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Cox sells majority TV interest to Apollo


The Frog

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Disney is not going to buy a single damn station.

 

Period.

 

I think, with Cox even considering the sale and the Sinclair/Trib deal we all thought would pass with flying colors all but dead, we're officially in "never say never" territory.

 

And besides, if Disney is all about scale these days (see: their merger with FOX), they could do a lot worse than to have a guaranteed revenue generator in WSB and a station in their flagship theme park's backyard in WFTV as part of the portfolio.

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Disney is not going to buy a single damn station.

 

Period.

 

–30–

Need a remind you that they tried to buy WJLA.

 

Need I remind you how you went on for months saying WBTS as an NBC O&O was not gonna happen (I know, you had amnesia at first and denied it and then you claimed you didn’t know they were gonna buy other stations to make it work).

 

While I don’t think they’ll buy WSB, I kind of hope they do just so you’re wrong.

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Everyone here needs to stop speculation about Disney. It just isn't going to happen, ever.

 

Now, Scripps and Meredith are STRONG possibilities here especially Scripps. I'd be very pleased if the former Cox stations were bought up by Scripps. The downside is The Now (could you imagine on WSB?) but Scripps does run some decent television stations minus a few bad eggs.

 

Meredith would likely be a problem in Atlanta but only briefly as they will without question jettison WGCL for WSB. It will be hard to find a buyer for WGCL if that happens, I don't know of anyone desperate enough other than Sinclair who would buy it.

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Meredith would likely be a problem in Atlanta but only briefly as they will without question jettison WGCL for WSB. It will be hard to find a buyer for WGCL if that happens, I don't know of anyone desperate enough other than Sinclair who would buy it.

 

Why not let CBS buy WGCL? There was already some discussion on that. Would make for an extra duopoly as well (WGCL/WUPA).

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Everyone here needs to stop speculation about Disney. It just isn't going to happen, ever.

 

Now, Scripps and Meredith are STRONG possibilities here especially Scripps. I'd be very pleased if the former Cox stations were bought up by Scripps. The downside is The Now (could you imagine on WSB?) but Scripps does run some decent television stations minus a few bad eggs.

 

Meredith would likely be a problem in Atlanta but only briefly as they will without question jettison WGCL for WSB. It will be hard to find a buyer for WGCL if that happens, I don't know of anyone desperate enough other than Sinclair who would buy it.

Simple sell WGCL to CBS and form a new duopoly with WUPA

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Why not let CBS buy WGCL? There was already some discussion on that. Would make for an extra duopoly as well (WGCL/WUPA).

 

Simple sell WGCL to CBS and form a new duopoly with WUPA

 

When was the last time CBS bought anything other than WLNY? That's about as likely as Disney buying WSB. Here's the other issue, CBS doesn't want WGCL as it's one of it's weaker affiliates. It would have no use for it. CBS had a better chance of moving CBS to WUPA (as the rumor mill/FTVLive once reported was a possibility due to the absolute disaster that is WGCL). The reason they don't or haven't tried for an O&O in Atlanta already (because they already could) is because they see no reason to. It's not an AFC market and it's also not a market they can make money in up against WSB.

 

Another thing I didn't realize before, Meredith owns WPCH outright now, so if they did put WGCL on the chopping block they would either have to sell it with WGCL or keep it as a duopoly with WSB which would thereby end WGCL's 9pm but gives WSB an opportunity for a primetime newscast they haven't had before.

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Here's the other issue, CBS doesn't want WGCL as it's one of it's weaker affiliates. It would have no use for it.

 

I'm not sure I buy this, but maybe your point is flying over my head and I can't see it.

 

It's true that WGCL isn't a strong CBS affiliate (and I've repeatedly criticized their news operation in the past,) but CBS is no stranger to nonexistent or poorly-rated news operations: they still own WWJ, which doesn't even have a news department despite being a top-20 market station! Doesn't WFOR place dead last behind all the Spanish-language stations in Miami?

 

As for NFL teams, I'll bring up WWJ. The Lions are an NFC team, and unlike KOVR and the Raiders there are no nearby NFC teams to share coverage of.

 

As for Disney, I just think we're being a bit too certain in the idea that the networks won't bite for WSB. Atlanta's a top-10 market and WSB has always been the #1 station here. Cox isn't just a group with a bunch of stations in 30-to-40 market DMAs. WSB became Cox's largest station by market size when KTVU was traded to Fox. Atlanta's not Jacksonville or Memphis.

 

Now if Cox sells as a group or merges with another broadcaster, then this is all moot. But if they sell station-by-station, I wouldn't blindly dismiss the networks as WSB suitors just as much as I wouldn't blindly dismiss Sinclair because of their current merger troubles with Tribune.

 

Or maybe I don't know any better, I dunno.

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My “Disney buys WSB” thought is an edge case, indeed.

 

The reason why I think it’s possible (and not necessarily probable) for WSB to go O&O is because it’s pretty much one of ABC’s strongest affiliates and in a large market. They’re pretty everything a network could want for one of its affiliates. For all we know, ABC/Disney may have been keeping a close eye on Channel 2 for a while but never approached Cox because they know buying their flagship station would be an exercise in futility. But now that the station is on the market, there might be a bit of a “hmmmm” coming from some office at ABC.

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Everyone here needs to stop speculation about Disney. It just isn't going to happen, ever.

 

Now, Scripps and Meredith are STRONG possibilities here especially Scripps. I'd be very pleased if the former Cox stations were bought up by Scripps. The downside is The Now (could you imagine on WSB?) but Scripps does run some decent television stations minus a few bad eggs.

 

Meredith would likely be a problem in Atlanta but only briefly as they will without question jettison WGCL for WSB. It will be hard to find a buyer for WGCL if that happens, I don't know of anyone desperate enough other than Sinclair who would buy it.

NO YOU ALL NEED TO STOP. I feel like it’s become an urban myth on this site. There is nothing anywhere on the internet where ABC/Disney has said they don’t buy stations. It’s just people here who think they know everything about everything repeating it over and over again. So they haven’t bought one in a while. Perhaps because the right opportunity never arose? Again, they did try to get WJLA. CBS hasn’t bought one in a while. Do I see people claiming CBS doesn’t buy stations? Fox hasn’t bought in a while. Prior to WBTS, NBC hadn’t bought anything other than stations they already partially owned. In fact they tried to sell two stations!

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I feel like Disney/ABC would be insane not to go after WSB - stations of that caliber don't come up for sale every day - but on the other hand, they're going to be in a shitload of debt after the Fox deal goes through and will probably be looking for anything and everything to unload in order to pay it down. They will have to turn around and on-sell the RSNs so that ought to fetch a pretty penny...

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With the most likely end of the Sinclair/Tribune merger, and the FCC intent on changing ownership rules, I would think that the three heritage networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) would look if there are any strategic acquisitions, especially in top 20 markets. Does it mean it will happen, no. But could it, maybe. Fox already is on the hunt for some of the Tribune/Sinclair stations, but with duopolies in their largest markets, that leaves some stations off limits. Besides, after how they have devalued WWOR in NY, I wouldn't wish Fox being an owner of a second station.

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I'm not sure I buy this, but maybe your point is flying over my head and I can't see it.

 

The point is it's not benefitting CBS at all to attempt to go up against WSB. They'd make a little money but not much, and would likely lose more money trying to rehab the WGCL operation than they can get back. They're not NBC and trying to pull a Boston, they're complacent that their Atlanta affiliate sucks but at least it has a news department.

 

In other words, here's CBS' take: "Let someone else run it and sink money into that sinking ship."

 

WUPA doesn't, shouldn't, and won't ever have a news department or will be a CBS affiliate. The only reason WUPA was purchased and the only reason they are still owned by CBS is because CBS bought them back in 1994 when it was unclear who the new affiliate would be after the New World/FOX deal. Like WWJ, WUPA was a last resort. It thankfully never had to become a CBS station, and CBS didn't have to bear the brunt of humiliation having a station on UHF channel 69 at a time when it was considered passé.

 

Why do they still own it? My guess is that it's better to keep a last resort in your pocket for a rainy day. Unlike what WGCL would do to their finances, WUPA is very profitable and is the official station of the Atlanta Falcons which means $$$ and programming for the preseason and for their regular season specials. I believe they have also gotten some rights to air select regular season Thursday night games when Atlanta is playing in Mercedes-Benz stadium.

 

In other words, WUPA requires very minimal effort to run and it makes them money. It also has one of the strongest OTA signals in northern Georgia.

 

NO YOU ALL NEED TO STOP. I feel like it’s become an urban myth on this site. There is nothing anywhere on the internet where ABC/Disney has said they don’t buy stations. It’s just people here who think they know everything about everything repeating it over and over again. So they haven’t bought one in a while. Perhaps because the right opportunity never arose? Again, they did try to get WJLA. CBS hasn’t bought one in a while. Do I see people claiming CBS doesn’t buy stations? Fox hasn’t bought in a while. Prior to WBTS, NBC hadn’t bought anything other than stations they already partially owned. In fact they tried to sell two stations!

 

You mad bro?

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Why do they still own it? My guess is that it's better to keep a last resort in your pocket for a rainy day. Unlike what WGCL would do to their finances, WUPA is very profitable and is the official station of the Atlanta Falcons which means $$$ and programming for the preseason and for their regular season specials. I believe they have also gotten some rights to air select regular season Thursday night games when Atlanta is playing in Mercedes-Benz stadium.

 

In other words, WUPA requires very minimal effort to run and it makes them money. It also has one of the strongest OTA signals in northern Georgia.

Even as a mere pass-through, WUPA is a CW O&O in a top 10 market. That's a big reason right there for them to keep it.

 

WUPA, KSTW and WTOG serve similar purposes: they are profitable for CBS with minimum expense and are CW O&Os in markets where the CBS affiliation is not in doubt.

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[quote name='cna247']Need a remind you that they tried to buy WJLA.[/quote] But they didn't want ABC 33/40, WCIV, WSET or the other stations Allbritton wanted to get rid of in a collective unit. There was only one buyer for all the stations and Disney never had a snowballs chance in hell. [quote name='cna247']Need I remind you how you went on for months saying WBTS as an NBC O&O was not gonna happen (I know, you had amnesia at first and denied it and then you claimed you didn’t know they were gonna buy other stations to make it work).[/quote] Oh here we go. I [B]never[/B] said that WBTS was never going to happen. I said repeatedly that the initial arrangement for "NBC Boston" was shitty and beyond laughable. It would have been doomed to failure had it not been for the channel spectrum sharing concept that gave NBC 10 [B]a signal better than even WHDH[/B] on a license that's supposed to be a low-power station in Nashua NH (nevermind the forthcoming move-in of WNEU to Needham following the repack, giving [B]THAT[/B] station a full-market metro signal). They pulled a fucking hat trick that clearly you must have seen coming back then, but no one else did outside of @Eat News (and he hit the nail right on the head, the shark was 100% dead-on right). [quote name='cna247']While I don’t think they’ll buy WSB, I kind of hope they do just so you’re wrong.[/QUOTE] If Disney actually buys WSB-TV, I will drop dead of laughter... or from being stabbed in the back repeatedly by a cartoon mouse who wears white gloves and shoes but not a shirt. Either of those two.
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But they didn't want ABC 33/40, WCIV, WSET or the other stations Allbritton wanted to get rid of in a collective unit. There was only one buyer for all the stations and Disney never had a snowballs chance in hell.

 

And I still contend that Disney could've found someone to team up with (Cox, for example) and split WJLA off after the initial sale.

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[QUOTE="Myron Falwell, post: 215162, member: 2210"]But they didn't want ABC 33/40, WCIV, WSET or the other stations Allbritton wanted to get rid of in a collective unit. There was only one buyer for all the stations and Disney never had a snowballs chance in hell. [/QUOTE] Point is they wanted WJLA, which debunks your theory that Disney/ABC doesn’t want to buy stations. You make it sound like they have no interest at all. They just didn’t want the whole cluster and therefore lost out on WJLA. [QUOTE="Myron Falwell, post: 215162, member: 2210"] Oh here we go. I [B]never[/B] said that WBTS was never going to happen. I said repeatedly that the initial arrangement for "NBC Boston" was shitty and beyond laughable. It would have been doomed to failure had it not been for the channel spectrum sharing concept that gave NBC 10 [B]a signal better than even WHDH[/B] on a license that's supposed to be a low-power station in Nashua NH (nevermind the forthcoming move-in of WNEU to Needham following the repack, giving [B]THAT[/B] station a full-market metro signal). They pulled a fucking hat trick that clearly you must have seen coming back then, but no one else did outside of @Eat News (and he hit the nail right on the head, the shark was 100% dead-on right).[/QUOTE] Not going to go searching through history to prove you wrong. You’re selectively rewriting that you didn’t say never but instead you said not under this circumstance. Your comments come off as a bit snarky (i.e. Paid off vs. Pai) hence why I remember you were so insistent about the whole thing back then. [QUOTE="Myron Falwell, post: 215162, member: 2210"] If Disney actually buys WSB-TV, I will drop dead of laughter... or from being stabbed in the back repeatedly by a cartoon mouse who wears white gloves and shoes but not a shirt. Either of those two.[/QUOTE] So you’re saying there’s a possibility? I see you’ve moved off your NEVER stance. I see you live in a cartoon make believe world like EatNews.
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Kinda getting tired of reading people argue about the whole "Disney doesn't buy stations" thing.

 

They haven't bought a station since 1995. Period. Yes, they briefly seemed interested in WJLA. Who cares? It's Walt f#cking Disney. If they truly wanted WJLA, they would own it right now.

 

Anyone who believes that WJLA has been the only station they have been interested in is fooling themselves. But that's all that's seems to come from them. A brief interest until someone (probably near or at the top) decides time, effort, and money is best focused elsewhere.

 

Could they buy more stations? Yes, absolutely. But a 23-year dry spell seems to indicate that they just haven't been all that interested in doing so. And in this current day and age, why? Why should one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world invest into what seems to be a failing medium, when there's hundreds of better ways to spend that money?

 

Anything is possible. I mean, there's a possibility that tomorrow I dig a hole, find a buried treasure map, and follow it to find $500 million dollars in gold coins that I turn around and use to buy WSB. There's just a very low chance that will happen.

 

There's a chance Disney buys WSB, but based off their history, it's a small one.

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Kinda getting tired of reading people argue about the whole "Disney doesn't buy stations" thing.

 

They haven't bought a station since 1995. Period. Yes, they briefly seemed interested in WJLA. Who cares? It's Walt f#cking Disney. If they truly wanted WJLA, they would own it right now.

 

Anyone who believes that WJLA has been the only station they have been interested in is fooling themselves. But that's all that's seems to come from them. A brief interest until someone (probably near or at the top) decides time, effort, and money is best focused elsewhere.

 

Could they buy more stations? Yes, absolutely. But a 23-year dry spell seems to indicate that they just haven't been all that interested in doing so. And in this current day and age, why? Why should one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world invest into what seems to be a failing medium, when there's hundreds of better ways to spend that money?

 

Anything is possible. I mean, there's a possibility that tomorrow I dig a hole, find a buried treasure map, and follow it to find $500 million dollars in gold coins that I turn around and use to buy WSB. There's just a very low chance that will happen.

 

There's a chance Disney buys WSB, but based off their history, it's a small one.

 

Disney buying WSB? Theoretically, it is possible.

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Disney buying WSB? Theoretically, it is possible.

 

If Disney is spinning off as many assets as possible to alleviate debt from the Fox deal, going as far as to sell their NYC headquarters and the home to WABC, what makes you think they’re going to buy a television station, whereas television is frankly a dying medium? If anything, Disney may (and I wouldn’t hold my breath on it) shed their smallest O&Os in Raleigh and Fresno, not buy more television stations when that money could go toward better uses. While anything’s possible, some things are quite unlikely. Disney buying a television station in Atlanta is very unlikely. They haven’t purchased a station since 1995 when they bought their Flint and Toledo stations. The ONLY reason they bought those stations was to ensure ABC’s carriage in Detroit during their dispute with Scripps. You’re kidding yourself.

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  • CircleSeven changed the title to Cox sells majority TV interest to Apollo

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