the affiliation. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/tribune-sells-indianapolis-cw-affiliation-media-general/136613?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Considering that Tribune sold the CW affilation to WISH-TV, I don't think they to unhappy. That may explain why the leaked schedule was so lacking Well ignore my post above. I saw this right after posting. Man, MG/Lin must have been feeling really desperate and made a ridiculous offer Tribune couldnt refuse. I don't see any reason they would have given up a "instant triopoly" otherwise. In fact, I'd almost question the judgment of doing that regardless of the money. And, if the money was so outlandish that it couldn't be turned down then I highly question the judgment of the new MG leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glimmer 238 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Well ignore my post above. I saw this right after posting. Man MG/Lin must have been desperate and made a ridiculous offer Tribune couldnt refuse. I think it's more The CW not wanting to be on a subchannel in a major market (even in a time when channel position doesn't reall matter) and Tribune caving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Wait, What? Nothing like waiting until the last minute. The folks at Tribune have to be a little ticked-off. They were strung along all summer making plans and got the rug pulled out. Granted they still came out with the better end of the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfuego35 89 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I think it's more The CW not wanting to be on a subchannel in a major market (even in a time when channel position doesn't reall matter) and Tribune caving. Tribune's press release stated that the local cable providers do not carry sub-channels in the Indianapolis market, and they were concerned about audence loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I think it's more The CW not wanting to be on a subchannel in a major market (even in a time when channel position doesn't reall matter) and Tribune caving. But, really if they were so averse to being on a subchannel they could have just moved to WISH earlier. Tribune/The CW's agreement likely needed to be amended to reflect the move from "primary" to "subchannel." So, why not move to WISH then? And, if said agreement was originally written to be agnostic as to "primary" or "subchannel" I just can't see The CW caring enough to broker a deal. Especially, a week before the switch. If they are getting their "reverse comp" money why would they care? I think this really speaks more to how desperate MG felt. Which is really sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Tribune's press release stated that the local cable providers do not carry sub-channels in the Indianapolis market, and they were concerned about audence loss. Uverse and satellite providers usually don't carry subchannels unless they're small market Big 4 affiliates, but even then those negotiations take a while to.sort out. I don't blame Tribune for not wanting to deal with that. But this all must've happened real quickly considering Tribune already had a schedule lined up for 4.2. Wonder what happens to that channel now and all the syndicatd programs that were going to be on there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glimmer 238 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Uverse and satellite providers usually don't carry subchannels unless they're small market Big 4 affiliates, but even then those negotiations take a while to.sort out. I don't blame Tribune for not wanting to deal with that. But this all must've happened real quickly considering Tribune already had a schedule lined up for 4.2. Wonder what happens to that channel now and all the syndicatd programs that were going to be on there? Almost all of the programs on 4.2 are already carried by the station; I bet they just use movies or borrow from WXIN's schedule to fill the 3 hours a day now empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Tribune's press release stated that the local cable providers do not carry sub-channels in the Indianapolis market, and they were concerned about audence loss. Meh. That's "Forward Looking Statement" BS. They have to say that because technically there is no guarantee until they have an agreement. But, seriously they have enough leverage. At best they threw that in there to "sell" the deal to their shareholders a little bit. Because, if I was a Tribune Media shareholder I be saying "WTF" right now. Likewise, if I was a Media General shareholder I'd be saying "WTF" as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyNewsGuy 13 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Update: Unlike when the loss the CBS Affiliation in August, the news of The CW moving to WISH was announced immediately on all station platforms, including the late news (end of A-block). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3444 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Tribune finally saw the writing on the wall with trying to handle THREE network affiliations on TWO channels. Putting it on WTTV.2 would have been a technical disaster if it was in 1080i. And trying to negotiate prime real estate with Crapcast (and the other providers who HATE subchannels; like DirecTV and Dish) is what likely prompted this late development. At least WISH will now have two less hours to fill at night, and will be affiliated with a network which they can promote throughout the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 727 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 But, really if they were so averse to being on a subchannel they could have just moved to WISH earlier. Tribune/The CW's agreement likely needed to be amended to reflect the move from "primary" to "subchannel." So, why not move to WISH then? And, if said agreement was originally written to be agnostic as to "primary" or "subchannel" I just can't see The CW caring enough to broker a deal. Especially, a week before the switch. If they are getting their "reverse comp" money why would they care? I think this really speaks more to how desperate MG felt. Which is really sad. Might the timing had to do with the fact that the MG/Lin deal was just approved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp 295 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Good deal for the cw and wish-tv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1675 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Well ignore my post above. I saw this right after posting. Man, MG/Lin must have been feeling really desperate and made a ridiculous offer Tribune couldnt refuse. I don't see any reason they would have given up a "instant triopoly" otherwise. In fact, I'd almost question the judgment of doing that regardless of the money. And, if the money was so outlandish that it couldn't be turned down then I highly question the judgment of the new MG leadership. I believe this offer must have been made within the past 10 days. Their public file posted an update on 12/12/14 to their contracts that stated the CW affiliation agreement expires in 2016. I don't think I ever read of a time where a television station bought out another affiliates affiliation agreement. Come to think of it I don't recall seeing anything regarding the transfer of affiliate agreements in their contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon 37 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 There's probably a little bit of a collective sigh of relief from the WISH crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadcowatbk 144 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I think it's more The CW not wanting to be on a subchannel in a major market (even in a time when channel position doesn't reall matter) and Tribune caving. CW is on subchannels in smaller markets, MNTV has returned to St. Louis on a subchannel of KMOV and Sinclair moved MNTV to a subchannel in Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadcowatbk 144 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Tribune's press release stated that the local cable providers do not carry sub-channels in the Indianapolis market, and they were concerned about audence loss. what's on the subchannels in Indy? the dishes don't carry subchannels if it's a Big4 or CW or MNTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Oh, one more note; There'll will be a new CBS4 website; it's not active yet but it will be launching hopefully next week (http://www.cbs4indy.com). WTTV also has a new twitter account but it's protected, for now (https://twitter.com/cbs4indy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadcowatbk 144 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Tribune finally saw the writing on the wall with trying to handle THREE network affiliations on TWO channels. Putting it on WTTV.2 would have been a technical disaster if it was in 1080i. And trying to negotiate prime real estate with Crapcast (and the other providers who HATE subchannels; like DirecTV and Dish) is what likely prompted this late development. At least WISH will now have two less hours to fill at night, and will be affiliated with a network which they can promote throughout the day. but CW's young audience doesn't watch TV news, they don't even watch TV in the traditional way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbleship 427 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 This feels like the 2010s version of when KIRO spent a couple of years with UPN after KSTW wrangled the CBS affiliation from them when KTVT switched. Something with WTTV as CBS feels...off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Might the timing had to do with the fact that the MG/Lin deal was just approved? Maybe. If anything I'm sure it made things easier. I believe this offer must have been made within the past 10 days. Their public file posted an update on 12/12/14 to their contracts that stated the CW affiliation agreement expires in 2016. I don't think I ever read of a time where a television station bought out another affiliates affiliation agreement. Come to think of it I don't recall seeing anything regarding the transfer of affiliate agreements in their contracts. Their agreement w/ The CW was always due to expire in 2016. That hasn't changed...or, didn't change. But, yes I agree this deal likely came about very recently. Both parties had a plan moving forward. And, both were carrying out those plans. To do a 180 at this stage tells me this came about recently. Tribune finally saw the writing on the wall with trying to handle THREE network affiliations on TWO channels. Putting it on WTTV.2 would have been a technical disaster if it was in 1080i. And trying to negotiate prime real estate with Crapcast (and the other providers who HATE subchannels; like DirecTV and Dish) is what likely prompted this late development. At least WISH will now have two less hours to fill at night, and will be affiliated with a network which they can promote throughout the day. I can damn near guarantee this wasn't Tribune's idea. This was MG/Sandusky going hat in hand with a bag of money begging Tribune to help them out at the last minute. The subchannel thing is waayy overblown and had nothing (or, very, very little) to do with the decision. They would have found there way onto cable/sat systems. Maybe, in some instances it wouldn't have been immediate but, it would have happened. Exempting Dish and U-Verse from the discussion for the moment. I can list plenty of instances of DirecTV picking up a .2 affiliated big 4, CW or MNT stations. Ditto for Comcast & to a lesser extent Bright House. Both already carry Antenna TV (59.2) and Comcast has This TV (59.3) as well. Dish operates in there own little world. And, the expense for U-Verse on equipment causes them to balk. But, if it was that big of an issue they could have forced their way onto the systems (granted doing so would likely involve leaving money on the table.) And, if they didn't know how the fine folks at Tribune Media could call me and I'll explain it to them. I also wouldn't be shocked if Tribune rearranging all the subchannels (ie: moving This TV to WXIN and setting up an interm dual HD simulcast on WTTV/WTTK) in advance was done to assist the Cable and Satellite companies. Such a move gives those companies time to get their house in order providing a smooth transition for those viewers. The dual HD thing is overblown as well. Encoders have improved greatly resulting in better compression thereby increasing efficiency. And, variable bit rates help as well. Would there be some slight degradation versus the current stream? Yeah, maybe a little. Would 9 out of 10 average viewers notice that slight difference? Not likely. The fact of the matter is everyone was fine with the current plan (ie: CW on a subchannel, dual HD, etc.) until very recently. They were perfectly content carrying out that plan until MG showed up with what I can only guess was a nice some of money. I really hope for Tribune's sake it was a nice sum as they essentially sold off the "third station" in a potential "triopoly." And, I am still amazed someone PAID money for a CW affiliation and one that lasts only 20 more months at that. I mean think about for a second. I think that right there tells you MG was feeling desperate (for whatever reason) and made a last ditch effort. I guess the thought of running the equivalent of a two independent station duopoly in Indy was too much to swallow. Personally at this time I still question the wisdom and judgement of this deal on both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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