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Red River Broadcasting Sold to Forum


GodfreyGR

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https://www.inforum.com/business/7302587-Forum-WDAY-TV-plan-to-acquire-KVRR-TV-in-Fargo-KQDS-TV-in-Duluth

 

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The proposed transaction also involves the sale of certain satellite stations that deliver the KVRR signal to parts of the Fargo market.

 

Forum Communications is a family-owned media company specializing in broadcast, print and digital news as well as commercial printing and agency services. The company has more than 35 news, niche and broadcast media brands across North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota and continues to invest in quality journalism in the communities it serves.
 

More details will be worked out in the weeks and months ahead, Rohrer said. The acquisition is still subject to receipt of regulatory and other approvals.

 

 

Also mentions that Forum owns the Duluth News Tribune.

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1 hour ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Some time ago, I vaguely remember predicting that this would happen. I think it was one of those Speculatron  threads.  

Living in the market, it was only a matter of time, and sorry that I don't keep up on the Speculatron as much as I should... My pipe theory was that it would be Nexstar (who has CBS for the state outside of Fargo) who would then do an affiliation swap to get CBS from Gray (Who has Fox for ND outside of Fargo).

 

It is unfortunate that there will only be two broadcast TV Voices in the market going forward, but in their presser, local ownership was a driving factor... Which can be appreciated, right?

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4 hours ago, mvcg66b3r said:

We all know Forum can't legally buy KVRR, because it and WDAY/WDAZ are both Top 4 stations. I bet FOX programming gets moved to a WDAY/WDAZ subchannel, most likely 6.3/8.3 which is in HD.

 

I'm not so sure there won't be a KDLT-style waiver attempted here for a duopoly. The article published by KVRR seems to imply such.

https://www.kvrr.com/2021/11/30/red-river-broadcast-forum-communications-reach-purchase-agreement-for-fargo-duluth-tv-stations/

 

Quote

Red River Broadcast has entered into an Asset Purchase agreement with Forum Communications Co. for the sale of their station assets, FOX affiliates KVRR in Fargo, N.D. and KQDS in Duluth, Minn.  The transaction is pending the grant of a waiver from the FCC.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/30/2021 at 8:04 PM, blizzard59 said:

The transaction is pending the grant of a waiver from the FCC.

Jon Ellis is reporting on the waiver application to buy the full power license/signal for KVRR... Notes the only time this move has worked was Gray in Sioux Falls, suddenly KVRR made it a three-way race for #1 in the market, and Forum would keep the two Fargo newsrooms separate (has any dupoloy ever actually done that?)

 

https://www.northpine.com/blog/2022/01/22/forum-seeks-waiver-for-24m-purchase-of-fargo-duluth-fox-affiliates/

Edited by GodfreyGR
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11 minutes ago, GodfreyGR said:

and Forum would keep the two Fargo newsrooms separate (has any dupoloy ever actually done that?)

WNYW and WWOR kept their news departments seperate, from Fox's acquisition of Chris-Craft in 2001 all the way until the shutdown of WWOR's news department in 2013. 

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1 hour ago, TheSpeedKing said:

WNYW and WWOR kept their news departments seperate, from Fox's acquisition of Chris-Craft in 2001 all the way until the shutdown of WWOR's news department in 2013. 

 

When Emmis had KHON and KGMB in Hawaii, their newsrooms were kept separate. Doesn't Sinclair have a degree of separation between WOAI and KABB in San Antonio as well?

 

Though not a true duopoly the same could be said if WEAR and WPMI if anything for the geographical quirks of that market.

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13 minutes ago, CubsFan79 said:

KVRR TV FOX could get moved to WDAY TV if approved. SPECULATION.

But what I'm asking is why would Forum go for the waiver to get the full KVRR signal in the sale if that was going to be the move anyways? It seems that is the more difficult route to go...

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9 hours ago, scrabbleship said:

 

When Emmis had KHON and KGMB in Hawaii, their newsrooms were kept separate. Doesn't Sinclair have a degree of separation between WOAI and KABB in San Antonio as well?

 

Though not a true duopoly the same could be said if WEAR and WPMI if anything for the geographical quirks of that market.

The WOAI/KABB bosses initially told the local newspaper there would be no sharing after Sinclair snagged WOAI. That has been watered down dramatically over time … especially since WOAI moved to the KABB building from its historic longtime home on the River Walk downtown. (A fire sped up the process.) They share weekend anchors, weekday morning traffic anchors and GA reporters. You will see the same news reporter turning the same story repeatedly mornings, bouncing between the 2. The weekday morning and evening anchors don’t really cross over. That’s about it now. 

Edited by Greggo
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  • 1 month later...
3 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

And to no surprise, two major cable industry groups filed their objections to this deal.

 

The ATVA filed an informal objection, while the NCTA filed a petition to deny

Coworker and I were talking about this yesterday (sorry I didn't think to post about this then). So- either FCC denies the KVRR sale and breaks up KVLY's duopoly (or would they be grandfathered in?) Or they allow the sale and the ownership rules are all out the door? That's how I feel this reads between the lines...

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/3/2022 at 7:34 PM, CubsFan79 said:

KVLY is a full power station and KXJB TV is a low power station. I don’t  think the FCC will break up the duopoly of KVLY/KXJB.

Correct, low-power stations don’t count. KRDK is another “voice” in the market even though it is nothing more than a glorified diginet tree.

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  • 1 year later...
14 hours ago, plzstandby said:

Yeah...it seems as though Forum was way in over their heads here. I don't think this version of the FCC is interested in such a deal like this with plenty of conflicts in it

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