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Standard Media to acquire both Waypoint Media Group and Vision Communications


dman748

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Remember the Standard Media group that just purchased WLNE and KLKN? Well they just bought more stations.

 

Standard announced today they're acquiring nine television markets in six markets as well as 15 FM and AM radio stations plus it's news production hub based in Little Rock, Arkansas

 

I'd be very interested to see how Deb and her team will operate the stations.

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1 hour ago, oknewsguy said:

Remember the Standard Media group that just purchased WLNE and KLKN? Well they just bought more stations.

 

Standard announced today they're acquiring nine television markets in six markets as well as 15 FM and AM radio stations plus it's news production hub based in Little Rock, Arkansas

 

I'd be very interested to see how Deb and her team will operate the stations.

They didn’t acquire the Lake Charles, La., stations. Interesting. Wonder what the plan is for them?!? 

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8 minutes ago, Greggo said:

They didn’t acquire the Lake Charles, La., stations. Interesting. Wonder what the plan is for them?!? 

That's because KSWL/KWWE is in the process of being sold to SagamoreHill

 

After further review of the deal, it seams as if Standard and SagamoreHill made a trade to send KSWL/KWWE to SagamoreHill in exchange for WNBJ in Jackson, TN

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I guess Standard has decided to try and make a footprint in ultra-small markets with low power and low quality stations to try and improve them. Then again, for an upstart company like Standard, small is probably the way to go. Providence and Little Rock will be their largest markets. I'm most surprised about their foray into radio.

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1 minute ago, MidwestTV said:

I guess Standard has decided to try and make a footprint in ultra-small markets with low power and low quality stations to try and improve them. Then again, for an upstart company like Standard, small is probably the way to go. Providence and Little Rock will be their largest markets. I'm most surprised about their foray into radio.

If you count their news production company that is then yes

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Waypoint also owned/operated the CBS station in Meridian WMDN 24. Does not look like that station is on the sale list, just WGBC FOX/NBC 30. So it will be interesting who gains that station in the CBS/FOX/NBC combo of stations. 

 

I know WTOK ABC 11 owned by Gray is the major dominate station in that 7 county DMA. Would be an uphill battle in Meridian for sure.

 

Same goes for Standard in Jonesboro, AR and Jackson, TN. KAIT 8 (GRAY) and WBBJ 7 (Bahakel) are the long dominate stations in those markets. 

 

Will be interesting to see what happens, with them and the newshub in Little Rock. 

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2 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

I guess Standard has decided to try and make a footprint in ultra-small markets with low power and low quality stations to try and improve them. Then again, for an upstart company like Standard, small is probably the way to go. Providence and Little Rock will be their largest markets. I'm most surprised about their foray into radio.

 

This is a very interesting transaction by Standard Media.  I also saw something where Waypoint earlier this year bought Little Rock-based Independent News Network (the same people who are producing newscasts for several small-market stations).   

 

I'm very interested to know what their strategy is for local newscasts -- with respect to the fact that they'll have control over this operation, in additional to all of the TV stations they own and will soon own. 

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WMDN is barred from direct ownership because they were able to form a duopoly through a failed station waiver in order to merge entirely with WGBC.  WMDN previously controlled WGBC through an LMA that went back to 1995.  They cancelled newscasts and simulcasted WMDN's news for several years, then cancelled them and news only aired on WMDN until their cancellation in 2005.

 

Potential takers could be SagamoreHill, or even Byron Allen.  This would sort-of restore ownership of WMDN since it was Frank Spain who re-incarnated Channel 24 twice.  The second time was in the 70s through the 90s, when the station failed and went bankrupt, and once again from 1994 until the 2008 sale.  Spain was the longtime founder/owner of WTVA up in Tupelo, and that station was sold to Heartland Media, and now is owned by Byron Allen.   With SagamoreHill, ownership of them is plausible since it would only require a new LMA to keep things status quo.

 

Bottom line, Meridian is a tiny market that will likely require outside help from another market to fill the market with affiliations.  Both WMDN (as WTZH) and WGBC (as WLBM) failing in the 90s, one to bankruptcy and another to a studio fire ceded to WTOK as the dominant station in the market, and for that time, the ONLY local station by default.

 

15 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

 

This is a very interesting transaction by Standard Media.  I also saw something where Waypoint earlier this year bought Little Rock-based Independent News Network (the same people who are producing newscasts for several small-market stations).   

 

I'm very interested to know what their strategy is for local newscasts -- with respect to the fact that they'll have control over this operation, in additional to all of the TV stations they own and will soon own. 

 

Seeing as how their major transactions involve INN, a group of stations that rely on INN, and some former Citadel stations, that could be bad news for KLKN and WLNE (if it could possibly get any worse there).

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5 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Seeing as how their major transactions involve INN, a group of stations that rely on INN, and some former Citadel stations, that could be bad news for KLKN and WLNE (if it could possibly get any worse there).

 

I'm doubt it about WLNE and KLKN, but I think about the other stations.   And I could see a master control hub happening at INN fitting like a glove.

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What I'm still puzzled about is why would Standard trade KSWL for WNBJ? Maybe perhaps Standard didn't want to invest in developing a news department in Lake Charles and if so is it due to Lake Charles being like a Meridian or a Jonesboro with one station being the dominant one? Or maybe perhaps Deb has something cooking that we don't know about?

2 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Seeing as how their major transactions involve INN, a group of stations that rely on INN, and some former Citadel stations, that could be bad news for KLKN and WLNE (if it could possibly get any worse there).

I doubt if they would hub KLKN/WLNE's newscasts out of Little Rock. Maybe the master controls of all the Standard stations get hubbed out of there and maybe used as a capitol bureau for KJNB but that'd be it.

 

I think Standard will try to develop newscasts in places like Meridian, Jonesboro and Hattiesburg but as I said above I'm still puzzled as to why they wouldn't do it in Lake Charles since KSWL has no newscasts at all.

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Well Standard will need to address the fact KJNB is a low-powered station.  If they are ever going to be a serious competitor to KAIT, they need to find a full-powered signal to broadcast or simulcast.     This purchase by Standard Media is rather unusual (considering the INN is part of this) and I am very interesting what they may have up their sleeve.

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1 minute ago, TheRyan said:

Well Standard will need to address the fact KJNB is a low-powered station.  If they are ever going to be a serious competitor to KAIT, they need to find a full-powered signal to broadcast or simulcast.     This purchase by Standard Media is rather unusual (considering the INN is part of this) and I am very interesting what they may have up their sleeve.

Or at least have the transmitter built from the ground up and have it tall enough that people in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri will be able to view KJNB's signal

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That would be Standard General, this current Standard Media has no connections to Standard General (which that company has the biggest stake in Tegna)

 

Although I would say maybe perhaps Deb should rename Standard Media to something else?

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26 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

That would be Standard General, this current Standard Media has no connections to Standard General (which that company has the biggest stake in Tegna)

 

Although I would say maybe perhaps Deb should rename Standard Media to something else?

 

I wonder if "Standard Media" is more of a placeholder before assuming a new name later on.   But if the name is meant to last, although it's a bit boring of a name, I'm personally okay with it.

 

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That's a good question I'm sure Deb would like to rebrand Standard Media to something else but right now it probably won't happen.

 

I'd like to see something like a Media General or LIN Media something like that to be the new name when they DO rebrand

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5 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

That's a good question I'm sure Deb would like to rebrand Standard Media to something else but right now it probably won't happen.

 

I'd like to see something like a Media General or LIN Media something like that to be the new name when they DO rebrand

 

She seems to be a smart leader and I bet she'll look into that.  But considering the mess she has on her hands with WLNE and KLKN, I wouldn't expect a name change to be high on her priority list for now.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the Media General, LIN Media, or even Young Broadcasting name.  But it's almost a given that she would need to negotiate with Nexstar for purchasing rights to those trademarks (if Nexstar owns them in any way).    So it's probably more likely she would choose a fresh new name.

 

As long as the name isn't repugnant like Tronc was, I'm sure that Standard would choose a good name.

 

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5 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

 

She seems to be a smart leader and I bet she'll look into that.  But considering the mess she has on her hands with WLNE and KLKN, I wouldn't expect a name change to be high on her priority list for now.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the Media General, LIN Media name, or even Young Broadcasting.  But it's almost a given that she would need to negotiate with Nexstar for purchasing rights to those trademarks (if Nexstar owns them in any way).    So it's probably more likely she would choose a fresh new name.

 

As long as the name isn't repugnant like Tronc was, I'm sure that Standard would choose a good name.

 

Someone mentioned about Nexstar owning trademarks to those names so I could see a situation where a bit of negotiationg and dealing would have to take place.

 

But going back to the topic at hand, this in a way feels more like a Five way merger with the combined company being known as Standard given how Waypoint was structured I'm pretty sure it was a mess

 

Also you could qualify the deal involving Standard/Waypoint and SagamoreHill as a trade/seperate deal in that context of the overall structure of the merger

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7 hours ago, TheRyan said:

I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the Media General, LIN Media, or even Young Broadcasting name.  But it's almost a given that she would need to negotiate with Nexstar for purchasing rights to those trademarks (if Nexstar owns them in any way).    So it's probably more likely she would choose a fresh new name.

 

That would be the smartest route. Why bring back a company name from the past when you can come up with something new?

 

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12 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

WMDN is barred from direct ownership because they were able to form a duopoly through a failed station waiver in order to merge entirely with WGBC.  WMDN previously controlled WGBC through an LMA that went back to 1995.  They cancelled newscasts and simulcasted WMDN's news for several years, then cancelled them and news only aired on WMDN until their cancellation in 2005.

 

Potential takers could be SagamoreHill, or even Byron Allen.  This would sort-of restore ownership of WMDN since it was Frank Spain who re-incarnated Channel 24 twice.  The second time was in the 70s through the 90s, when the station failed and went bankrupt, and once again from 1994 until the 2008 sale.  Spain was the longtime founder/owner of WTVA up in Tupelo, and that station was sold to Heartland Media, and now is owned by Byron Allen.   With SagamoreHill, ownership of them is plausible since it would only require a new LMA to keep things status quo.

 

Bottom line, Meridian is a tiny market that will likely require outside help from another market to fill the market with affiliations.  Both WMDN (as WTZH) and WGBC (as WLBM) failing in the 90s, one to bankruptcy and another to a studio fire ceded to WTOK as the dominant station in the market, and for that time, the ONLY local station by default.

I looked through the public file and currently WMDN is not commonly-owned by WGBC (Waypoint). Its parent company of WMDN-TV, LLC (licensee of WMDN) is Fuze Ventures.

 

But that 1995 Grandfathered LMA is still active. So I wouldn't be surprised if Standard Media continues with the WMDN LMA post-closing, even though it wasn't mentioned in last night's press release. It might be mentioned once they file the transaction paperwork. That should be posted soon.

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3 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

I looked through the public file and currently WMDN is not commonly-owned by WGBC (Waypoint). Its parent company of WMDN-TV, LLC (licensee of WMDN) is Fuze Ventures.

 

But that 1995 Grandfathered LMA is still active. So I wouldn't be surprised if Standard Media continues with the WMDN LMA post-closing, even though it wasn't mentioned in last night's press release. It might be mentioned once they file the transaction paperwork. That should be posted soon.

If that's the case, it's most likely going to be status quo with the LMA intact.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Paperwork is Up! 

 

Because of the complexity of this deal (which includes multiple LPTVs & radio stations with different licensee names), several separate applications were made.

  • The two apps (WAZY-FM & KJNB-LD) share the same asset purchase agreement. It includes all the Lafayette, IN LPTV & radio properties, the two Jonesboro, AR LPTVs, and its NewsHub facility in Little Rock. Price: $27,836,162 ($27.8M).
  • The Elmira TV properies, which includes (WYDC) and the LPTVs. Price: $9,292,172 ($9.29M).
  • The Elmira radio properties including (WENI). Price: $1,793,468 ($1.79M).
  • Jackson, TN LPTV (WNBJ) from SagamoreHill. Price: $3,030,726 ($3.03M).
  • Hattiesburg, MS LPTV (WHPM). Price: $7,290,781 ($7.29M).
  • Meridian, MS station (WGBC). Price: $10M.
  • Also, ownership of that other Meridian station (WMDN) is also changing hands as well. Lance Media will be controlled by Sheldon Galloway (which he also runs Shield Media (WXXA & WLAJ)). The app includes the 1995 Grandfathered TBA. Price: $4,956,691 ($4.95M). 

And if you add all of that up the total purchase price (include the WMDN Lance deal) is $64.2M.

 

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