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CircleSeven

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Don't know what Brady is going to do with this little station. Brady bought P/B's other station, KIEM.

 

If KIEM is any indication, they'll get a decent and much-needed boost. I could even see locally originated news in the not-too-distant future. The sale also included the associated Me-TV LPTV station which needs digital conversion.

 

There's no opportunity to add another major network affiliation, so I guess Brady is gonna give it a little go.

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Also Ion will be acquired four stations from TBN (Ohio's WDLI & WSFJ and Indiana's WCLJ & WKOI).

 

WDLI will duo with WVPX in Cleveland, while WCLJ will duo with WIPX in Indianapolis.

 

The latter two already channel-share with those two stations, so it's yet another 'main channel partner buys the other' deal among the many TBN and Ion have done. Meanwhile, WKOI finally will get Ion into Dayton/Cincinnati. You have to begin to wonder how much more pulling back TBN will do on their OTA stations at this point outside the Top 25 and Nashville, as they seem to be struggling.

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The latter two already channel-share with those two stations, so it's yet another 'main channel partner buys the other' deal among the many TBN and Ion have done. Meanwhile, WKOI finally will get Ion into Dayton/Cincinnati. You have to begin to wonder how much more pulling back TBN will do on their OTA stations at this point outside the Top 25 and Nashville, as they seem to be struggling.

 

Well... actually... ION was on WBDT 26.3 from 2015 until just recently moved into WDTN 2.3 in February.

 

Plus, WBDT carried ION's previous incarnation as PAX from 1998-2004.

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Some M&As tonight.

 

Pollack/Belz is selling KLAX to Lost Coast Broadcasting for $3.5M.

 

Also Ion will be acquired four stations from TBN (Ohio's WDLI & WSFJ and Indiana's WCLJ & WKOI).

 

WDLI will duo with WVPX in Cleveland, while WCLJ will duo with WIPX in Indianapolis.

 

Interesting about KLAX; seems Pollack/Belz has owned them for the longest time.....

 

Just checked Lost Coast's website; they have no TV stations in their portfolio, so KLAX would be their first one. KLAX also has a Me-TV subchannel, too...

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Dominating small markets everywhere: Gray and Raycom to merge. https://www.raycommedia.com/gray-and-raycom-to-combine-in-a-3-6-billion-transaction/#amnewsers

For once it is not Sinclair or Nexstar. This should be a easy approval once divestments owners are found. I am glad they aren't trying to ask for waivers. Once the paperwork is up we will all see what they are planning. Gary in Cleveland, Charlotte and Cincinnati talk about moving in the market rank.

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Dominating small markets everywhere: Gray and Raycom to merge. https://www.raycommedia.com/gray-and-raycom-to-combine-in-a-3-6-billion-transaction/#amnewsers

 

This is big news because this means that Gray will have a presence in each of Louisiana’s seven TV markets, with the exception of Lafayette).

 

Markets/stations Gray has in Louisiana:

Monroe—KNOE

Alexandria—KALB

 

Markets/stations Raycom has in Louisiana:

New Orleans—WVUE

Baton Rouge—WAFB

Shreveport—KSLA

Lake Charles—KPLC

 

Even though Lafayette is the odd market out, didn’t Gray once manage KLFY & the other Young Broadcasting stations at one point when Young was going through bankruptcy proceedings?? I could be wrong.....

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Could they still swallow up Meredith before reaching 39%? Such a deal would add the few areas Gray currently lacks a presence (Pacific Northwest, southern New England) and beef up others (Tennessee, Georgia, Mobile).

 

Theoretically, yes. Adding Meredith would have a group in the low 30s of percentage. The only forseeable conflict would be Flint/Saginaw.

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WFXG is for sale; Gray is keeping what they have. They only have one full-power station (WAGT was sold off).

 

I always knew Sinclair would eventually make its way to Augusta.

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Funny it took Griffin this long to acquire radio stations, on account it has owned the Radio Oklahoma Network syndicated news service for at least 18 years now. Also, the deal creates strange bedfellows for the stations, since they'll be going from being sister properties of KJRH to being sister properties of one of its chief rivals, KOTV. This is duly noted considering that KFAQ -- which essentially founded KJRH in 1954 -- is involved in the deal.

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  • 3 weeks later...
New M&A.

Looks like Quincy wants to acquire KDLH & WISE outright.

 

The FCC has greenlighted the KDLH/WISE deal to Quincy.

 

Let's go back to the question that was asked when this deal was announced:

Could we see CBS return to KDLH and NBC return to WISE once the deal is done ?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they reverse the network switches.

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The FCC has greenlighted the KDLH/WISE deal to Quincy.

 

Let's go back to the question that was asked when this deal was announced:

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they reverse the network switches.

 

I take issue with that last sentence primarily because most people on this forum don't have a in-depth understanding of how day-to-day television operates. It's not as simple as a flip of a switch and you've switched affiliations. There are TONS of paperwork and contracts to fill out and sign first, next will require new logos and graphics packages which take time, then will require extensive training and run throughs to make sure everything is correct and proper. Then, you have to get Master Control to basically swap everything from one set of equipment to another, you have to program new satellite uplink coordinates into existing equipment for the opposite station. Then, you gotta clear out your cart system of anything that identifies you as an opposite affiliate which means promos, IDs, bumpers, old commercials with old logos in them. This process not only takes time but can be excruciating on older hardware, and ALL cart items will have to be replaced. Then, your sales team will have to go out and start re-selling advertising to the clients they already have (because ironically enough some business owners prefer to advertise on one affiliation or another). Never mind if you had an on-air promotion for one business on one station and you basically gotta blow that up and start over.

 

It is a MASSIVE undertaking that takes months and even years to smooth out the edges in affiliation switches. The major network affiliation switch marathon that happened between 1994-1996 didn't just happen overnight, it took months and at most a year of planning to get those stations ready. In very rare instances, such as WWJ-TV in Detroit, an owner/network had just weeks to put it altogether which meant working around the clock to make deadline.

 

So no disrespect to your viewpoint, but feasibly and financially they'd be wise to just keep things status quo. Unless Quincy wants to throw money, time, and a lot of resources into the switch then I stand corrected.

 

Remember the WRAL/WNCN switch? The switch was easiest on WRAL because all they had to do was patch up the behind the scenes stuff for the switch (though it definitely took months) but mostly they were ready because they had not voluntarily branded with CBS anything for a very long time. On the other hand, WNCN had to undergo a complete overhaul on-air and behind-the-scenes. Remember them interviewing behind-the-scenes crews and seeing that look of relief on their faces? That’s because they worked their ASSES off to pull off that switch.

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Some switches *still* have some unsettled dust (Detroit and Atlanta among them). Some affected markets turned out better than others in that regard. You hear stories later on of stations that _could have_ switched and didn't but were approached about it, like KXAS was by CBS during the mid-1990s big switches. Even though there have been national ratings wins over the years by both CBS and NBC, KXAS was better off not to switch. There is something to be said for stability.

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