TexasTVNews 1366 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 It didn't take long for FTVLive and TVspy to post the rumors. http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/pete-bouchard-maria-stephanos-nbc-and-rumors-at-bostons-whdh/160543 http://www.ftvlive.com/todays-news/2015/12/16/beantown-weatherman-quits-but-might-not-be-going-far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrschimpf 2050 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I found an affiliation agreements list in WHDH's online public inspection file that says WHDH's affiliation expires on January 1, 2017, so unless they terminate the agreement early, NBC is stuck with WHDH for another year. And like they did with WSVN in 1988, they aren't giving up before then because of the Summer Olympics, though I'd expect their "O-Zone" contribs to NBC (along with news-sharing on the NBC wire in general) to be the bare minimum possible under their agreement. Why would CBS sell WBZ? One half of a duopoly in the seventh-largest market, gets to broadcast lots of Patriots games... Bob Kraft would go ballistic if 'BZ was sold; CBS Scene as part of Patriot Place and all the money Moonves has put into into his coffers with the TV side along with the Radio Network for 'BZ-FM? Not happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2876 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Ansin had all the leverage in the world. Because Group W made a groupwide affiliation pact with CBS (prior to merging with CBS itself) NBC had nowhere else to go after being bounced off of WBZ. WCVB was committed to ABC, WLVI was committed to The WB, WSBK was committed to UPN and Fox owned WFXT. Going to WHDH, in spite of the bad blood between Ed Ansin and NBC, was the path of least resistance for NBC. Exactly. Affiliates had huge leverage in the immediate aftermath of 1994. Networks got desperate for stations, and when they ended up on clunkers, they really felt it. NBC wanted to avoid that situation, and it did. Now, networks hold all the leverage and make affiliates pay for the privilege. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Former Member 207 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Bob Kraft would go ballistic if 'BZ was sold; CBS Scene as part of Patriot Place and all the money Moonves has put into into his coffers with the TV side along with the Radio Network for 'BZ-FM? Not happening. Right...WBZ going back to NBC is such a non-starter it's so bizarre that such a scenario would occur. For NBC, it's either WHDH, WNEU or bust. I think I brought this up before when WHDH threatened to drop NBC during the Jay Leno-Late Night fiasco...but would it be possible for WMUR to affiliate with NBC, or is it a non-starter too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
News 9 Viewer 100 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 A few important points: WHDH most likely did not sign a 23 year affiliation agreement with NBC. Even given that NBC had nowhere else to go in 1994, affiliation contracts are multi year, not quarter century. Someone obviously didn't want to go to the trouble of going to legal to obtain past affiliation agreements and read through all the legalese contained in those agreements to find out how long each affiliation agreement between WHDH and NBC lasted. Also, I doubt NBC wants to turn a Telemundo station into a brand new NBC affiliate with newscasts produced by a local cable news channel, which would require a significant investment of time and money to build it into something that can be competitive against the other major network affiliates in the market. This is an absolute last resort, a contingency plan if they are unable to force Ansin to sell WHDH to them. I think the safest bet is that by the summer of next year, WHDH is an NBC O&O (possibly with Maria Stephanos and Pete Bouchard as two of the faces of the station), WNEU is still Boston's Telemundo affiliate, and WLVI ceases to exist, sold by Ansin in the FCC spectrum auction for a nice return on his original investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effseesee 101 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 A few important points: WHDH most likely did not sign a 23 year affiliation agreement with NBC. Even given that NBC had nowhere else to go in 1994, affiliation contracts are multi year, not quarter century. Someone obviously didn't want to go to the trouble of going to legal to obtain past affiliation agreements and read through all the legalese contained in those agreements to find out how long each affiliation agreement between WHDH and NBC lasted. Also, I doubt NBC wants to turn a Telemundo station into a brand new NBC affiliate with newscasts produced by a local cable news channel, which would require a significant investment of time and money to build it into something that can be competitive against the other major network affiliates in the market. This is an absolute last resort, a contingency plan if they are unable to force Ansin to sell WHDH to them. I think the safest bet is that by the summer of next year, WHDH is an NBC O&O (possibly with Maria Stephanos and Pete Bouchard as two of the faces of the station), WNEU is still Boston's Telemundo affiliate, and WLVI ceases to exist, sold by Ansin in the FCC spectrum auction for a nice return on his original investment. It would cost Comcast far less to upgrade WNEU for NBC, than to buy WHDH. NBC buying WHDH is not going to happen. That ship sailed awhile ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 A few important points: WHDH most likely did not sign a 23 year affiliation agreement with NBC. Even given that NBC had nowhere else to go in 1994, affiliation contracts are multi year, not quarter century. Someone obviously didn't want to go to the trouble of going to legal to obtain past affiliation agreements and read through all the legalese contained in those agreements to find out how long each affiliation agreement between WHDH and NBC lasted. Also, I doubt NBC wants to turn a Telemundo station into a brand new NBC affiliate with newscasts produced by a local cable news channel, which would require a significant investment of time and money to build it into something that can be competitive against the other major network affiliates in the market. This is an absolute last resort, a contingency plan if they are unable to force Ansin to sell WHDH to them. I think the safest bet is that by the summer of next year, WHDH is an NBC O&O (possibly with Maria Stephanos and Pete Bouchard as two of the faces of the station), WNEU is still Boston's Telemundo affiliate, and WLVI ceases to exist, sold by Ansin in the FCC spectrum auction for a nice return on his original investment. What does Ansin do with WSVN then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Worst Case Scenario... What would have happened if Ansin sells WSVN to FOX? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eat News 4738 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 What does Ansin do with WSVN then? He sells it to Google. Moves to San Francisco to cure his rickets and buys KRON with Summer Redstone and Hugh Heffner. Rupert Murdoch will join them and they will all form a Boy Band....and tour with Journey and Huey Lewis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRolyPoly 1843 Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 What does Ansin do with WSVN then? He needs to do his research as to which company will keep WSVN as the way it is first before he can finally decided as to which company to sell the station to. If anything, I would love to see a small company like Heartland Media buy WSVN and not the big ones like Gray or Sinclair or Raycom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
News 9 Viewer 100 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 NBC buying WHDH is not going to happen. I'll tell you what's not going to happen. NBC turning a Telemundo station into a brand new NBC affiliate. Not unless they absolutely have to. What does Ansin do with WSVN then? Unless someone else offers to buy it, why wouldn't he keep it? Going from owning three stations in two markets to owning just one again wouldn't be that much of a stretch. And his whole career as a broadcaster and a businessman has been more or less dedicated to WSVN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianpr3 173 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 i wonder would he sell it directly to fox or does it not cope with their NFC strategy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eat News 4738 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 He needs to do his research as to which company will keep WSVN as the way it is first before he can finally decided as to which company to sell the station to. If anything, I would love to see a small company like Heartland Media buy WSVN and not the big ones like Gray or Sinclair or Raycom. Tupperware could buy them. Good fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1552 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I'd rather bet that NBC would buy WLVI 56 when the WHDH contract with NBC runs out. This would mean that WHDH will be The CW affiliate, just like WISH since January. I'd think that NECN newscasts will be simulcasted on that station. Why are we assuming NBC would want such a high PSIP? Considering that RCN, Comcast and Verizon FiOS cover Boston, putting NBC on such a high PSIP would in-effect extremely limit viewership except for Comcast customers. Right...WBZ going back to NBC is such a non-starter it's so bizarre that such a scenario would occur. For NBC, it's either WHDH, WNEU or bust. I think I brought this up before when WHDH threatened to drop NBC during the Jay Leno-Late Night fiasco...but would it be possible for WMUR to affiliate with NBC, or is it a non-starter too? If we are talking fantasies, WBZ is bought by NBC and so is KCNC to form a Denver Duop. Non-starter. WMUR is locked into ABC. He needs to do his research as to which company will keep WSVN as the way it is first before he can finally decided as to which company to sell the station to. If anything, I would love to see a small company like Heartland Media buy WSVN and not the big ones like Gray or Sinclair or Raycom. Once again. Tegna. NBC has a great relationship with Tegna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRolyPoly 1843 Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Once again. Tegna. NBC has a great relationship with Tegna. And convert WSVN back to NBC? I don't think so. For sure that's not happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effseesee 101 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I'll tell you what's not going to happen. NBC turning a Telemundo station into a brand new NBC affiliate. Not unless they absolutely have to. I'd take that bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 802 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Asnin is in his late 70s, who takes over when he dies? I read an article and Asnin said he would not sell and if & when he dies it goes to his children. Basically keep it in the family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1552 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 And convert WSVN back to NBC? I don't think so. For sure that's not happening. No. Asnin selling WHDH off to Tegna and keeping WSVN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3442 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 If it happened in Charlotte between WJZY and WCCB....it could most certainly happen in Boston between WHDH and WNEU. Given the bad blood between Ansin and NBC, this has been a long time coming. Remember that WBZ was not yet owned by CBS since the Westinghouse merger happened AFTER they aligned all of their stations with CBS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Wouldn't NBC have to trade something to CBS to get their hands on WBZ? Because that could very well put WRC into play, and I don't know how willing NBC would be to give that up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp 294 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I once heard a story that Ansin learned WSVN would lose NBC when a news editor came into his office with wire-service copy announcing the sale of Channel 6 Miami to NBC. The editor supposedly told Ansin "Well, this confirms what you already heard". Turns out Ansin wasn't supposedly given any warning and he only learned his station would lose NBC when he read the wire-service copy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 727 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Wouldn't NBC have to trade something to CBS to get their hands on WBZ? Because that could very well put WRC into play, and I don't know how willing NBC would be to give that up! I doubt WRC would be in play. Of the current NBC O&Os, WVIT would be the first to go, and then WTVJ. I think a lot of this is speculation and nothing more at this point. Perhaps NBC is trying to scare Asnin into selling, but may ultimately do nothing. Since everyone else is throwing out their wild speculations, here's my out there scenario: ABC jumps in and buys WHDH and WSVN (and makes them both ABC7's); NBC trades WVIT (Hartford) to Hearst for WCVB (Boston); Cox buys WLVI; WSBK acquires the CW programming, and WLVI gets MNTV. WPLG in Miami becomes Fox 10, owned by BH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5269 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Since everyone else is throwing out their wild speculations, here's my out there scenario: ABC jumps in and buys WHDH and WSVN (and makes them both ABC7's); NBC trades WVIT (Hartford) to Hearst for WCVB (Boston); Cox buys WLVI; WSBK acquires the CW programming, and WLVI gets MNTV. WPLG in Miami becomes Fox 10, owned by BH. Sure. Why the hell not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I found an affiliation agreements list in WHDH's online public inspection file that says WHDH's affiliation expires on January 1, 2017, so unless they terminate the agreement early, NBC is stuck with WHDH for another year. I'm very curious to see the affiliation agreements for my market but can't find them on the FCC's site. How exactly did you come across that? Also, perhaps an stupid question, but people keep talking about signal reach being a problem. Couldn't NBC (assuming they bought some station in Boston that had poorer signal strength than WHDH) just upgrade the existing transmitter or build a new, more powerful one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1805 Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 What if NBC bought WHDH, but just as they signed the paperwork, aliens descended on the WHDH studios and vaporized them?? Hey... There's just as much of a chance that will happen as some of the other wild speculation in here. Anyways... Like has been said, NBC isn't going to build a brand new station if they don't absolutely have to. I have a feeling a lot of this "insider information" is coming out of NBC and is just them trying to scare Sunbeam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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