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Gray Television - General Thread


The Frog

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On 9/8/2022 at 4:31 PM, Nelson R. said:

WBTV is expanding On Your Side Tonight to an hour at 7:00. https://www.wbtv.com/2022/09/08/wbtv-expands-your-side-tonight-with-jamie-boll/

 

It sounds like WBTV News Primetime will just be folded into it using the On Your Side Tonight name. If Jamie Boll had been the one to leave they might have used the WBTV News Primetime name instead. 

I remember Jamie Boll when he was an anchor at WWMT he did mornings & when channel 3 in Kazoo launched Noon newscast in 92 and became the main anchor 5PM, 6PM & 11PM newscast in the late 90's before leaving for Charlotte NC.

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New M&A. The LP acquisitive train continues to roll......

 

Cincinnati's WBQC-LD (known for its branding "WKRP-TV") was owned by Elliot Block, until his passing in November 2019. It has since been operated by a trust.

 

Gray is going to snag this LP for $2.5K.

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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On 9/28/2022 at 10:46 AM, CircleSeven said:

New M&A. The LP acquisitive train continues to roll......

 

Cincinnati's WBQC-LD (known for its branding "WKRP-TV") was owned by Elliot Block, until his passing in November 2019. It has since been operated by a trust.

 

Gray is going to snag this LP for $2.5K.

 

Curious to see what Gray's plans for the station are.... Could Telemundo Cincinnati be in the future?   Maybe even something related to 3.0.  it's basically been a subchannel repository for the last decade or so after losing out on the CW to WKRC 12.2.

 

Speaking of WKRP, when's the last time that show's been shown on TV?  At least the DVD release restored a lot of the original music that was stripped from later TV airings....

 

And one last thing, my fellow babies....

 

booger-wkrp.gif

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On 9/26/2022 at 7:33 PM, CircleSeven said:

They're snagging another one......

 

K14NR-D from C. Dowen Johnson for $230K. 

 

Gray already operates K31PR which is their primary repeater for KLTV. It'll be interested what they'll do with these two new LPs.

 

Very interesting.  When I did my search of K21PE, I didn't see (then) that K31PR is *also* located at KLTV's tower, which is several miles north of Tyler.  Now, with the extra wrinkle of K14NR.  Its tower is currently on the ESE side of Tyler, but it has a CP to move to a site NE of Tyler, just north of I-20, and just a few miles away from KLTV(/K21PE/K31PR)'s tower.  I have to wonder what Gray is trying to do.  The Tyler/Longview market's topography is somewhat hilly.  The 3 LPs have co-channel issues in both DFW (all full-power) and Shreveport (all LP).  If Gray really wants to keep all 3, and not duplicate coverage contours amongst them, I'd guess that 1 could orient mainly north, 1 could do something east/SE, and the other could concentrate south/SW.  If they can do that, and have just enough tower/antenna height, it would cover a lot of the north half of the market without much interference in DFW or Shreveport.  Meanwhile, KTRE has the same VHF issue as KLTV.  We haven't heard anything about whether Gray wants to have an LP in the Lufkin area or not.  I'm not the engineer in the family, so I may not be as well-versed for the subject as someone else.  Just trying to guess how Gray is approaching this.

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This should also be mentioned that KTRE have that active petition to move the station off of VHF 9 to UHF 24.

 

On 6/15/2022 at 11:58 PM, CircleSeven said:

They're acquiring WWAX-LD (formerly W27ER-D) from Triple Seven Media for $900K.

 

Even though its COL is Westmoreland, NH, its antenna facility is located 63 miles south in Holyoke, MA (near Springfield). 

 

Gray is in the process of moving that other LP (WSHM) to WGGB's tower (expanding its contour). Wouldn't be surprised if it move this new LP to that facility as well, should it get the FCC greenlight.

 

Little update regard an LP in Western MA.

 

WWAX-LD has recent gotten the greenlight to move its facility further SOUTH to WFSB's tower.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/7/2022 at 4:35 PM, CircleSeven said:

WWAX-LD has recent gotten the greenlight to move its facility further SOUTH to WFSB's tower.

I would've thought this would be used for "Fox 6's" own stick, but other than ATSC3 I'm confused with this one. Telemundo is already O&O'ed in Hartford and Springfield, and the 'Fairfield County' version of WFSB is just the main station with Fairfield ads now since they cut all syndicated product that could be claimed by NYC stations, so a hop down there doesn't make sense.

 

Only thing could be expanding WSHM coverage south into Windsor and Enfield, but I'm absolutely stumped unless there's a second hop to Pittsfield to return CBS/ABC/Fox local coverage to the Berks after WCDC was shut down.

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On 10/18/2022 at 9:13 PM, mrschimpf said:

I would've thought this would be used for "Fox 6's" own stick, but other than ATSC3 I'm confused with this one. Telemundo is already O&O'ed in Hartford and Springfield, and the 'Fairfield County' version of WFSB is just the main station with Fairfield ads now since they cut all syndicated product that could be claimed by NYC stations, so a hop down there doesn't make sense.

 

Only thing could be expanding WSHM coverage south into Windsor and Enfield, but I'm absolutely stumped unless there's a second hop to Pittsfield to return CBS/ABC/Fox local coverage to the Berks after WCDC was shut down.

Let me first remind you that WSHM-LD recently moved to WGGB's tower some weeks back. And its contour expanded as far south as northern Connecticut (close to Hartford). And with a larger height, it should be reachable for those southern areas you've mention. 

 

As for that WWAX-LD move to Hartford, that Circle diginet has not been cleared in that market. But that might not be the only reason they want to use this LP in Hartford. It'll be interesting to see what they'll do with it. With the Peacock & Weigel in the market, there's not much diginets to grab.

____________________________________

 

New Callsign for Channel 9 Freeport.

 

It is NOT WIFR. It is WSLN.

 

No word on when it'll light up its new full power signal. But the callsign (if approved) will go in effect on 10/26.

 

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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  • 2 weeks later...

What's happened in Peoria (WEEK) and Duluth/Superior (KBJR) appears to be taking place in Fort Wayne. WPTA-21.2 (Fort Wayne's NBC) is now simulcasting the morning news from WPTA-21.1. On top of that, the 21.1 branding has reverted from "ABC 21" to "21 Alive".

 

https://www.vuit.com/publishers/485/wpta-nbc#vod:21353888

 

As of now, the 5pm, 6pm, and 11pm newscasts are still in place on 21.2 with the regular weeknight anchors.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So WPTA has announced last week about its future plans.

  • The current, separate Fort Wayne's NBC evening (5, 6 & 11pm) newscasts will continue through Friday, December 16.
  • WPTA will be adding a new 7-9am (on MyTV 21.3) & 4pm broadcasts beginning Monday, January 9.
  • Current Fort Wayne's NBC anchor Julian Teekaram will join Kayla Stewart in the mornings, while co-anchor Linda Jackson will join Krista Miller on the 4 & 5pm-casts.
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  • 2 weeks later...
20 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

I've heard that Gray is pretty much rejecting all capital budget requests for next year unless it's absolutely necessary or an emergency. Basically trying to build up a recession defense early.

 

I would suspect other station groups will do the same, especially now that election season is over and with market uncertainty being the way it is right now. You either cut back on spending enough to weather the storm until things get better, or at worst do rounds of layoffs.

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On 12/8/2022 at 4:00 PM, MidwestTV said:

I've heard that Gray is pretty much rejecting all capital budget requests for next year unless it's absolutely necessary or an emergency. Basically trying to build up a recession defense early.

 

I was going to post in the Tegna thread but I heard the same thing is happening there....a spending and hiring freeze. Was guessing it was related to the potential sale but I guess there could be other reasons.

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1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Could their minimum wage ($18 an hour) be causing some problems?

That may be a high hurdle in places where the cost of living is dirt cheap. 

Then again, I know people in the industry who've been working 10-15 years and STILL don't make that much...

 

Could be a combination of that as well as the fact that odd-numbered years are very lean for stations without the political ads. (A few exceptions do exist, as KY, LA and MS have state races, but otherwise it's quiet.) Also, the Super Bowl is on Fox, which Gray is a little leaner with (they have far more CBS and NBC affiliates).

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  • 1 month later...

The long-awaited channel switch in the Mid-South is one step closer to reality.

 

On Monday, the FCC granted WMC's petition to change its signal from VHF 5 to UHF 30.

 

It's been a long time coming. Since the digital transition in 2009, they've been trying to get off that VHF hellhole. They even tried to move to UHF 17 back in 2011, only to be told after the auction & repack that they're dismissing that petition. It wasn't until after the freeze was lifted two years ago when WMC tried again and filed this petition. And even that was a long process.

 

I think the reasoning for the lengthy process was FCC probably had concerns for the viewers in those far fringe areas potentially losing WMC after its move to UHF. So Gray had to come up with a remedy by launching three small translators serving some of those lost coverage areas (contours). 

  • WANF-LD Dyersburg (serving the northern fringe)
  • WDDY-LD Jackson (serving the eastern fringe)
  • W20DW-D Clarksdale, MS (serving the southern fringe) 

So what's next? The station has to file a minor change app to get the construction permit. The R&O actually says once the order gets posted in the Federal Register, they'll have 10 days (not the usual 30 days) to file the app. 

 

I should also point out that Gray also has the permit to light up that new LP WTME-LD (formerly WYMP-LD) on the same tower as WMC's new UHF signal. So once the construction process is completed, Gray will be launching TWO new signals in Shelby County. 

 

That LP will likely be used to launch Telemundo (the webpage is already up, even though the station hasn't launched yet).  

 

But I'll tell you this right now. This should've happened before 2011. WMC should've filed at the same time Nashville's WTVF filed to move off of that same allotment. Hadn't it done so back then, we wouldn't be talking about this today. But better late than never. 

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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On 10/1/2022 at 8:16 AM, tyrannical bastard said:

Curious to see what Gray's plans for the station are.... Could Telemundo Cincinnati be in the future?   Maybe even something related to 3.0.  it's basically been a subchannel repository for the last decade or so after losing out on the CW to WKRC 12.2.

 

Speaking of WKRP, when's the last time that show's been shown on TV?  At least the DVD release restored a lot of the original music that was stripped from later TV airings....

 

And one last thing, my fellow babies....

 

booger-wkrp.gif

Most of the Cincinnati stations got shafted when it comes to spectrum. I think only WLWT and WCPO have good signals. Maybe they are just going to use it as a translator.

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Back in the analog era, the signals used to overlap a lot more between Dayton and Cincinnati (and even Louisville).  IIRC, stations like WSTR and WXIX even had translators in the Dayton area. 

 

Dayton, in reality was the market that Akron/Canton never was, since they were blessed with VHF allocations from the get-go, while Akron never got theirs mostly because Pittsburgh was under-stationed, and didn't sign on most of their stations until the late 50's.  And other market's tom-foolery with their daytime schedules made alternate affiliates a nice thing to have if they wanted to see a network show that another affiliate pre-empted. 

 

Digital-wise, when the stations shifted to UHF,  the contours shrank, and likely in the repack,  shrank even more because of close-spacing of frequencies.  This makes DXing virtually impossible, because what was once likely a distant station, is on the same frequency as a local one, and when the skies act up, can cause havoc.

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10 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Back in the analog era, the signals used to overlap a lot more between Dayton and Cincinnati (and even Louisville).  IIRC, stations like WSTR and WXIX even had translators in the Dayton area. 

 

Dayton, in reality was the market that Akron/Canton never was, since they were blessed with VHF allocations from the get-go, while Akron never got theirs mostly because Pittsburgh was under-stationed, and didn't sign on most of their stations until the late 50's.  And other market's tom-foolery with their daytime schedules made alternate affiliates a nice thing to have if they wanted to see a network show that another affiliate pre-empted. 

 

Digital-wise, when the stations shifted to UHF,  the contours shrank, and likely in the repack,  shrank even more because of close-spacing of frequencies.  This makes DXing virtually impossible, because what was once likely a distant station, is on the same frequency as a local one, and when the skies act up, can cause havoc.

 

Then-WBTI's Dayton translator was more about increasing the coverage area of their subscription TV service. WXIX never had one, as far as I know.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Maybe this needs it's own thread but Fairbanks Ak NBC affiliate KTVF has announced they are upgrading their graphics system and hence getting new graphics through commercials and asks for viewers patience. They seem to be getting the WMC/WTOC graphics and a new logo (don't know what the name of it is) so at least it is not honeycomb!

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