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Standard Media buying Citadel stations


elopez09227

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Standard Media has purchased KLKN and WLNE of Citadel Communications for $83 million. This leaves Citadel with only cable station SNN in Sarasota, FL (a personal project of owner Phil Lambardo).

 

Lambardo is in his middle 80s. He purchased WLNE for $5.8 million in 2011. Amazing return on investment. The apparent value of KLKN was around $30 million.

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/235076/mcdermott-in-the-station-game-with-wlne-klkn/?

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Standard Media (sorta) has bought WLNE and KLKN.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/235076/mcdermott-in-the-station-game-with-wlne-klkn/

 

Why I said 'sorta': This Standard Media will be owned by Deb McDermott, not Soo Kim. Remember that McDermott was tapped to run the stations that Kim was going to buy had the Sinclair/Tribune merger gone through.

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47 minutes ago, NewsMaster said:

Standard Media (sorta) has bought WLNE and KLKN.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/235076/mcdermott-in-the-station-game-with-wlne-klkn/

 

Why I said 'sorta': This Standard Media will be owned by Deb McDermott, not Soo Kim. Remember that McDermott was tapped to run the stations that Kim was going to buy had the Sinclair/Tribune merger gone through.

And I should mention that Kim will just be providing the funding needed to purchase more TV stations.

 

I'll share my thoughts on the future of the new Standard Media in the speculatron board

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Interesting move! KLKN seemed like Sinclair bait and WLNE seemed like an asset with no reasonable buyer...now since this is not hedge fund-run (like the old Standard and like Terrier) maybe it will stick around a while.

 

IMO, the name needs to change to remove the connection (especially when it is tied to a toxic deal). McDermott Media or something like that sounds better.

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3 minutes ago, TheOneManHerd said:

They literally have nowhere else to go than up.

Agreed. I think WLNE is the most poorly-run Big 4 affiliate in New England. Only WVII/WFVX comes close, but since that's in a much smaller market it's not nearly as much of a big deal.

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25 minutes ago, NewsMaster said:

Agreed. I think WLNE is the most poorly-run Big 4 affiliate in New England. Only WVII/WFVX comes close, but since that's in a much smaller market it's not nearly as much of a big deal.

 

Not to mention that WABI has always destroyed WVII in the ratings that they can't even compete.

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1 hour ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Interesting move! KLKN seemed like Sinclair bait and WLNE seemed like an asset with no reasonable buyer...now since this is not hedge fund-run (like the old Standard and like Terrier) maybe it will stick around a while.

Honestly out of the 2 new groups that have been launched this year that has a chance to be successful and have sustaining power, I believe Standard Media has a chance of building something out of those 2 stations they're acquiring more so than Apollo and actually build off of the Citadel Acquisition.

 

Also based off of everything Deb McDermott said this won't be the last acquisitions they'll make

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51 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

Important to note, Citadel isn't completely going away. They'll continue to exist as the owners of WSNN-LD in Sarasota.

 

Of KLKN and WLNE, KLKN is by far the more profitable station.

 

That tells you something on how weak WLNE is. KLKN gets creamed by KOLN/KGIN in Lincoln and doesn't even reach the western part of the market, yet they do a lot better than WLNE which is in DMA 53.

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34 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

That tells you something on how weak WLNE is. KLKN gets creamed by KOLN/KGIN in Lincoln and doesn't even reach the western part of the market, yet they do a lot better than WLNE which is in DMA 53.

Given the track record McDermott has built when she was at Young and then again at Media General. KLKN, WLNE, and any other station Standard might acquire in the future any lackluster station will become profitable once they get in the hands of Deb McDermott.

 

The only station under McDermott that was a flop was KRON and that was it.

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40 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

Given the track record McDermott has built when she was at Young and then again at Media General. KLKN, WLNE, and any other station Standard might acquire in the future any lackluster station will become profitable once they get in the hands of Deb McDermott.

 

The only station under McDermott that was a flop was KRON and that was it.

 

KRON was a bit outside of McDermott's control. McDermott wasn't the person who thought that paying so much for one station was a good idea, nor was she the person who called the bluff of a very salty NBC. 

 

Fun fact: This means that every Big 4 station in Providence has had McDermott involved in some role (WJAR for the year between the Young/MG and MG/LIN deals, WPRI/WNAC under post-LIN MG, now WLNE).

 

4 hours ago, TheOneManHerd said:

They literally have nowhere else to go than up.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. WLNE is the epitome of consistently ending up in the path of bad luck. Looking back.

 

  • If Pulitzer held onto them in the early 80s instead of selling them to Freedom, they probably would be a Nexstar or TEGNA station today considering that a) Hearst would not have been able to keep them due to overlap with WCVB and b) that LIN and Gannett probably would've fought for the additional New England presence.
  • If Freedom held onto them back in 2007, they would be a Sinclair station today. Probably a better outcome than what happened under Citadel.
  • Hearst and Meredith both kicked the tires of WLNE back when Freedom had the "For Sale" sign up and both ran away when the price Freedom wanted was well above what either were willing to pay. Quite telling when broadcasters with relevant regional synergies that each own a powerhouse bail.
  • When the clock struck midnight with Global, the speculation was that Belo and Nexstar were both interested, the former would've made a backdoor print/newspaper combination (A.H. Belo owned the ProJo at the time), the latter would've given them an actual station in the market and a JSA/SSA would've been formed with WLWC (this when WLWC was still Four Points-owned and Nexstar operated) Again, TEGNA or Nexstar versus Citadel. 
  • WLNE had a good niche under Global where they did newscasts in time periods others weren't - 4:00, 7:00 (pre-WJAR), later weekend mornings.  While towards the end Global did silly things like preempt the 7:00 for an infomerical for the Genie Bra, it was at least something. All nuked by Citadel.

If there was a broadcasting version of sports YouTuber UrinatingTree, WLNE would have its own Legacy of Failure.

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1 minute ago, scrabbleship said:

 

KRON was a bit outside of McDermott's control. McDermott wasn't the person who thought that paying so much for one station was a good idea, nor was she the person who called the bluff of a very salty NBC. 

 

Fun fact: This means that every Big 4 station in Providence has had McDermott involved in some role (WJAR for the year between the Young/MG and MG/LIN deals, WPRI/WNAC under post-LIN MG, now WLNE).

 

 

I was thinking about this the other day. WLNE is the epitome of consistently ending up in the path of bad luck. Looking back.

 

  • If Pulitzer held onto them in the early 80s instead of selling them to Freedom, they probably would be a Nexstar or TEGNA station today considering that a) Hearst would not have been able to keep them due to overlap with WCVB and b) that LIN and Gannett probably would've fought for the additional New England presence.
  • If Freedom held onto them back in 2007, they would be a Sinclair station today. Probably a better outcome than what happened under Citadel.
  • Hearst and Meredith both kicked the tires of WLNE back when Freedom had the "For Sale" sign up and both ran away when the price Freedom wanted was well above what either were willing to pay. Quite telling when broadcasters with relevant regional synergies that each own a powerhouse bail.
  • When the clock struck midnight with Global, the speculation was that Belo and Nexstar were both interested, the former would've made a backdoor print/newspaper combination (A.H. Belo owned the ProJo at the time), the latter would've given them an actual station in the market and a JSA/SSA would've been formed with WLWC (this when WLWC was still Four Points-owned and Nexstar operated) Again, TEGNA or Nexstar versus Citadel. 
  • WLNE had a good niche under Global where they did newscasts in time periods others weren't - 4:00, 7:00 (pre-WJAR), later weekend mornings.  While towards the end Global did silly things like preempt the 7:00 for an infomerical for the Genie Bra, it was at least something. All nuked by Citadel.

If there was a broadcasting version of sports YouTuber UrinatingTree, WLNE would have its own Legacy of Failure.

On KRON: That was probably true because it probably wasn't McDermott's fault that KRON lost NBC in the first place it was really NBC that was just being greedy.

 

Let's just hope the bad luck at WLNE comes to an end because they just need someone who is the closest you can get to being on the level of Emily Barr and Deb McDermott is a very good fit for WLNE (and KLKN too)

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1 hour ago, scrabbleship said:

 

KRON was a bit outside of McDermott's control. McDermott wasn't the person who thought that paying so much for one station was a good idea, nor was she the person who called the bluff of a very salty NBC. 

 

Fun fact: This means that every Big 4 station in Providence has had McDermott involved in some role (WJAR for the year between the Young/MG and MG/LIN deals, WPRI/WNAC under post-LIN MG, now WLNE).

 

 

I was thinking about this the other day. WLNE is the epitome of consistently ending up in the path of bad luck. Looking back.

 

  • If Pulitzer held onto them in the early 80s instead of selling them to Freedom, they probably would be a Nexstar or TEGNA station today considering that a) Hearst would not have been able to keep them due to overlap with WCVB and b) that LIN and Gannett probably would've fought for the additional New England presence.
  • If Freedom held onto them back in 2007, they would be a Sinclair station today. Probably a better outcome than what happened under Citadel.
  • Hearst and Meredith both kicked the tires of WLNE back when Freedom had the "For Sale" sign up and both ran away when the price Freedom wanted was well above what either were willing to pay. Quite telling when broadcasters with relevant regional synergies that each own a powerhouse bail.
  • When the clock struck midnight with Global, the speculation was that Belo and Nexstar were both interested, the former would've made a backdoor print/newspaper combination (A.H. Belo owned the ProJo at the time), the latter would've given them an actual station in the market and a JSA/SSA would've been formed with WLWC (this when WLWC was still Four Points-owned and Nexstar operated) Again, TEGNA or Nexstar versus Citadel. 
  • WLNE had a good niche under Global where they did newscasts in time periods others weren't - 4:00, 7:00 (pre-WJAR), later weekend mornings.  While towards the end Global did silly things like preempt the 7:00 for an infomerical for the Genie Bra, it was at least something. All nuked by Citadel.

If there was a broadcasting version of sports YouTuber UrinatingTree, WLNE would have its own Legacy of Failure.

 

In those WLNE scenarios:

 

1) By 1998, the overlap rules were on their way out and Hearst would have likely still owned WLNE even alongside WCVB if Pulitzer kept it until the end.

 

2) Correct at least from 2007 to 2014. An alternate possibility in 2014 is that Sinclair could have used the opportunity to have WJAR as an upgrade in the LIN/MG deal, but that could have created complications if they wanted both (and who knows where WLNE would have gone).

 

3) Freedom must have treated WLNE like garbage in their days! Now, Meredith is for sale and Hearst has question marks, so it may not have been a good thing?

 

4) WLNE under Tegna (via Belo) would have at least tied it to the Maine stations, and now they would be about to gain a sister station next door. But under Nexstar that would have likely been short lived, since they would have certainly dumped it (to Heartland Media I am guessing) to get WPRI/WNAC in the Media General acquisition.

 

5) That's a clear sign of a cursed station. The competition is Sinclair and Nexstar though - can they actually carve a niche or make headway now? This is about as good as we could realistically expect. I know Tegna gets a lot of bad press these days. Scripps has nothing in New England. Gray would have been out simply because they can't touch KLKN. Another smaller company like Heartland or Quincy might have been a decent choice, but they should be happy at WLNE right now.

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15 minutes ago, AJClementeFan69 said:

I bet he still has SNN because McDermott didn't want to take it on. WWSB cleans their clock product-wise, and that's a station with a pretty lackluster news product itself.

I don't think that it's because McDermott didn't want to take on running a regional news channel per se right now, her focus is on (and should be) just getting her foot back into broadcasting. Especially after what happened last year

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13 minutes ago, mre29 said:

Anyone think WLNE should get new call letters to go with its new beginning? 😉

 

Ehhh... I think McDermott will take a page out of what Emily Barr did to WSLS.

 

What Graham did with a station that's always been lackluster in any given market proved that you can rebuild a station from the ground up without the need of pulling off a Memphis (IF done properly)

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18 hours ago, AJClementeFan69 said:

I bet he still has SNN because McDermott didn't want to take it on. WWSB cleans their clock product-wise, and that's a station with a pretty lackluster news product itself.

 

SNN is Lombardo's personal project (some call it a hobby at this point). He's at SNN a lot and recently moved them to a new building. He's keeping SNN until he dies.

 

22 hours ago, oknewsguy said:

Deb McDermott is a very good fit for WLNE (and KLKN too)

 

She'll surely want to make changes at both stations. KLKN has been last or close to last almost its entire existence, so she'll surely want to overhaul the news department (metaphorically and literally).

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1 hour ago, MidwestTV said:

 

SNN is Lombardo's personal project (some call it a hobby at this point). He's at SNN a lot and recently moved them to a new building. He's keeping SNN until he dies.

 

Eep. When he dies I have a feeling that will be the end of SNN, barring a Nexstar purchase to further integrate it with WFLA.

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3 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

She'll surely want to make changes at both stations. KLKN has been last or close to last almost its entire existence, so she'll surely want to overhaul the news department (metaphorically and literally).

I'd be interested to see how McDermott will do this. I really think the first order of business is setting up transmitters in the western part of the market where KLKN's Grade B signal doesn't even reach the Kearney area if I'm correct

 

As for WLNE, they need to overhaul the current syndication lineup they currently have have

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3 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

 

SNN is Lombardo's personal project (some call it a hobby at this point). He's at SNN a lot and recently moved them to a new building. He's keeping SNN until he dies.

 

 

She'll surely want to make changes at both stations. KLKN has been last or close to last almost its entire existence, so she'll surely want to overhaul the news department (metaphorically and literally).

 

SNN is definitely Lombardo's forever. Once he dies, they might just shut it down?

 

As for KLKN, they have their work cut out too. Gray literally has Nebraska dominated; the challenge in expanding to the western part of the market (and North Platte?) is that the NTV stations, owned by Sinclair, cover them (and they are very low in the ratings too). I always thought the only way that KLKN would be remotely competitive is if they and the NTV stations were back under the same umbrella. Unless Standard can acquire the NTV stations from Sinclair...but they have nothing to trade to them...

 

I'm guessing in the Lincoln et. al. market that KOLN/KGIN is #1 in ratings and KSNB is #2 (even though it doesn't cover Lincoln; WOWT does). Nebraska is weird for TV...

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