9 Fox O&Os to be sold

[TheRob]

NewsCorp announced late this afternoon they'll sell the following stations.

WDAF
KTVI
KDVR
KSTU
WHBQ
WBRC
WGHP
WITI
WJW

There is no buyer yet.

 

[KML0224]

Cost cutting measure perhaps? WOW!

 

[genius]

Well it's been known for over a year now Murdoch had the intentions to sell off some of its O&Os, interesting all are from the old New World group, except for KSTU and KDVR, with the latter being and O&O since the 80s and KDVR became an O&O in 1993. KDVR does strike as surprising though.

 

[Kent]

With the exception of St. Louis (thought you might be able to make a case for Milwaukee and High Point, too), all of the stations being divested are in AFC football markets or markets that don't have football. The main reason for Fox's massive expansion in the early and mid 90's was the NFC football rights, which required better signals. So, markets like Kansas City and Memphis never made much sense for Fox.

There was a rumor I heard awhile back that Young was wanting to sell KRON, and Fox had its checkbook open but couldn't do anything because KRON would have put them over the national ownership cap. Divesting these stations would enable them to buy KRON. However, that's a rumor, and Fox has a pretty strong affiliate in the Bay Area in KTVU. So, you can take that rumor for whatever you feel it's worth.

 

[TheRob]

Keeping:
#1 New York
#2 L.A.
#3 Chicago
#4 Philadelphia
#6 Dallas
#8 DC
#9 Atlanta
#10 Houston
#11 Detroit
#12 Tampa
#13 Phoenix
#15 Minneapolis
#19 Orlando
#52 Austin

Selling:
#17 Cleveland
#18 Denver
#21 St. Louis
#31 Kansas City
#34 Milwaukee
#35 Salt Lake City
#40 Birmingham
#44 Memphis
#47 Greensboro

 

[Firebird]

Could CBS go after Cleveland (WJW/8), Milwaukee (WITI/6), and Birmingham (WBRC/6) to get their programming back on VHF stations? Though, is the dial position really important these days with the switch to digital?

 

[FightingIrish]

Looks like Ol' Rupert is gearing up to buy Dow Jones. Business Week says they have around $7 billion in cash right now at their disposal. They want to offer as much cash as possible for DJ.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8PO67081.htm

Also, none of these are in markets where they own two stations.

 

[FightingIrish]

Could CBS go after Cleveland (WJW/8), Milwaukee (WITI/6), and Birmingham (WBRC/6) to get their programming back on VHF stations? Though, is the dial position really important these days with the switch to digital?

No way FOX would do something as stupid as to sell to another network. And CBS is too dimwitted to even think of something like this.

Any group that buys these stations will most likely stay with FOX. Most station owners drool over FOX affiliations, more than the other networks in many cases. Think about it - 2-3 hours a day network clears versus 8-9 for the other guys (giving the owners more local time to sell). Also the NFL and "American Idol". Why would any station give that up?

 

[jlehmann]

Keeping:
#1 New York
#2 L.A.
#3 Chicago
#4 Philadelphia
#6 Dallas
#8 DC
#9 Atlanta
#10 Houston
#11 Detroit
#12 Tampa
#13 Phoenix
#15 Minneapolis
#19 Orlando
#52 Austin

Selling:
#17 Cleveland
#18 Denver
#21 St. Louis
#31 Kansas City
#34 Milwaukee
#35 Salt Lake City
#40 Birmingham
#44 Memphis
#47 Greensboro

What about Boston?

 

[arnoldevns]

NewsCorp announced late this afternoon they'll sell the following stations.

WDAF
KTVI
KDVR
KSTU
WHBQ
WBRC
WGHP
WITI
WJW

There is no buyer yet.

Just glancing at this list it appears to me that it's stations in markets where...
1. Fox does not have a duopoly
2. Smaller market
3. Poorly performing stations

Still a bit surprising.

 

[FACTman]

Could CBS go after Cleveland (WJW/8), Milwaukee (WITI/6), and Birmingham (WBRC/6) to get their programming back on VHF stations? Though, is the dial position really important these days with the switch to digital?

Here in Cleveland, the CBS affliate used to be WJW/WJKW and the FOX affliate started on WOIO, but in 1994, they flipped.
I am surprised by the WJW sale because the Cleveland O&O has been very successful for them. But then again, get the most for it while you can.

On the brighter note...us Northeast Ohioans will no longer be force-fed everything from FOX that other markets don't have to pick up because they're not an O&O.

 

[Garrett]

Keeping:
#1 New York
#2 L.A.
#3 Chicago
#4 Philadelphia
#6 Dallas
#8 DC
#9 Atlanta
#10 Houston
#11 Detroit
#12 Tampa
#13 Phoenix
#15 Minneapolis
#19 Orlando
#52 Austin

Selling:
#17 Cleveland
#18 Denver
#21 St. Louis
#31 Kansas City
#34 Milwaukee
#35 Salt Lake City
#40 Birmingham
#44 Memphis
#47 Greensboro

I am pretty sure WFXT 25 in Boston is also a Fox O & O.
So are they not sure if they are keeping them?

 

[sctvman]

I am pretty sure WFXT 25 in Boston is also a Fox O & O.
So are they not sure if they are keeping them?

Boston is a major market and I am sure that Fox will keep WFXT-TV. I am surprise that Fox is not selling their O&O station in Austin, TX. However, Austin is one of the fastest-growing television markets in the nation!

 

[DToTheJ]

Boston is a major market and I am sure that Fox will keep WFXT-TV. I am surprise that Fox is not selling their O&O station in Austin, TX. However, Austin is one of the fastest-growing television markets in the nation!

And KTBC is like the only VHF station in Austin to boot!

 

[snoman]

Keeping:
#1 New York
#2 L.A.
#3 Chicago
#4 Philadelphia
#6 Dallas
#8 DC
#9 Atlanta
#10 Houston
#11 Detroit
#12 Tampa
#13 Phoenix
#15 Minneapolis
#19 Orlando
#52 Austin

Selling:
#17 Cleveland
#18 Denver
#21 St. Louis
#31 Kansas City
#34 Milwaukee
#35 Salt Lake City
#40 Birmingham
#44 Memphis
#47 Greensboro

What about Boston?

They're not selling Fox 25 either. It's a Top 10 Market. They are unloading all their smaller market stations. It's what a lot of big companies are doing (i.e. CBS Radio & Clear Channel Radio).

 

[genius]

Could CBS go after Cleveland (WJW/8), Milwaukee (WITI/6), and Birmingham (WBRC/6) to get their programming back on VHF stations? Though, is the dial position really important these days with the switch to digital?

No way FOX would do something as stupid as to sell to another network. And CBS is too dimwitted to even think of something like this.

Not to mention CBS just sold a bunch of stations as well, plus they're still close to the 39% cap.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Could CBS go after Cleveland (WJW/8), Milwaukee (WITI/6), and Birmingham (WBRC/6) to get their programming back on VHF stations? Though, is the dial position really important these days with the switch to digital?

Since the digital stations "map" to their original positions, the dial position likely will remain important. Dial position isn't as important as it was back when UHF was less accessible, but it still is important today.

 

[DToTheJ]

This move makes me wonder if Fox is on the cusp of trying to get for-sale WBTV in (Market 25) Charlotte.

 

[Markxxx]

#17 Cleveland

3 - WKYC NBC (Gannett)
5 - WEWS ABC (EW Scipps)
19- WOIO CBS (Raycom)
43- WUAB MNTV (Raycom)
55- WBNX CW (Winston Broadcasting Network)

(Fox WJW(8 ) Former CBS)
-------------------------
#18 Denver

2 - KWGN CW (Tribune)
4 - KCNC CBS (CBS)
7 - KMGH ABC (McGraw-Hill)
9 - KUSA NBC (Gannett)
20- KTVD MNTV (Gannett)

(Fox KDVR(31) Always Fox)
-------------------------
#21 St. Louis

4 - KMOV CBS (Belo)
5 - KDSK NBC (Gannett)
11- KPLR CW (Tribune)
30- KDNL ABC (Sinclair)
46- WRBU MNTV (Roberts Broadcasting)

(Fox KTVI(2) Former ABC)
-------------------------
#31 Kansas City

5 - KCTV CBS (Meredith)
9 - KMBC ABC (Hearst-Argyle)
29- KCWE CW (Hearst-Argyle Managed)
41- KSHB NBC (EW Scripps)
62- KSMO MNTV (Meredith)

(Fox WDAF(4) Former NBC)
-------------------------
#34 Milwaukee

4 - WTMJ NBC (Milwaukee Journal)
12- WISN ABC (Hearst-Argyle)
18- WVWT CW (Sinclair)
24- WCGV MNTV (Sinclair)
58- WDJT CBS (Weigal Broadcasting)

(Fox WITI(6) Former CBS)
-------------------------
#35 Salt Lake City

2 - KUTV CBS (CBS)
4 - KTVX ABC (Clear Channel)
5 - KSL NBC (Bonneville)
14- KJZZ MNTV (Larry H Miller)
30- KUWB CW (Clear Channel)

(Fox KSTU(13) Former Always Fox)
[note: Clear Channel Stations pending sale]
-------------------------
#40 Birmingham

13- WVTM NBC (Media General)
17- WDBB CW (Sinclair)
21- WTTO CW (Sinclair)
33- WCFT ABC (Allbritton)
40- WJSU ABC (Allbritton)
42- WIAT CBS (New Vista Television)
68- WABM MNTV (Sinclair)


(Fox WBRC(6) Former ABC)
-------------------------
#44 Memphis

3 - WREG CBS (New York Times)
5 - WMC NBC (Raycom)
24- WPTY ABC (Clear Channel)
30- WLMT CW (Clear Channel)
50- WPXX MNTV / ION (ION Media)


(Fox WHBQ(13) Former ABC)
[note: Clear Channel Stations pending sale]
-------------------------
#47 Greensboro

2 - WFMY CBS (Gannett)
12- WXII NBC (McGraw-Hill)
20- WCWG CW (Pappas)
45- WXLV ABC (Sinclair)
48- WMYV MNTV (Sinclair)

(Fox WGHP(8 ) Former ABC)
-------------------------


Source: Wikipedia ( I think I got it right, post corrections if any)

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

Keeping:
#10 Houston

Rather surprising considering that A). Houston is an NFL AFC Football city (Houston Texans) AND B). The Astros make semi-regular appearances on FOX Saturday Major League Baseball.

#19 Orlando

Kinda surprising they'd keep WOFL at all considering there's NOTHING in Orlando except for maybe the occasional NASCAR race - If that.

#52 Austin

Same as Orlando, although since KTBC is the only VHF channel in Austin (Tis funny though, I thought there is/was a Channel 9 PBS affiliate. Perhaps I'm mistaken?).

Selling:
#17 Cleveland
#18 Denver
#21 St. Louis

Kinda surprising they'd sell Cleveland & Denver considering they're both Top 20 markets EVEN THOUGH they're both NFL AFC cities (Cleveland Browns & Denver Broncos). On top of that, there's the Cleveland Indians, who no doubt make semi-regular appearances on FOX Saturday Major League Baseball and the Colorado Rockies, who are on News Corp. owned FOX Sports Net Rocky Mountain as well.

And St. Louis is an NFL NFC city (St. Louis Rams) AND their baseball team (St. Louis Cardinals) is on FOX Saturday Major League Baseball on a regular basis (To say nothing of the fact the Cardinals are still the reigning World Champs right now).

Just my opinion though.....

Cheers