WJMN becomes independent station

[carolinanews4 233]

2 hours ago, TheSpeedKing said:

On a partially related note, I also have a feeling that WNCN is at risk to lose its CBS affiliation.

 

This seem a bit random. What makes you think WNCN is going away from CBS??? 

[Myron Falwell 3893]

The only thing that comes close to this mess is when ABC yanked the affiliation off WSVI with only 48 hours notice, and the VI cable company was as confused as anyone else.

 

Meanwhile, I feel for the Lilly engineers that are scrambling to Marquette right now just to make sure Drew Carey doesn't look flat at a pancake in glorious 2.15Mbps

Edited January 21, 2022 by Myron Falwell

[CubsFan79 53]

I said earlier surprised WBUP or WLUC TV did not affiliate with CBS. Little notice why WJMN did drop CBS. WZMQ seemed it would be less likely.

[Myron Falwell 3893]

Well, SOMETHING had to have happened between CBS and Nexstar in order for this mess to transpire the way it did.

[GodfreyGR 365]

2 hours ago, TheSpeedKing said:

I also have a feeling that WNCN is at risk to lose its CBS affiliation.

Doesn't this belong in speculation?

 

35 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

* 3) Why the short notice? Unless the affiliation contract was already set to expire on January 21, common sense would be to at least wait until February 1, so that viewers could acclimated with the changes. That just causes viewer confusion for no reason.

Wondering the same... For precedent, has anything like this happened before where a big three network just jumps affiliates literally overnight? And what kind of contract expires on the 21st of a month? Wouldn't you always do the first or last day of a month?

[Myron Falwell 3893]

5 minutes ago, GodfreyGR said:

Wondering the same... For precedent, has anything like this happened before where a big three network just jumps affiliates literally overnight? And what kind of contract expires on the 21st of a month? Wouldn't you always do the first or last day of a month?

The contract had to have been simply voided by either CBS or Nexstar. Otherwise it's purely nonsensical.

[CubsFan79 53]

Usually a network gives a few weeks to a months notice before switching stations.

[mrschimpf 1523]

51 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

WJMN losing CBS is absolutely no indicator of Nexstar’s chances of buying The CW or a stake in it, or of Nexstar’s relationship with CBS anywhere else.

 

There are a few questions I have about this:

* 1) Even with the issues mrschimpf outlined, you would think Nexstar of all companies would have a lot more leverage to keep CBS on WJMN, while agreeing to address the technical issues that became such a bother. The fact that Nexstar lost CBS to a station with no history as a Big Three station (and which hasn’t been a major network affiliate since it lost Fox to WLUC-DT2 in 2009) is odd to say the least.

* 2) Why did WZMQ decide to put CBS on its .2 instead of putting the network on its main channel and bumping MeTV programming to 19.2? Effectively, WZMQ will likely be the first subchannel-only Big Four affiliate to have a primary affiliation with a network that is commonly distributed via subchannels.

* 3) Why the short notice? Unless the affiliation contract was already set to expire on January 21, common sense would be to at least wait until February 1, so that viewers could acclimated with the changes. That just causes viewer confusion for no reason.

At least for question #2, it's likely that Weigel has a rock-solid contract for the DT1 channel, but I would think there's wiggle room on that. But more than likely, it seems likely they wanted to keep their MeTV carriage as-is on cable and satellite, so they agreed to put it on DT2 and take new channels for that, though they are taking over the HD channel of WJMN on Spectrum (so yes, they'll have in HD by the morning; it looks like a hasty Wiki edit just to get it in the article).

 

But I think for 1 and 3...at least with WFRV and WJMN, Nexstar has struggled with those stations, and there have been long-simmering transmitter issues going back to the digital transition, with WJMN having an unusual number of CP filings.

 

In Green Bay, WFRV is well stuck in third place behind the WBAY/WLUK horserace, with WGBA/WACY well behind (at least news-wise, but they have the official Packers deal and NBC's ratings), which Scripps seems to be content with, and WFRV was the odd station out; it and WJMN should have gone to Four Points, then to Sinclair, but CBS sold it alone to Liberty, then to Nexstar, and since then the situation has been unsettled, especially with a lack of investment in syndicated programming for both stations.

 

And though this belongs in spec, really, though WBAY is doing just fine with ABC, Gray would be happy to get those CBS Packer games back on WBAY and take back the Eye. With Sinclair having leverage with ABC, them taking it for WCWF wouldn't seem out of left field to me at all, leaving WFRV with either The CW or trying to go it alone as an indie news-heavy station (wholly unrelated to the CW sale). I don't want to say WJMN is making me nervous about moves in Green Bay, but the haste of the WJMN pulling suggests there might be some horse-trading or discontent between Nexstar and VCBS.

 

As to WLUC not getting CBS; it would likely be an FCC no-go, and CBS would not want to be third priority on one station. For WBKP/WBUP, they're probably just fine with ABC/CW and saw no need to change affiliations.

Edited January 21, 2022 by mrschimpf

[channel2 840]

CBS only sold WFRV and WJMN to Liberty for tax purposes. John Malone wanted to dump a bunch of shares in CBS Corporation and you know how much he hates paying taxes.

[Myron Falwell 3893]

1 minute ago, channel2 said:

CBS only sold WFRV and WJMN to Liberty for tax purposes. John Malone wanted to dump a bunch of shares in CBS Corporation and you know how much he hates paying taxes.

"It was a terrible TV station, but it was better than paying the government" SMH

[GodfreyGR 365]

31 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

And though this belongs in spec, really, though WBAY is doing just fine with ABC, Gray would be happy to get those CBS Packer games back on WBAY and take back the Eye. With Sinclair having leverage with ABC, them taking it for WCWF wouldn't seem out of left field to me at all, leaving WFRV with either The CW or trying to go it alone as an indie news-heavy station (wholly unrelated to the CW sale). I don't want to say WJMN is making me nervous about moves in Green Bay, but the haste of the WJMN pulling suggests there might be some horse-trading or discontent between Nexstar and VCBS.

Done. Let's get speculating!

[tyrannical bastard 2933]

For CBS to pull the plug on WJMN, it must have been an absolute trainwreck of a station.

 

According to Nexstar's 2020 annual report, 13 of their CBS affiliation agreements expired at the end of 2021.  WJMN must have been one of them, and the events that transpired today was likely the result of CBS scrambling to find a new home, and for WZMQ to make it happen.

 

As for the other 12, there's really no way of telling.  These agreements are likely holdovers from prior owners and they may be status quo unless there's a better option waiting in the wings to strike.

[Samantha 2830]

3 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

For CBS to pull the plug on WJMN, it must have been an absolute trainwreck of a station.

 

According to Nexstar's 2020 annual report, 13 of their CBS affiliation agreements expired at the end of 2021.  WJMN must have been one of them, and the events that transpired today was likely the result of CBS scrambling to find a new home, and for WZMQ to make it happen.

 

As for the other 12, there's really no way of telling.  These agreements are likely holdovers from prior owners and they may be status quo unless there's a better option waiting in the wings to strike.

 

Per Nexstar's 2021 ownership reports, other agreements that expired at the end of 2021 were KLBK, KLFY, KLST, KOIN, KTAB, WCIA, WFRV, WKBN, WLNS, WMBD, and WROC.

[Myron Falwell 3893]

Just now, Samantha said:

 

Per Nexstar's 2021 ownership reports, other agreements that expired at the end of 2021 were KLBK, KLFY, KLST, KOIN, KTAB, WCIA, WFRV, WKBN, WLNS, WMBD, and WROC.

Uhhh... that's making me wonder if @mrschimpf is onto something with WBAY.

[tyrannical bastard 2933]

Caught the end of WJMN's newscast on YouTubeTV.  They mentioned the changes happening at midnight.  Rather than going into The Late Show, they went to another program about Wisconsin Tourism.

I'd say the CBS era on WJMN has ended.  Now how long will it take for YTTV to take them down and put up WZMQ's CBS feed.

 

14 minutes ago, Myron Falwell said:

Uhhh... that's making me wonder if @mrschimpf is onto something with WBAY.

 

When is their affiliation agreement up with ABC?

Edited January 21, 2022 by tyrannical bastard

[Myron Falwell 3893]

Well, it's official. Welcome to CBS, WZMQ 19.2

[GodfreyGR 365]

Here's a first look of what WZMQ looks like as a CBS affiliate... At least logo wise. Posted this on their facebook page- Guessing it came from WICU since it's the same graphics?

[mrschimpf 1523]

57 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Caught the end of WJMN's newscast on YouTubeTV.  They mentioned the changes happening at midnight.  Rather than going into The Late Show, they went to another program about Wisconsin Tourism.

I'd say the CBS era on WJMN has ended.  Now how long will it take for YTTV to take them down and put up WZMQ's CBS feed.

As for the CBS/Paramount+ feed (thanks, Chrome sensor coordinates!), if you're in Marquette, you're seeing the raw network feed, PSAs and all for now there, including dead air. Still with the WJMN logo.

[Myron Falwell 3893]

18 minutes ago, GodfreyGR said:

Here's a first look of what WZMQ looks like as a CBS affiliate... At least logo wise. Posted this on their facebook page- Guessing it came from WICU since it's the same graphics?

"Snow Shoers" on Monday, these must be outsourced from KABC

[ABC 7 Denver 1462]

26 minutes ago, Myron Falwell said:

"Snow Shoers" on Monday, these must be outsourced from KABC

 

So graphics made in Power Point?

[Samantha 2830]

1 hour ago, GodfreyGR said:

Here's a first look of what WZMQ looks like as a CBS affiliate... At least logo wise. Posted this on their facebook page- Guessing it came from WICU since it's the same graphics?

 

They also put in that post that David Wolter, one of their mets in Erie, would be doing cut-ins for Marquette during CBS Mornings. They had been posting weather graphics pre-CBS (with red instead of yellow).

Edited January 21, 2022 by Samantha

[LTSC1980 71]

Looking at new logo in WJMN’s website and I have think about this….

 

You’re watching Local 3, home of upmatters.com

[TheSpeedKing 263]

6 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

Here's a first look of what WZMQ looks like as a CBS affiliate... At least logo wise. Posted this on their facebook page- Guessing it came from WICU since it's the same graphics?

This looks like what WFXT would make as part of a “weather graphics upgrade”.

[TheSpeedKing 263]

9 hours ago, carolinanews4 said:

 

This seem a bit random. What makes you think WNCN is going away from CBS??? 

WNCN is a weak CBS affiliate with a small market news operation. If Nexstar is not properly investing in this station, CBS might as well pull the plug and move to WRDC/WLFL. A 7pm newscast can be produced by WTVD, and now CBS has more stability.

[Myron Falwell 3893]

This is deeply abnormal behavior between two companies supposedly negotiating to transfer majority control of a mid-major broadcast network.

 

Something’s up.