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Sinclair and Tribune Part 2: The Redux


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The longer this thing draws out the more and more I actually am starting to hope it happens. We need a colossal shakeup the TV news world has never seen, could be like this generation's Fox-New World deal.

 

And who is to say the good things about Tribune won't be carried over into Sinclair, i.e. Tribune's graphics division.

 

Let's be real for a minute, does Tribune own number one stations? Absolutely not. With the most important Tribune stations safe from Sinclair in a side deal with FOX and others being absorbed into a Standard General trust company; you only have to worry about KTLA, WGN, and WPIX at this point and all three are so abhorrently left-winged and young, fresh, and hip they won't fit the Sinclair mold and will either be completely destroyed or sold off.

 

WGN America is an also-ran at this point. I can't remember the last time I watched it. So they want to blow it up and make it a right-winged news network. Okay. There's one legitimate right-winged news network right now against the left-winged CNN, MSNBC, HLN, ABC, NBC, and CBS. So what will be wrong with one more right-winged news network? I'm not conservative, I'm not right-leaning. In fact, in real life I identify as libertarian. Does it make it wrong that they want to have a right-winged conservative news network? No it's not wrong. It's America, anyone can do whatever they want here within the confides of the law. Under our very own Constitution, everyone has freedom of speech.

 

I'm so tired of everyone getting so butt hurt over things they can't control. People have forgotten that the very foundation, the very fabric on which this country is built on is differing opinions. We shouldn't be trying to stop Sinclair, because they have their right to do whatever they want to do. Do they bend the rules? Yes. Do they probably pay to get what they want? Yes. Are they too large of a company? Hell yes.

 

But it's their right to do so. Don't like it? DON'T WATCH. Does Sinclair own number one stations? They don't, AT ALL.

 

So a mediocre company like Tribune (with millions and millions of dollars in debt) is bait for a freakishly-large Sinclair who is equally as mediocre if not moreso, and could potentially fail if too large and incurring too much debt. I say go for it. It's their American right to try and fail, or try and succeed.

 

We can't ignore the fact that there are conservative, right-winged people in this country. Is Sinclair out there forcing it down people's throats with the must-runs and the Terrorism Alert Desk? Yes. But you have TONS of options for local news and information, you don't have to watch Sinclair stations. This isn't North Korea, you have OPTIONS.

 

Television is a hurting industry. TV stations and companies all across the country are consolidating, making cost-cutting moves, and doing whatever they can to find a niche in a world where we can get information five minutes ago on our phones. Sinclair has found a niche market to cater to that they believe they have a loyal audience in, so let them have their stations. Let them run their crap stations with their crap ratings and their crap ideals. Don't boycott Sinclair-Tribune, don't boycott Sinclair.

 

A country where everyone gets upset by a differing opinion, a country where people turn against each other, a country where people CHOOSE to boycott, protest, walk out, lay down, stand up, destroy things they don't agree with is a country destined to fail. End of story.

 

So I welcome the Sinclair-Tribune marriage, for all the naysayers that don't believe it should happen and are fighting against it happening, I say good luck to you but that's not how democracy works. Let the mediocre company with a crap-ton of debt be gobbled up by another mediocre company with a lot more debt. I predict once the deal is done, Sinclair Broadcast Group will file for bankruptcy within a year after purchase. Lest you forget, whoever buys Tribune also takes on all of Tribune's baggage.

 

AND PS: Lest you also forget, EVERYONE on this forum HATED Nexstar as much as Sinclair and was absolutely against the formation of Nexstar and Media General. You were all so afraid that Nexstar's ideals would destroy the former Media General and LIN Media stations. Now you all are up in arms by them, love how stations across the country are getting makeovers. Still looks like the same company to me, just has a better graphics division now.

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The longer this thing draws out the more and more I actually am starting to hope it happens. We need a colossal shakeup the TV news world has never seen, could be like this generation's Fox-New World deal.

 

And who is to say the good things about Tribune won't be carried over into Sinclair, i.e. Tribune's graphics division.

 

Let's be real for a minute, does Tribune own number one stations? Absolutely not. With the most important Tribune stations safe from Sinclair in a side deal with FOX and others being absorbed into a Standard General trust company; you only have to worry about KTLA, WGN, and WPIX at this point and all three are so abhorrently left-winged and young, fresh, and hip they won't fit the Sinclair mold and will either be completely destroyed or sold off.

 

WGN America is an also-ran at this point. I can't remember the last time I watched it. So they want to blow it up and make it a right-winged news network. Okay. There's one legitimate right-winged news network right now against the left-winged CNN, MSNBC, HLN, ABC, NBC, and CBS. So what will be wrong with one more right-winged news network? I'm not conservative, I'm not right-leaning. In fact, in real life I identify as libertarian. Does it make it wrong that they want to have a right-winged conservative news network? No it's not wrong. It's America, anyone can do whatever they want here within the confides of the law. Under our very own Constitution, everyone has freedom of speech.

 

I'm so tired of everyone getting so butt hurt over things they can't control. People have forgotten that the very foundation, the very fabric on which this country is built on is differing opinions. We shouldn't be trying to stop Sinclair, because they have their right to do whatever they want to do. Do they bend the rules? Yes. Do they probably pay to get what they want? Yes. Are they too large of a company? Hell yes.

 

But it's their right to do so. Don't like it? DON'T WATCH. Does Sinclair own number one stations? They don't, AT ALL.

 

So a mediocre company like Tribune (with millions and millions of dollars in debt) is bait for a freakishly-large Sinclair who is equally as mediocre if not moreso, and could potentially fail if too large and incurring too much debt. I say go for it. It's their American right to try and fail, or try and succeed.

 

We can't ignore the fact that there are conservative, right-winged people in this country. Is Sinclair out there forcing it down people's throats with the must-runs and the Terrorism Alert Desk? Yes. But you have TONS of options for local news and information, you don't have to watch Sinclair stations. This isn't North Korea, you have OPTIONS.

 

Television is a hurting industry. TV stations and companies all across the country are consolidating, making cost-cutting moves, and doing whatever they can to find a niche in a world where we can get information five minutes ago on our phones. Sinclair has found a niche market to cater to that they believe they have a loyal audience in, so let them have their stations. Let them run their crap stations with their crap ratings and their crap ideals. Don't boycott Sinclair-Tribune, don't boycott Sinclair.

 

A country where everyone gets upset by a differing opinion, a country where people turn against each other, a country where people CHOOSE to boycott, protest, walk out, lay down, stand up, destroy things they don't agree with is a country destined to fail. End of story.

 

So I welcome the Sinclair-Tribune marriage, for all the naysayers that don't believe it should happen and are fighting against it happening, I say good luck to you but that's not how democracy works. Let the mediocre company with a crap-ton of debt be gobbled up by another mediocre company with a lot more debt. I predict once the deal is done, Sinclair Broadcast Group will file for bankruptcy within a year after purchase. Lest you forget, whoever buys Tribune also takes on all of Tribune's baggage.

 

AND PS: Lest you also forget, EVERYONE on this forum HATED Nexstar as much as Sinclair and was absolutely against the formation of Nexstar and Media General. You were all so afraid that Nexstar's ideals would destroy the former Media General and LIN Media stations. Now you all are up in arms by them, love how stations across the country are getting makeovers. Still looks like the same company to me, just has a better graphics division now.

 

You do have some good points, mostly on the part of the big three rebelling and the bankruptcy. How do we know that this isn't the beginning of the end? I don't support it but this may be a good thing in disguise if for reasons that may be bad to someone else. Sinclair will take these stations, damage a few of them and then end up bankrupt and going down the drain and then we'll all be in the speculatron dividing 215 stations among existing companies and new ones. Anything could be possible after this thing happens. Look at Clear Channel and Cumulus. It took decades worth of buying stations but they eventually went into bankruptcy and the latter company bought a group that was the third largest owner of radio stations (kinda sounds like the radio version of a certain merger if you ask me), and tried to buy the CBS Radio stations. Let's not forget, on top of that, Sinclair almost had to file for bankruptcy at one point. Tribune DID file for bankruptcy before they got the Local TV stations. Sinclair is fighting hard to basically kill itself. Go on ahead and relax the rules, and watch these people fall like a house of cards.

 

Sinclair will last until, at the earliest, 2020-2030. That's my timetable.

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You do have some good points, mostly on the part of the big three rebelling and the bankruptcy. How do we know that this isn't the beginning of the end? I don't support it but this may be a good thing in disguise if for reasons that may be bad to someone else. Sinclair will take these stations, damage a few of them and then end up bankrupt and going down the drain and then we'll all be in the speculatron dividing 215 stations among existing companies and new ones. Anything could be possible after this thing happens. Look at Clear Channel and Cumulus. It took decades worth of buying stations but they eventually went into bankruptcy and the latter company bought a group that was the third largest owner of radio stations (kinda sounds like the radio version of a certain merger if you ask me), and tried to buy the CBS Radio stations. Let's not forget, on top of that, Sinclair almost had to file for bankruptcy at one point. Tribune DID file for bankruptcy before they got the Local TV stations. Sinclair is fighting hard to basically kill itself. Go on ahead and relax the rules, and watch these people fall like a house of cards.

 

Sinclair will last until, at the earliest, 2020-2030. That's my timetable.

 

Precisely my point. Don't try to stop what you don't control. It's not our position to boycott something that could eventually lead to the end of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Tribune is riddled with years of debt, lackluster station ratings, and mediocre corporate decisions. Misery loves company.

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Precisely my point. Don't try to stop what you don't control. It's not our position to boycott something that could eventually lead to the end of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Tribune is riddled with years of debt, lackluster station ratings, and mediocre corporate decisions. Misery loves company.

 

Mark my words. Whether this happens or not, and I still think that the DOJ and others may continue to order that more be sold off (and not just to sidecars), we will still be coming back here in a few years to discuss who will step up to take over ownership of all of those stations. It is inevitable.

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Mark my words. Whether this happens or not, and I still think that the DOJ and others may continue to order that more be sold off (and not just to sidecars), we will still be coming back here in a few years to discuss who will step up to take over ownership of all of those stations. It is inevitable.

 

Here's an analogy:

Sinclair Broadcast Group is the right-winged extreme television conglomerate to iHeartMedia the younger-skewing likely more left-leaning radio conglomerate.

 

You're never TOO BIG to fail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/media/iheartmedia-bankruptcy.html

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Here's an analogy:

Sinclair Broadcast Group is the right-winged extreme television conglomerate to iHeartMedia the younger-skewing likely more left-leaning radio conglomerate.

 

You're never TOO BIG to fail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/media/iheartmedia-bankruptcy.html

 

Calling it now: An investment firm will have to do just that to Sinclair but not before Fox gets even more NFC/AFC affiliates. iHeartMedia, under the Clear Channel name, had to sell off smaller stations first, so I imagine that if the same firm that takes iHeart over ends up with SBG, you may see them only focus on larger and mid sized cities.

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Here's an analogy:

Sinclair Broadcast Group is the right-winged extreme television conglomerate to iHeartMedia the younger-skewing likely more left-leaning radio conglomerate.

 

You're never TOO BIG to fail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/media/iheartmedia-bankruptcy.html

iHeart didn't fail. It got a nice haircut off its debt and will now be profitable. iHeart isn't left leaning, either. It has more conservative talk stations and syndicated hosts than any company.

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iHeart didn't fail. It got a nice haircut off its debt and will now be profitable. iHeart isn't left leaning, either. It has more conservative talk stations and syndicated hosts than any company.

 

I've seen some of their stations go left and some go right but they mostly go right. At least it's not mandatory, even if they are getting rid of local jocks left and right.

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Here's an analogy:

Sinclair Broadcast Group is the right-winged extreme television conglomerate to iHeartMedia the younger-skewing likely more left-leaning radio conglomerate.

 

You're never TOO BIG to fail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/media/iheartmedia-bankruptcy.html

A lot of iHeart’s legacy $20B debt dated back to the multiple buyouts that its preceding companies (Clear Channel, Jacor, AMFM) made between 1996 and 2000. Their 2008 leveraged buyout - at the same time as the failure of Bear Stearns, which triggered a global economic crisis - gave them a pair of concrete shoes.

 

Sinclair may hold debt, but 1) it’s nowhere near as bad as $20B and 2) the Smith family has a long way to go before handing the company to a hedge fund or private equity firm, if they ever do.

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The longer this thing draws out the more and more I actually am starting to hope it happens. We need a colossal shakeup the TV news world has never seen, could be like this generation's Fox-New World deal.

 

And who is to say the good things about Tribune won't be carried over into Sinclair, i.e. Tribune's graphics division.

 

Let's be real for a minute, does Tribune own number one stations? Absolutely not. With the most important Tribune stations safe from Sinclair in a side deal with FOX and others being absorbed into a Standard General trust company; you only have to worry about KTLA, WGN, and WPIX at this point and all three are so abhorrently left-winged and young, fresh, and hip they won't fit the Sinclair mold and will either be completely destroyed or sold off.

 

WGN America is an also-ran at this point. I can't remember the last time I watched it. So they want to blow it up and make it a right-winged news network. Okay. There's one legitimate right-winged news network right now against the left-winged CNN, MSNBC, HLN, ABC, NBC, and CBS. So what will be wrong with one more right-winged news network? I'm not conservative, I'm not right-leaning. In fact, in real life I identify as libertarian. Does it make it wrong that they want to have a right-winged conservative news network? No it's not wrong. It's America, anyone can do whatever they want here within the confides of the law. Under our very own Constitution, everyone has freedom of speech.

 

I'm so tired of everyone getting so butt hurt over things they can't control. People have forgotten that the very foundation, the very fabric on which this country is built on is differing opinions. We shouldn't be trying to stop Sinclair, because they have their right to do whatever they want to do. Do they bend the rules? Yes. Do they probably pay to get what they want? Yes. Are they too large of a company? Hell yes.

 

But it's their right to do so. Don't like it? DON'T WATCH. Does Sinclair own number one stations? They don't, AT ALL.

 

So a mediocre company like Tribune (with millions and millions of dollars in debt) is bait for a freakishly-large Sinclair who is equally as mediocre if not moreso, and could potentially fail if too large and incurring too much debt. I say go for it. It's their American right to try and fail, or try and succeed.

 

We can't ignore the fact that there are conservative, right-winged people in this country. Is Sinclair out there forcing it down people's throats with the must-runs and the Terrorism Alert Desk? Yes. But you have TONS of options for local news and information, you don't have to watch Sinclair stations. This isn't North Korea, you have OPTIONS.

 

Television is a hurting industry. TV stations and companies all across the country are consolidating, making cost-cutting moves, and doing whatever they can to find a niche in a world where we can get information five minutes ago on our phones. Sinclair has found a niche market to cater to that they believe they have a loyal audience in, so let them have their stations. Let them run their crap stations with their crap ratings and their crap ideals. Don't boycott Sinclair-Tribune, don't boycott Sinclair.

 

A country where everyone gets upset by a differing opinion, a country where people turn against each other, a country where people CHOOSE to boycott, protest, walk out, lay down, stand up, destroy things they don't agree with is a country destined to fail. End of story.

 

So I welcome the Sinclair-Tribune marriage, for all the naysayers that don't believe it should happen and are fighting against it happening, I say good luck to you but that's not how democracy works. Let the mediocre company with a crap-ton of debt be gobbled up by another mediocre company with a lot more debt. I predict once the deal is done, Sinclair Broadcast Group will file for bankruptcy within a year after purchase. Lest you forget, whoever buys Tribune also takes on all of Tribune's baggage.

 

AND PS: Lest you also forget, EVERYONE on this forum HATED Nexstar as much as Sinclair and was absolutely against the formation of Nexstar and Media General. You were all so afraid that Nexstar's ideals would destroy the former Media General and LIN Media stations. Now you all are up in arms by them, love how stations across the country are getting makeovers. Still looks like the same company to me, just has a better graphics division now.

 

Regarding the bolded, yes, both companies own stations that are #1 in their respective markets. WNEP, KFSM, WHAM, KUTV, WJW, KVII, WREG, KFDM, WTVC, WKRC, KATV, WJAR, WCYB just to name several.

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Regarding the bolded, yes, both companies own stations that are #1 in their respective markets. WNEP, KFSM, WHAM, KUTV, WJW, KVII, WREG, KFDM, WTVC, WKRC, KATV, WJAR, WCYB just to name several.

 

And WTOV9 in the Steubenville-Wheeling market is #1 as well. There's basically no competition with WTRF. It's been that way for years.

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Regarding the bolded, yes, both companies own stations that are #1 in their respective markets. WNEP, KFSM, WHAM, KUTV, WJW, KVII, WREG, KFDM, WTVC, WKRC, KATV, WJAR, WCYB just to name several.

WGN is also highly competitive - if not a clear leader - in many dayparts, especially in the mornings and at 9pm.

 

It’s WPIX that has legit ratings issues, but the competition in the NYC market is much rougher and tougher. Not like that’s anything new.

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And who is to say the good things about Tribune won't be carried over into Sinclair, i.e. Tribune's graphics division.

 

Or, as I said in another thread (I think), their websites. (Update: Nope, it was earlier in this thread.)

 

WGN America is an also-ran at this point. I can't remember the last time I watched it. So they want to blow it up and make it a right-winged news network. Okay. There's one legitimate right-winged news network right now against the left-winged CNN, MSNBC, HLN, ABC, NBC, and CBS. So what will be wrong with one more right-winged news network?

 

That would be some interesting competition for Fox News.

 

We can't ignore the fact that there are conservative, right-winged people in this country.

 

I agree that there are conservative people in this country, but I believe that a majority of them are center-right rather than right-wing].

 

Is Sinclair out there forcing it down people's throats with the must-runs and the Terrorism Alert Desk? Yes. But you have TONS of options for local news and information, you don't have to watch Sinclair stations. This isn't North Korea, you have OPTIONS.

 

Television is a hurting industry. TV stations and companies all across the country are consolidating, making cost-cutting moves, and doing whatever they can to find a niche in a world where we can get information five minutes ago on our phones. Sinclair has found a niche market to cater to that they believe they have a loyal audience in, so let them have their stations. Let them run their crap stations with their crap ratings and their crap ideals. Don't boycott Sinclair-Tribune, don't boycott Sinclair.

 

I think part of the problem may be that people can have sentimental attachments to stations. I myself have such an attachment to WGN as I used to watch it a lot when I was a kid, though we moved away in 1984. If Tribune still owned WLVI in Boston, I'd have much stronger feelings about Sinclair acquiring it.

 

AND PS: Lest you also forget, EVERYONE on this forum HATED Nexstar as much as Sinclair and was absolutely against the formation of Nexstar and Media General. You were all so afraid that Nexstar's ideals would destroy the former Media General and LIN Media stations. Now you all are up in arms by them, love how stations across the country are getting makeovers. Still looks like the same company to me, just has a better graphics division now.

 

To be fair, no one here expected the former LIN management team to be a good influence on Nexstar after they moved over.[/url]

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I think part of the problem may be that people can have sentimental attachments to stations. I myself have such an attachment to WGN as I used to watch it a lot when I was a kid, though we moved away in 1984. If Tribune still owned WLVI in Boston, I'd have much stronger feelings about Sinclair acquiring it.

 

This is pretty much what drove my rant on this thread a few posts ago. I have many memories watching WGN9 and the Superstation as a kid, although the latter isn’t on my radar anymore (except on Thanksgiving morning). Seeing Sinclair shit all over a legacy station with its content is something that makes me angry.

 

I’m sure some New Yorkers and Los Angelenos feel that same way about WPIX and KTLA, respectively.

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It’s an entity controlled by the Standard General hedge fund. Said hedge fund previously invested into Young Broadcasting post-bankruptcy, that ownership stake passed over to Media General until the Nexstar merger. They will have no connection to Sinclair at all.

 

As for KAUT, it makes me curious if their IP will move to another station so Stirk can run it like most of their other stations.

The IP may not go anywhere. Sinclair would be running KAUT under a JSA/SSA, so there may not be a reason for KAUT's programming to be transferred to a KFOR or KOCB subchannel. Of HSH's seven stations, two – WEYI (NBC) and WWMB (The CW), both of which are managed by Sinclair under such agreements with Stirk – operate as major network affiliates, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that KAUT's programming will remain on 43.1 after the transfer is complete. The change that could occur for that station would be with regards to the morning and 9:00 p.m. newscasts that KFOR produces for KAUT; since Sinclair appears to be acquiring KFOR, those newscasts could be shifted from KAUT to KOCB at some point.

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This is pretty much what drove my rant on this thread a few posts ago. I have many memories watching WGN9 and the Superstation as a kid, although the latter isn’t on my radar anymore (except on Thanksgiving morning). Seeing Sinclair shit all over a legacy station with its content is something that makes me angry.

 

When we moved here in '84, WGN (in Superstation form) was on the cable system here, but it was removed a few months later to make room for VH-1. WGN America showed up here a few years ago, so we technically have it back...but it's not in HD, so I have no desire to watch it. :D

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Just happy that Fox17 wasn't sidecar to a Sinclair shell Standard Media should just be called the New Media General I don't like the name Standard for a TV group or at least come up with a better name. DOJ will finally approve the deal which could have been done sooner if Sinclair didn't drag it's feet.

 

I was going to wonder how they were going to run news ops with studios in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo... and I'm sure job layoffs would've been guaranteed

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Sinclair to have 58% reach when you discount the UHF discount http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/113074

This article, unlike the one TVNC published when the story broke, missed a few of the Tribune stations that Sinclair/Tribune would give up to the unnamed buyer(s). The lion's share of the Tribune Fox affiliates have been earmarked for sale, the majority of them likely going to Fox.

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The IP may not go anywhere. Sinclair would be running KAUT under a JSA/SSA, so there may not be a reason for KAUT's programming to be transferred to a KFOR or KOCB subchannel. Of HSH's seven stations, two – WEYI (NBC) and WWMB (The CW), both of which are managed by Sinclair under such agreements with Stirk – operate as major network affiliates, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that KAUT's programming will remain on 43.1 after the transfer is complete. The change that could occur for that station would be with regards to the morning and 9:00 p.m. newscasts that KFOR produces for KAUT; since Sinclair appears to be acquiring KFOR, those newscasts could be shifted from KAUT to KOCB at some point.

I think you were the one who called for Sinclair having a triopoly in OKC awhile back, except you had KOKH being part of it and not KFOR

 

But at least you did get the KOCB/KAUT part right

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WGN is also highly competitive - if not a clear leader - in many dayparts, especially in the mornings and at 9pm.

 

It’s WPIX that has legit ratings issues, but the competition in the NYC market is much rougher and tougher. Not like that’s anything new.

 

Most likely, if Sinclair does to WPIX News what it has done to for, example, WJAR, then they might as well give up now. I found WPIX to a more news oriented station than the fluff and puff of Fox5 News. That will end.

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If this deal goes through and WJW is back to being a Fox O&O, it will be the second time that a network has run a Cleveland station on two different occasions. This time however, WJW's re-O&O-ing is voluntary, unlike a certain "3" on Lakeside Avenue.

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Goodbye Colorado's Own CW2 (KWGN). Hello must-runs favoring Donald Trump.

 

Moreover, it looks like splits-ville for CW2 and FOX31 (KDVR). Both KDVR and KWGN will go their separate ways, by the look of it

Wouldn't be surprised if KWGN enters into a JSA/SSA and news-producing agreement with KDVR. Saves Sinclair the trouble of having to build out a brand-new station and news department.

 

Even a news-producing agreement would prevent the must-runs from being on KWGN's news... they'd still have to run A Waste of 30 Minutes with Armstrong Williams and whatever Sharyl Attkinson's show is titled, but highly unlikely you'd see Boris Epysteyn or KDVR's anchors doing the "dangerous to our democracy" robotic script.

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