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Gray/Raycom Merger Thread


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Dish Network would have a problem since they always have a problem with every broadcaster. They're all about that $$$.

And it's that type of behavior that's causing cable companies like Dish Network to lose subscribers. If they'd stop complaining about how mergers will drive up retransmission consent fees and focus on customer service they'd be a lot better off

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A digital producer I'm friends with on LinkedIn told me that WLOX (and the new Raycom sites) are run on the ARC Publishing Platform, a CMS originally built for The Washington Post. Whether all Raycom sites and the Gray sites follow through with this, we'll see.

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KYOU & WUPV have filed a non-consummation of it's original application to Raycom. But nothing to worry.

 

American Spirit has re-filed its apps to assign these stations to Gray (why they didn't do this the first time around?).

 

From their transaction description:

Gray has pending with the Commission, several applications that seek the Commission’s consent to its proposed merger with Raycom Media, Inc. (“Raycom”). As part of the merger between Raycom and Gray, Raycom planned to acquire the licenses of WUPV(DT) and KYOUTV and then assign or transfer those licenses to Gray at the closing of the merger. Accordingly, American Spirit filed applications to assign the licenses of WUPV(DT) and KYOU-TV to Raycom, and on September 14, 2018, the Commission granted the assignment of licenses. American Spirit and Raycom have agreed not to consummate those transactions. Instead, Raycom has agreed to assign and Gray has agreed to assume the purchase agreements between American Spirit and Raycom.

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The NCTA has an issue with Gray retaining both KHNL and KGMB, as well as the SSA with KFVE. They believe that the combination will spike retrans fees, but I don't understand how that is any different under Gray than it was under Raycom. Also, if they have an issue with the situation in Hawai'i, I don't know why they didn't also have an issue with the situation in Wichita Falls (Gray acquiring KSWO and the SSA with KAUZ, effectively a duop between the #1 and #3 stations).

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The NCTA has an issue with Gray retaining both KHNL and KGMB, as well as the SSA with KFVE. They believe that the combination will spike retrans fees, but I don't understand how that is any different under Gray than it was under Raycom. Also, if they have an issue with the situation in Hawai'i, I don't know why they didn't also have an issue with the situation in Wichita Falls (Gray acquiring KSWO and the SSA with KAUZ, effectively a duop between the #1 and #3 stations).

Don't you think that these cable companies already make enough money to afford the ever-increasingly expensive retransmission consent fees? You would think that companies like ACA and Dish Network would stop fighting every single merger

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  • 4 weeks later...
Any word on when this will close?

 

Most likely sometime in November or December. There is nothing to suggest it has been delayed.

 

I also read on a job ad (I saw it on TV Jobs, but not sure about anywhere else?) that WSWG is moving over to WSST beginning December 1; if the deal is not closed then, Marquee may run it as an LMA until the deal closes, perhaps?

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Most likely sometime in November or December. There is nothing to suggest it has been delayed.

 

I also read on a job ad (I saw it on TV Jobs, but not sure about anywhere else?) that WSWG is moving over to WSST beginning December 1; if the deal is not closed then, Marquee may run it as an LMA until the deal closes, perhaps?

 

That would make sense. WSWG's signal doesn't reach Albany at all, whereas WSST's does. In a market where cable penetration is very low [AFAIK], that's a big deal.

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That would make sense. WSWG's signal doesn't reach Albany at all, whereas WSST's does. In a market where cable penetration is very low [AFAIK], that's a big deal.

 

I could easily see the signals piggybacking each other on the opposite .2's once it closes. Although WMAZ may complain about a CBS signal so close to theirs (even though I believe Cordele is in the Albany market).

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I could easily see the signals piggybacking each other on the opposite .2's once it closes. Although WMAZ may complain about a CBS signal so close to theirs (even though I believe Cordele is in the Albany market).

 

Cordele is just 38 miles NE of Albany. Look at WALB's signal and WSWG & WSST's together (hardly any overlap between the two). You see on the latter, the WSST signal does reach Albany. But given that station is on the UHF dial, and they're closer to the SW fringe, it might be some difficulty getting that signal from Albany. And you can forget it getting CBS if you're living in the western section of WALB's viewing area.

 

If only WSWG antenna was closer to WALB's.....

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Cordele is just 38 miles NE of Albany. Look at WALB's signal and WSWG & WSST's together (hardly any overlap between the two). You see on the latter, the WSST signal does reach Albany. But given that station is on the UHF dial, and they're closer to the SW fringe, it might be some difficulty getting that signal from Albany. And you can forget it getting CBS if you're living in the western section of WALB's viewing area.

 

If only WSWG antenna was closer to WALB's.....

 

There's no reason for WMAZ to complain then, since I didn't realize there was so little penetration of WSST into the Macon DMA, if Marquee decides to put CBS on 22.2 (which seems quite possible, given they are going into a shared operation). That may actually be a smart move as that would add CBS programming into Albany and into the "hole" towards Macon. I know WCTV does come close to Albany, but it would have nothing local at all.

 

This may be the best case scenario for WSWG considering the grand scope (I'm sure Gray would have loved to have kept the CBS affiliation in some form, but that would create more challenges in a blockbuster deal).

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That would make sense. WSWG's signal doesn't reach Albany at all, whereas WSST's does. In a market where cable penetration is very low [AFAIK], that's a big deal.

 

I could easily see the signals piggybacking each other on the opposite .2's once it closes. Although WMAZ may complain about a CBS signal so close to theirs (even though I believe Cordele is in the Albany market).

 

Cordele is just 38 miles NE of Albany. Look at WALB's signal and WSWG & WSST's together (hardly any overlap between the two). You see on the latter, the WSST signal does reach Albany. But given that station is on the UHF dial, and they're closer to the SW fringe, it might be some difficulty getting that signal from Albany. And you can forget it getting CBS if you're living in the western section of WALB's viewing area.

 

If only WSWG antenna was closer to WALB's.....

 

There's no reason for WMAZ to complain then, since I didn't realize there was so little penetration of WSST into the Macon DMA, if Marquee decides to put CBS on 22.2 (which seems quite possible, given they are going into a shared operation). That may actually be a smart move as that would add CBS programming into Albany and into the "hole" towards Macon. I know WCTV does come close to Albany, but it would have nothing local at all.

 

This may be the best case scenario for WSWG considering the grand scope (I'm sure Gray would have loved to have kept the CBS affiliation in some form, but that would create more challenges in a blockbuster deal).

 

The other best case scenario out of this is if WSWG does merge in with WSST, it has (albeit bare bones) a small something that resembles a news department since it airs a morning newscast, 12p, and a 6p newscast. If Marquee would be willing to pour money into it, they may actually have an actual shot of having a local news presence.

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The other best case scenario out of this is if WSWG does merge in with WSST, it has (albeit bare bones) a small something that resembles a news department since it airs a morning newscast, 12p, and a 6p newscast. If Marquee would be willing to pour money into it, they may actually have an actual shot of having a local news presence.

 

They would never be competitive against WALB, but WFXL has really gone downhill lately so they would be at least in the ballgame with them.

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Honolulu's KHON will be getting a new sister station soon. Nexstar expands in Hawaii with the acquisition of MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and its satellite stations in Wailuku (KGMV) and Hilo (KGMD).

 

https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/nexstar-expands-in-hawaii-with-acquisition-of-kfve/1563558947

 

I’m thinking this is connected to the Graycom merger.

 

In any case, this lessens Raycom’s stranglehold on that state, even if they do run K5 through an SSA.

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Honolulu's KHON will be getting a new sister station soon. Nexstar expands in Hawaii with the acquisition of MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and its satellite stations in Wailuku (KGMV) and Hilo (KGMD).

 

https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/nexstar-expands-in-hawaii-with-acquisition-of-kfve/1563558947

 

I truly did not see that coming. That means KHNL (one half of the duo with KGMB) is losing its longtime sister station of 23 years.

 

Plus, say goodbye to Hawaii News NOW's newscasts at 8:00 a.m., 6:30 and 9:00 p.m. because KHON already airs these newscasts on its main channel (except 6:30 p.m. because of Wheel of Fortune)

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Honolulu's KHON will be getting a new sister station soon. Nexstar expands in Hawaii with the acquisition of MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and its satellite stations in Wailuku (KGMV) and Hilo (KGMD).

 

https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/nexstar-expands-in-hawaii-with-acquisition-of-kfve/1563558947

I wonder if this means that The CW will move to KFVE.

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Honolulu's KHON will be getting a new sister station soon. Nexstar expands in Hawaii with the acquisition of MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and its satellite stations in Wailuku (KGMV) and Hilo (KGMD).

 

https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/nexstar-expands-in-hawaii-with-acquisition-of-kfve/1563558947

The article states that Nexstar is getting the broadcast license of KFVE, meaning that Graycom is keeping the intellectual property and putting it on either a KGMB or KHNL subchannel while PSIP 9.1 will likely get the KHON-DT2 feed. (Don't know if this means that "Hawaii CW" will get a lower channel position on Spectrum.)

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The article states that Nexstar is getting the broadcast license of KFVE, meaning that Graycom is keeping the intellectual property and putting it on either a KGMB or KHNL subchannel while PSIP 9.1 will likely get the KHON-DT2 feed. (Don't know if this means that "Hawaii CW" will get a lower channel position on Spectrum.)

 

Oh. Looks like I misread the thing. Carry on...

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Honolulu's KHON will be getting a new sister station soon. Nexstar expands in Hawaii with the acquisition of MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and its satellite stations in Wailuku (KGMV) and Hilo (KGMD).

 

https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/nexstar-expands-in-hawaii-with-acquisition-of-kfve/1563558947

The article states that Nexstar is getting the broadcast license of KFVE, meaning that Graycom is keeping the intellectual property and putting it on either a KGMB or KHNL subchannel while PSIP 9.1 will likely get the KHON-DT2 feed. (Don't know if this means that "Hawaii CW" will get a lower channel position on Spectrum.)

Oh. Looks like I misread the thing. Carry on...

 

We'll know when the paperwork get posted. But I strongly believe (and I don't think @tw-804 read it wrong) Nexstar will have the MyNet & other syndie shows, along with "broadcast license assets" (that's what it said on the article) and intellectual properties of KFVE. Otherwise, the news wouldn't have been mentioned on the air on KHON's news.

 

It would be too confusing to make an "announcement" on the air that Nexstar is acquiring KFVE, but the network & syndie shows the station is currently carrying would be moved to a completely different station. That wouldn't make any sense. Also, I don't think Nexstar would buy an empty TV station just to move its CW affiliation over to an empty channel. And even the anchor said that they're "expanding" in Hawaii. It wouldn't be an expansion without the programming that's already airing right now on KFVE.

 

Should this deal goes through, and Nexstar gets "all" of KFVE, I'm hoping they keep the current logo.

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Okay, follow-up. @NEOMatrix called it.

 

Upon further info from last weekend's Star-Advertiser article, Nexstar will acquire the license & transmitter of KFVE. And Raycom will inherit KFVE's local programming & the Hawaii News Now shows. Bounce TV will be moved to subchannel 5.4.

Raycom Media Inc., which broadcasts Hawaii News Now on all three stations, will maintain its local programming for KFVE and keep the station’s call letters. But KFVE’s broadcast license, which includes KGMV serving Wailuku and KGMD serving Hilo, are being sold along with the station’s transmission towers to the owner of rival local TV station KHON.

 

KGMB and KHNL General Manager Rick Blangiardi said running KFVE, including delivery of Hawaii News Now and other local programming under Raycom, will continue.

 

KFVE’s position on cable TV channels will not change, according to Blangiardi, though there will be some moves on digital channels, such as KFVE’s new Bounce TV Network moving to digital channel 5.4. Also, KFVE will no longer be a MyNetwork affiliate. Blangiardi said KGMB and KHNL will broadcast KFVE programming using KGMB/KHNL equipment.

 

Raycom has long helped operate but does not own KFVE. The company uses a “shared services agreement” to provide content, studio space, equipment and other things to the owner of KFVE in return for a fee.

 

KFVE’s owner has changed over the last decade and currently is Hawaii Five Subsidiary LLC, which is managed by the chief financial officer of New York-based investment firm PennantPark.

 

Hawaii Five is selling its KFVE license and transmission towers to KHON’s Texas-based owner, Nexstar Media Group Inc. On Tuesday, KHON announced that the acquisition allows Nexstar to expand in Hawaii and that the assets being bought would “further complement (KHON’s) existing programming and marketing solutions and services.”

___________

 

The sale is being made to allow Raycom, which is based in Alabama, to complete its own $3.65 billion sale to Georgia-based Gray Television Inc. That deal was announced in June, and stands to create the nation’s third-largest TV group with 142 television stations in 92 markets, reaching 24 percent of the nation’s TV households. As part of the deal, Gray has arranged to sell TV stations in nine mainland markets where it and Raycom both own stations.

 

In Hawaii the setup with KFVE also became an issue for the Gray-Raycom transaction.

But why are you're keeping the callsign when you're doing nothing but placing the programming on a sub (unless Raycom/Gray is buying an LP in Honolulu)?

 

Of course it didn't stop the folks that complained about the 2009 creation of HNN from chiming in on the news.

The Media Council Hawaii has long complained that Raycom’s 2009 combination of three stations reduced diverse views and diminished local news coverage.

 

Chris Conybeare, the organization’s president, said it appears that Raycom is trying to address the issue of controlling three major stations in a single market, though he’s not sure how KFVE assets being sold change anything.

 

“It’s a shell game, and now basically we’re moving the shells around,” he said.

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Okay, follow-up. @NEOMatrix called it.

 

Upon further info from last weekend's Star-Advertiser article, Nexstar will acquire the license & transmitter of KFVE. And Raycom will inherit KFVE's local programming & the Hawaii News Now shows. Bounce TV will be moved to subchannel 5.4.

 

But why are you're keeping the callsign when you're doing nothing but placing the programming on a sub (unless Raycom/Gray is buying an LP in Honolulu)?

 

Of course it didn't stop the folks that complained about the 2009 creation of HNN from chiming in on the news.

 

So not a full acquisition. This is weird.

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So not a full acquisition. This is weird.

 

It's basically this. Once KFVE deal is done, you'll probably see Nexstar moving the CW outlet over to the other full-power station (with a new callsign).

 

What's more confusing is the article says that KFVE will no longer be a MyNetworkTV affiliate. With Raycom keeping the KFVE's other programs (and the callsign), will that include the MyNet shows? Or will Nexstar get the MyNet shows and move it to the CW stream. Right now the MyNet shows are aired after midnight every weeknight on KFVE.

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