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CircleSeven

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On 3/28/2020 at 1:47 PM, Samantha said:

There's a surprise in the Univision sale filing: because some of the owners have attributable interests in WAPA, they are divesting third-rated WLII and not ninth-rated WSTE.

 

 

On 3/29/2020 at 9:32 PM, AmericanErrorist said:

I wonder if the sale includes the Uni affiliation, or will they just move it to WSTE.

Skimming thru FCC filings + based on reasons bolded above, it appears the Univision affiliation + branding may move to WSTE, leaving WLII without an affiliate. It may signal a return to independent a la Teleonce (previous branding until 2002) Some of Uni/Unimas programming could go thru WAPA, while remain an indy. Similar to '90s + '00s when Telemundo PR had some Televisa novelas while WAPA had Uni-network programs (Primer Impacto, Cristina, Despierta Am.) + some Venevision programs. Cisneros groups had interest on ch. 4 back then. 

https://fcc.report/IBFS/SES-T-C-20200325-00323/2246378.pdf

 

From another source, translated:

https://www.tvboricuausa.com/2020/03/incierto-futuro-univision-puerto-rico-venta-canales-11-9-y-12.html

"From what is clear from the document, although not textually, Univisión PR would be passing at some point to the WSTE-DT signal (channel 7), while channels 11, 9 and 12 would be operated by another company (once) time the sale is consummated."

 

Q: What will happen with WAPA Deportes (sports subchannel) in terms of content? Will it rely more on TUDN + less on deals with NBA + MLB? (via ESPN/Turner/MLBN)

Edited by justin2kx
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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

A small M&A. But a key one at that.

 

Aperio Communications is selling its Fresno's MyNetworkTV station KAIL 7 to Christian broadcaster, TCT (Radiant Life Ministries) for $2.2M.

 

Not only it airs the MyNet programming, but the station airs KFSN's hourly 8pm newscast every weeknight, and a repeat of Action News Midday at 1pm.

 

The question would be if TCT decides to dump MyNet, which station would take the affiliation along with the syndie shows with it? KAIL also carry many diginets (H&I, Light TV, This & Ion).

 

I asked this because while TCT would normally replace the secular shows for their own once transaction ends, it recently bought a station in the Mississippi Delta (WFXW) they have kept the Ion stream on a subchannel.

 

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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Not too sure what they're going to use it for, post-build.

 

But SagamoreHill owns the Lake Charles CBS/MyNet LP combo KSWL/KWWE. They recently bought it from Waypoint Media late last year.

 

EDIT: I was looking at the contours of K24DX and the two LPs. And 24's contour serves the east-central section of KSWL/KWWE's viewing area. So I'm thinking is SagamoreHill will probably move that 24 signal to KSWL's tower. Because not only they air CBS & MyNet, but they also carry MeTV & Telemundo. I wouldn't be surprised if they move one of those networks on the new signal to relieve bandwidth of the two other channels.

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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1 hour ago, CircleSeven said:

Not too sure what they're going to use it for, post-build.

 

But SagamoreHill owns the Lake Charles CBS/MyNet LP combo KSWL/KWWE. They recently bought it from Waypoint Media late last year.

 

EDIT: I was looking at the contours of K24DX and the two LPs. And 24's contour serves the east-central section of KSWL/KWWE's viewing area. So I'm thinking is SagamoreHill will probably move that 24 signal to KSWL's tower. Because not only they air CBS & MyNet, but they also carry MeTV & Telemundo. I wouldn't be surprised if they move one of those networks on the new signal to relieve bandwidth of the two other channels.

 

That makes sense, get an additional mux on the stick and upgrade it to the 15 kW they're using on the other channels.

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2 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

If those are LP's, they don't count towards the national cap. On that thought - Lake Charles is the only market in Louisiana that Nexstar is absent in. Maybe that's something they should look into?

 

All three are LPs. And I doubt Nexstar would touch just these LPs with no news ops. The market is heavily dominated by Gray (KPLC/KVHP). Besides, Nexstar presence is big the next market over (Lafayette) and that signal (albeit VHF) stretches into Lake Charles.

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On 3/28/2020 at 12:47 PM, Samantha said:

There's a surprise in the Univision sale filing: because some of the owners have attributable interests in WAPA, they are divesting third-rated WLII and not ninth-rated WSTE.

 

So follow-up. The former owner of Estrella TV is about to take WLII

 

WLII Caguas, and its satellite outlets WOLE Aguadilla, WSUR Ponce & W21CX-D Mayaguez is being sold to Liberman Media Group for $1M.

 

Liberman Media Group is ran by Lenard Liberman. He was the founder and former owner of a company that its now known as Estrella Media, after it emerged from bankruptcy late last year.

 

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1 hour ago, CircleSeven said:

So follow-up. The former owner of Estrella TV is about to take WLII

 

WLII Caguas, and its satellite outlets WOLE Aguadilla, WSUR Ponce & W21CX-D Mayaguez is being sold to Liberman Media Group for $1M.

 

Liberman Media Group is ran by Lenard Liberman. He was the founder and former owner of a company that its now known as Estrella Media, after it emerged from bankruptcy late last year.

 

Well this is interesting...

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Hurricane Laura toppled the towers of two Lake Charles TV stations: NBC affiliate KPLC and CBS affiliate KSWL. The KPLC tower fell on the station’s offices, ripping a huge hole in the roof of the news studio. Thankfully, the staff had already evacuated to sister Gray stations in Alexandria and Baton Rouge. KPLC’s GM says the rebuilding process could take a year. 
 

The KSWL tower fell on a neighboring building. KSWL, which is based in the old KVHP building, doesn’t do news so no crews to relocate. In the video below, the first downed tower they show without identifying is the KSWL tower. 
 

https://www.kplctv.com/2020/08/27/lake-charles-tv-station-tower-toppled-laura/

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On 8/28/2020 at 10:51 AM, Greggo said:

Hurricane Laura toppled the towers of two Lake Charles TV stations: NBC affiliate KPLC and CBS affiliate KSWL. The KPLC tower fell on the station’s offices, ripping a huge hole in the roof of the news studio. Thankfully, the staff had already evacuated to sister Gray stations in Alexandria and Baton Rouge. KPLC’s GM says the rebuilding process could take a year. 
 

The KSWL tower fell on a neighboring building. KSWL, which is based in the old KVHP building, doesn’t do news so no crews to relocate. In the video below, the first downed tower they show without identifying is the KSWL tower. 
 

https://www.kplctv.com/2020/08/27/lake-charles-tv-station-tower-toppled-laura/

 

KVHP also has a silent STA because its signal path is the same as that of KPLC. Worth noting a distinction: KSWL's tower collapse included the transmitter. KPLC/KVHP's did not. So if they can get a signal path to the transmitter at Lunita, they can get back on the air.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Capitol Broadcasting Company is buying WARZ-CD Smithfield-Selma, NC, broadcasting to areas between Raleigh and Goldsboro, for use as an ATSC 3.0 mux for its Raleigh television stations. (The APA allows them to move the transmitter and file needed modification applications, so I suspect that's coming.) And it ain't cheap: they're shelling out $725,000.

Edited by Samantha
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  • 2 weeks later...

Two new sale transactions to note:

* Scripps is buying KCDO-TV/Sterling, CO and its Denver translator KSBS-CD for $9.5 million. The deal would form a full-power duopoly with KMGH, and force the sale of KPXC under the concurring Ion deal.

* Tegna is buying KMPX-TV/Decatur, TX from Estrella Media for $19 million. A very odd caveat included in the agreement is that Estrella was given an option to purchase WFAA, which would become KMPX's duopoly partner, an option I doubt would be exercised and doesn't make much sense to include.

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6 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Two new sale transactions to note:

* Scripps is buying KCDO-TV/Sterling, CO and its Denver translator KSBS-CD for $9.5 million. The deal would form a full-power duopoly with KMGH, and force the sale of KPXC under the concurring Ion deal.

* Tegna is buying KMPX-TV/Decatur, TX from Estrella Media for $19 million. A very odd caveat included in the agreement is that Estrella was given an option to purchase WFAA, which would become KMPX's duopoly partner, an option I doubt would be exercised and doesn't make much sense to include.

From what I've observed, the primary reason that Tegna is buying KMPX is to get WFAA 8.1 onto a UHF stick as there have apparently been complaints of reception issues with WFAA's current VHF signal.

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1 hour ago, JCB4TV said:

From what I've observed, the primary reason that Tegna is buying KMPX is to get WFAA 8.1 onto a UHF stick as there have apparently been complaints of reception issues with WFAA's current VHF signal.

They didn't say they're going to use "8.1" on the UHF allotment. You cannot assume its going to be 8.1, because they haven't announce what virtual channel they're going to use. As long as they still own WFAA on RF 8, it's still going to be VC 8.1 on WFAA. It could be 8.4 or 8.8, etc., but it's too early to tell what VC they're going to use on the UHF once the KMPX deal is completed.

 

7 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

* Tegna is buying KMPX-TV/Decatur, TX from Estrella Media for $19 million. A very odd caveat included in the agreement is that Estrella was given an option to purchase WFAA, which would become KMPX's duopoly partner, an option I doubt would be exercised and doesn't make much sense to include.

Now Estrella's option agreement to get VHF 8 (and its just the VHF assets (antenna/transmitter, not WFAA's studio or programming), that transaction will come after the KMPX transaction is completed. And that option will last for five years after closing. And then once that option transaction get exercised and completed, you'll likely see a callsign and virtual channel swap.

 

Post-Option Closing:

  • WFAA - VC 8.1 - RF 30 - Decatur - Tegna - ID 73701
  • KMPX - VC 29.1 - RF 8 - Dallas - Estrella - ID 72054

So Tegna is paying Estrella to go on the UHF allotment, and the Option price for Estrella is $5M. So Estrella is essentially pocketing $14M to move to VHF (should they exercise on that option).

 

This was similar to the KNSO/KGMC facility swap that happened earlier this year when Telemundo swap sticks with Cocola, getting Telemundo off VHF 11 to UHF 27.

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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36 minutes ago, CircleSeven said:

They didn't say they're going to use "8.1" on the UHF allotment. You cannot assume its going to be 8.1, because they haven't announce what virtual channel they're going to use. As long as they still own WFAA on RF 8, it's still going to be VC 8.1 on WFAA. It could be 8.4 or 8.8, etc., but it's too early to tell what VC they're going to use on the UHF once the KMPX deal is completed.

 

Now Estrella's option agreement to get VHF 8 (and its just the VHF assets (antenna/transmitter, not WFAA's studio or programming), that transaction will come after the KMPX transaction is completed. And that option will last for five years after closing. And then once that option transaction get exercised and completed, you'll likely see a callsign and virtual channel swap.

 

Post-Option Closing:

  • WFAA - VC 8.1 - RF 30 - Decatur - Tegna - ID 73701
  • KMPX - VC 29.1 - RF 8 - Dallas - Estrella - ID 72054

So Tegna is paying Estrella to go on the UHF allotment, and the Option price for Estrella is $5M. So Estrella is essentially pocketing $14M to move to VHF (should they exercise on that option).

 

This was similar to the KNSO/KGMC facility swap that happened earlier this year when Telemundo swap sticks with Cocola, getting Telemundo off VHF 11 to UHF 27.

 

 

You made a good point, but I still oppose this.

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Three small M&A closings tonight.

  • Gray has completed its Odessa acquisition of MeTV station KWWT & Cozi TV outlet KMDF-LD. More on that in the Gray thread.
  • Religious broadcaster TCT has completed its acquisition of Fresno station KAIL from Aperio Communications. No word on if the MyNetwork affiliation or syndication programming on 7.1 or the subchannels will be kept, post-closing.
  • Weigel has completed its acquisition of WHCT-LD from Venture Technologies Group. This is the first time MeTV is carried in the majority of the state of Connecticut. WZME was the last MeTV affiliate in the state prior to 2015. But it only served parts of it (primarily Fairfield County). MeTV & the sister diginets were launched on WHCT on Wednesday (9/30).
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On 10/1/2020 at 12:59 AM, CircleSeven said:

Three small M&A closings tonight.

  • Religious broadcaster TCT has completed its acquisition of Fresno station KAIL from Aperio Communications. No word on if the MyNetwork affiliation or syndication programming on 7.1 or the subchannels will be kept, post-closing.

 

Okay follow up regarding KAIL. On the station's website, it stated the following statement on its main page:

Quote

Valued viewers, advertisers, and vendors: Effective 10/01/20, Aperio Communications, LLC has sold KAIL-TV to Radiant Life Ministries, Inc., owners of TCT programming. TCT Programming will take over My Network Programming as of 09/28/20. 

 

Please be sure to rescan to catch all of the great programming that TCT offers. Remember to rescan often as new channels will be added.

 

No word on where all the displaced diginets or MyNet will go. But on the station's Facebook page, it appears that some viewers are not pleased with the changes.

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  • 4 weeks later...

New M&A. Seems that Weigel continues to grow.....


Remember a couple of months back, it announced they're acquiring Nashville's WJFB from HC2 Broadcasting.

 

Well they're now going to acquire four more stations from HC2 for $35M.

  • KAZD Lake Dallas (Dallas)
  • KYAZ Katy (Houston)
  • KMOH Kingman, AZ
  • KEJR-LD Phoenix

All of these stations currenty air Azteca America. That carriage will likely away should the deal get to the finish line. But HC2 does have a couple of LPs in those three cities it could move Azteca in.

 

But this could set up for a major shift in subchannel placement once the current carriage deals expires.

  • In Dallas, CBS's KTVT carries Start, while sister KTXA carries MeTV. Fox's KDFW carries Decades, while sister KDFI carries Movies & H&I.
  • In Houston, Graham's KPRC currently carry three of the nets (MeTV, H&I & Start) and Fox's KTXH carries two (Decades & Movies).
  • In Phoenix, KAZT in Prescott carries MeTV, while Fox's KSAZ (H&I) & KUTP (Decades, Movies & Start) carries the rest.

Weigel does have group deals with CBS & Fox to carry one (or more) of their diginets. Even two Fox O&Os carry MeTV (WTTG & KTBC). So It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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  • 4 weeks later...

I hope you like rulemaking applications, because there are a bunch of them in the FCC today as the TV modifications freeze ends after 16 years!

 

News-producing/airing:

KAIT: 8 to 27

KBOI: 9 to 20

KECI: 13 to 20

KCRG: 9 to 32

KFVS: 11 to 32

KHGI: 13 to 18

KHQA: 7 to 22

KRCG: 12 to 29

KRCR: 7 to 15

KTVL: 10 to 16

KTVM: 6 to 20

KVAL: 13 to 28

KVII: 7 to 20

WCYB: 5 to 30

WFXL: 12 to 29

WLUK: 12 to 18

WMC: 5 to 30

WRDW: 12 to 27

WRGB: 6 to 35

WTOC: 11 to 23

 

Non-news:

KHSV: 2 to 21

WAOE: COL to Oswego IL

WLMB: 5 to 35

Edited by Samantha
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22 hours ago, Samantha said:

I hope you like rulemaking applications, because there are a bunch of them in the FCC today as the TV modifications freeze ends after 16 years!

 

All I can say is wow! I feel this like 2009-2010 all over again. 20+ petitions filed on the same day? Damn!

 

Channel substitutions were happening after the DTV transaction, when many vacated off the problematic VHF signals and move to UHF. Then all that ended when they reinforced the freeze in 2011, in anticipation of the forthcoming (and now completed) spectrum auction and repack.

 

With the freeze lifted completely, this may not be the last of those substitution filings.......

 

 

Edited by CircleSeven
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