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The Tribune Saga, Part 3: New Sale Talks


mre29

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When KDAF launched its NewsFix-style "news" cast, the first show included a pkg about a robbery in which the reporter dressed in a cupid costume while riding a tricycle as part of a re-enactment. Burn it all down.

 

I’m happy that KIAH is getting a proper newscast again, with that announced 3-hour morning newscast.

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How is it that KDAF and KIAH just toddle along yet they had to dump WLVI?

 

Gayle Fee's big mouth making stuff up and Ed Ansin's fragile ego.

 

Let's be serious: Had Tribune kept WLVI it probably would be closer to being in the same spot of KDAF/KIAH/KRCW/WDCW/WSFL than it would the spot of WPIX/KTLA/WGN. The Ten O'Clock News would've been superseded by NewsFix or whatever and it would be slightly more of a shell than it is now.

 

Tribune's current management is paying dearly for the company's overexpansion...they overpaid for Local TV and the Renaissance Communications buyout looks worse and worse.

 

Renaissance was a mixed bag. WTIC, WPMT, and KTXL were solid adds to the company even in hindsight which might cancel out KDAF and WSFL being messes. So were a lot of the one-offs of the period - while KCPQ was a success, their buy of Quest (WATL/WNOL) was tepid at best and their buy of then-WMHQ (WCWN) was a desperation move by WMHT after their deal with Sinclair(!) fell through more than something that made logical sense.

 

Local TV was just a desperation buy that led to their eventual unraveling. Little more or less.

 

I must wonder what appetite Tegna might have right now. WDCW, WTVR, KDAF, KIAH, and KRCW minimum would be good adds to their stable, probably a few others too (one of the Indy stations, maybe WPMT and WTIC).

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Yeah, their investment in The WB contributed to this mess in the first place. I'm not sure that the Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Washington, Miami, or Portland operations even have futures beyond being duopoly bait and I'm not sure why Tribune didn't sell them off years ago.

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Putting market size and price aside for a moment, not all Tribune stations are equal and neither are all potential buyers. Some Tribune stations are very turn-key, including KTLA, WGN and KFOR. New owners have to do little more than write the check and change the name on the license.

 

But other Tribune stations need to be completely rebuilt inside and out. Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans and some others are virtual operational and physical disasters. Those stations need owners who are prepared to pony-up the management expertise and dollars to make them worth the investment. Not all potential owners will have that desire or ability. If a purchaser isn’t able or willing to make substantial investments in these stations, then they are no improvement. In fact, in taking on new debt with no desire to build long-term value, they might be worse.

KFOR has been in their new facility for a little over a year now so whoever the new owner is going to be won't have to make too many upgrades (other than retiring the Tribune graphics, maybe The Rock and simplifying the branding to just "News 4", I think "Oklahoma's News 4" sounds way too blandish imo)

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Yeah, their investment in The WB contributed to this mess in the first place. I'm not sure that the Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Washington, Miami, or Portland operations even have futures beyond being duopoly bait and I'm not sure why Tribune didn't sell them off years ago.

 

I've said this before in other places, but WPHL is doing better than a lot of folks on this board are giving them credit for.

 

No, they're not KTLA or WGN level...and they don't have to be. They're pretty much the only station in Philly right now programming stuff beyond talk shows, their agreement with WPVI is working out quite well, Weekend Philler fills a pretty nice gap of spotlighting things going on around the area, they have Union soccer rights and it's actually not boring to watch, and their morning show....is an A for effort.

 

We could use more entertainment-geared stations like PHL. 10 hours of local news a day is getting pretty old, pretty fast.

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I've said this before in other places, but WPHL is doing better than a lot of folks on this board are giving them credit for.

 

No, they're not KTLA or WGN level...and they don't have to be. They're pretty much the only station in Philly right now programming stuff beyond talk shows, their agreement with WPVI is working out quite well, Weekend Philler fills a pretty nice gap of spotlighting things going on around the area, they have Union soccer rights and it's actually not boring to watch, and their morning show....is an A for effort.

 

We could use more entertainment-geared stations like PHL. 10 hours of local news a day is getting pretty old, pretty fast.

 

I’ve always liked the way WPHL is ran. It’s a very attractive MyNet affiliate.

 

Well, good for them! Do you think Tribune or a future owner would use WPHL as a template for their other second-tier stations?

 

They should.

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I’ve always liked the way WPHL is ran. It’s a very attractive MyNet affiliate.

 

Compared to KZJO, which is an embarrassing server rack disguised as a TV station that said they weren't part of MyNet for five years because nobody cared about the error. The "Joe's Wall" era of the station should be used in a case study of how never to brand or build a website for a TV station.

 

And I'm not sad about the death of lifestyle shows. It was always a house of cards bet that anyone would sit through a seven minute 'Powerpoint as a presentation' or fashion segments out of 1987; I remember when my company's old management did one of them ten years back; we got hardly any new business because the base of our business is mostly people who aren't home at all at 9am (business travelers).

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Next to go: News with a Twist on WGNO.

 

I'm actually doubtful of that. Unless WGNO goes back to traditional newscasts, they have to air some sort of local news content to satisfy their affiliate agreement with ABC. Otherwise you fall into the same situation that KDNL is in which the network has barely tolerated only because its tied into an affiliation agreement with stronger performing ABC affiliates.

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I'm actually doubtful of that. Unless WGNO goes back to traditional newscasts, they have to air some sort of local news content to satisfy their affiliate agreement with ABC. Otherwise you fall into the same situation that KDNL is in which the network has barely tolerated only because its tied into an affiliation agreement with stronger performing ABC affiliates.

I'd be very surprised if WGNO doesn't eliminate the "News With A Twist" crap that they currently have

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I’m happy that KIAH is getting a proper newscast again, with that announced 3-hour morning newscast.

That is good that they are getting a somewhat proper newscast again..I just wonder who are they actually going to get..or is KIAH's newscast going to be somewhat in tandem with KDAF?

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That is good that they are getting a somewhat proper newscast again..I just wonder who are they actually going to get..or is KIAH's newscast going to be somewhat in tandem with KDAF?

Looks to me (from what I read on NCFLMedia's blog) KIAH's morning newscast will follow WPHL's format and with KDAF getting no new newscasts to replace the now-canceled Morning Dose and NewsFix, I doubt if KIAH's upcoming morning newscast will run in conjunction with KDAF

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Looks to me (from what I read on NCFLMedia's blog) KIAH's morning newscast will follow WPHL's format and with KDAF getting no new newscasts to replace the now-canceled Morning Dose and NewsFix, I doubt if KIAH's upcoming morning newscast will run in conjunction with KDAF

 

First, thanks for reading. I appreciate it! :)

 

Second, I think that KIAH and WPHL will be both 5-8am since both will be three hours, though I think WPHL will also keep the 4:30 a.m. half-hour despite what folks have been saying as just three hours.

 

And I don't see KDAF simulcasting KIAH's morning news. Its four hours between both markets so there's no way on one. I think KDAF's news department is done after 19 years.

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First, thanks for reading. I appreciate it! :)

 

Second, I think that KIAH and WPHL will be both 5-8am since both will be three hours, though I think WPHL will also keep the 4:30 a.m. half-hour despite what folks have been saying as just three hours.

 

And I don't see KDAF simulcasting KIAH's morning news. Its four hours between both markets so there's no way on one. I think KDAF's news department is done after 19 years.

I think if the new owners of both KIAH and WPHL are smart, they might be able to relaunch a full-scale news department on both of the stations and have daily newscasts, and you're welcome Roly, I always make sure to read your blog and of course I even alerted you about it on Twitter

 

(P.S. I meant to use the #ChangingNewscasts instead of #ChangeNewsBlog but either way it worked lol)

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I think if the new owners of both KIAH and WPHL are smart, they might be able to relaunch a full-scale news department on both of the stations and have daily newscasts, and you're welcome Roly, I always make sure to read your blog and of course I even alerted you about it on Twitter

 

(P.S. I meant to use the #ChangingNewscasts instead of #ChangeNewsBlog but either way it worked lol)

 

I don't mean to make this go off-topic but I appreciate you being a loyal reader. 4 years, 610,000+ views, 53 email subscribers and 206 followers down (added like 10+ followers tonight), many more years, views, email subscribers and followers to go.

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I think if the new owners of both KIAH and WPHL are smart, they might be able to relaunch a full-scale news department on both of the stations and have daily newscasts, and you're welcome Roly, I always make sure to read your blog and of course I even alerted you about it on Twitter

 

(P.S. I meant to use the #ChangingNewscasts instead of #ChangeNewsBlog but either way it worked lol)

Just my honest opinion..I think WPHL will probably keep at least a morning newscast but probably won't go full scale if the deal with WPVI makes smart economics for them.

 

In terms of KIAH..I kind of doubt that 39 can do full scale again. When they had a 9 o'clock news they were getting hammered by KRIV. That is why I wonder who is KIAH going to get to be the face of the department. I also wonder if Steve Simon is still going to be with Tribune since he was still an employee. If Tribune goes NewsFix 2.0 for KIAH than its just going to be a disappointment. To me, that is the questionable bit.

 

And I don't necessarily think that KDAF's news department is necessarily dead as of the latest announcement. Its been dead for a while, and that Tribune corporate has been handling Morning Dose and all that.

 

Also, Roly..since I havent been in SFL in a while..are they discontinuing WSFL's NewsFix? Or still keeping that going and are actually going to make it local and not using Houston's version with Dave Ainzer filling in some stories.

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Also, Roly..since I havent been in SFL in a while..are they discontinuing WSFL's NewsFix? Or still keeping that going and are actually going to make it local and not using Houston's version with Dave Ainzer filling in some stories.

 

NewsFix SFL was quietly cancelled. They replaced it with Dateline. They still have Morning Dose, though.

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I'm actually doubtful of that. Unless WGNO goes back to traditional newscasts, they have to air some sort of local news content to satisfy their affiliate agreement with ABC. Otherwise you fall into the same situation that KDNL is in which the network has barely tolerated only because its tied into an affiliation agreement with stronger performing ABC affiliates.

What WGNO could do is downgrade News with a Twist to just a single half-hour newscast at 4:00 p.m. weekdays, and switch the weeknight 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. and Saturday evening editions to a more conventional news format. News with a Twist seems far more suited as an afternoon newscast; it's a format that's, to quote SNL, "not ready for prime time" (or in this case, 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00).

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NewsFix SFL was quietly cancelled. They replaced it with Dateline. They still have Morning Dose, though.

 

I'm amazed that when Ansin did his jealousy overpay of WLVI that Tribune didn't have him take WSFL off of their hands too. Miami always has been a dog market for Tribune, a lot more than Boston ever was and it would've gotten them some extra money at a time when they needed it.

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Just my honest opinion..I think WPHL will probably keep at least a morning newscast but probably won't go full scale if the deal with WPVI makes smart economics for them.

 

In terms of KIAH..I kind of doubt that 39 can do full scale again. When they had a 9 o'clock news they were getting hammered by KRIV. That is why I wonder who is KIAH going to get to be the face of the department. I also wonder if Steve Simon is still going to be with Tribune since he was still an employee. If Tribune goes NewsFix 2.0 for KIAH than its just going to be a disappointment. To me, that is the questionable bit.

 

And I don't necessarily think that KDAF's news department is necessarily dead as of the latest announcement. Its been dead for a while, and that Tribune corporate has been handling Morning Dose and all that.

 

Also, Roly..since I havent been in SFL in a while..are they discontinuing WSFL's NewsFix? Or still keeping that going and are actually going to make it local and not using Houston's version with Dave Ainzer filling in some stories.

 

Yeah SFL was quietly canceled a long time ago. I didn't even report on its cancellation because it quickly came and went.

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I think if the new owners of both KIAH and WPHL are smart, they might be able to relaunch a full-scale news department on both of the stations and have daily newscasts

 

It perplexes me why WPHL isn't willing to turn their 7-9AM over to PVI for an extended AM Action News, given the success that partnership's had at 10PM. Over time, I've suspected it's not something 6 wants to do as it would mean their morning anchors are on for, starting Monday, five straight hours.

 

I don't say that to poo-poo the current PHL 17 Morning News - again, A for Effort, and clearly doing well enough that Trib's elected to expand it instead of cut it. But when you have Action News fronting at night, I just can't see how you'd want to put your own news on instead, knowing full well it won't be nearly as competitive. They would have done it by now otherwise.

 

Hell, PHL had a full news department and its own 10PM news once -- and at the time it was pretty good! I just don't think they need to go that far unless they think keeping the political dollars all to themselves is that important.

 

On another note: NewsFix had to be doing pretty dire numbers in DAL and HOU for them to pull the plug. It is not expensive to do a show like that.

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