Allbritton Next on the Block?

[JeeperOne]

Sinclair just became the Clear Channel of television. One has to wonder how long before they buy a network, since a majority of them are ABC affiliates.

Or become a program producer/syndicator & launch an online TV portal like iHeartRadio is to radio stations as well as a slew of niche diginets (Which are also streamed online)

Cheers & 73 ;D

 

[JeeperOne]

Although I doubt Disney would buy any stations, at this point, Disney could still make a deal with Tribune to buy out stations and get an ABC O&O in DC.

Disney could buy out WDCW from Tribune and convert it to DC's ABC O&O station similar like how NBC got KNTV and made it a cable Ch.3 in the Bay Area, NBC O&O.

Preposterous :

Besides, the "NBC 3" idea went over with Bay Area TV viewers like a lead balloon, which is why it's now called NBC Bay Area. What makes you think it will work in DC ??

Regarding other possible stations, I'd think WGN America would make a good fit with Disney as well, local WGN Chicago less so but could fit as a duopoly with WLS,

OK, now you've REALLY lost it (And ME as well). Why would Tribune sell WGN to Disney - A COMPETITOR ?? What's to be gained by that? ???

Sinclair is more aligned with FOX anyways. The Seattle ABC which Sinclair bought could flip to FOX affiliation.

Tribune didn't like the idea of having WGNO 26 forcibly take the ABC affiliation in New Orleans when WVUE flipped to FOX. What makes you think they wouldwant the same thing with KCPQ 13 ?? That makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE !!

A deal with Tribune to cherry pick some stations would be easier than Disney buying out Allbritton. The latter would have made Disney involved in a number of small market stations like Birmingham and Harrisburg,

Birmingham didn't pay off for NBC when they owned the affiliate there. What makes you think ABC will fare any better ?? This makes EVEN LESS SENSE !!

a local cable news channel in DC, it would anyways have to sell and/or not want much or any involvement.

Umm.....You might wanna tell that to Gannett because all indicators I've seen on here point to them KEEPING NWCN & TXCN

Cheers & 73 ;D

 

[kilamanjero]

Although I doubt Disney would buy any stations, at this point, Disney could still make a deal with Tribune to buy out stations and get an ABC O&O in DC.

Disney could buy out WDCW from Tribune and convert it to DC's ABC O&O station similar like how NBC got KNTV and made it a cable Ch.3 in the Bay Area, NBC O&O.

Regarding other possible stations, I'd think WGN America would make a good fit with Disney as well, local WGN Chicago less so but could fit as a duopoly with WLS, and maybe a couple of other Tribune stations could be bought, like the duopoly in Seattle. The Sinclair & Disney station group affiliation isn't very wide like Hearst & Disney, or Scripps & Disney, which have many large DMAs, so I don't see any commitment or obligation that Disney really has with Sinclair. For all purposes, Disney could just deal with Tribune in DC and Seattle.

Sinclair is more aligned with FOX anyways. The Seattle ABC which Sinclair bought could flip to FOX affiliation.

A deal with Tribune to cherry pick some stations would be easier than Disney buying out Allbritton. The latter would have made Disney involved in a number of small market stations like Birmingham and Harrisburg, a local cable news channel in DC, it would anyways have to sell and/or not want much or any involvement.

I would have taken your response seriously, but when you consider a market like Birmingham "Small" then I know that you don't know what you are talking about. It is in the top 50 largest in the nation, so that is far from being "small". It would be considered a "medium" sized market at best.

 

[ding12]

Although I doubt Disney would buy any stations, at this point, Disney could still make a deal with Tribune to buy out stations and get an ABC O&O in DC.

Disney could buy out WDCW from Tribune and convert it to DC's ABC O&O station similar like how NBC got KNTV and made it a cable Ch.3 in the Bay Area, NBC O&O.

Preposterous :

Besides, the "NBC 3" idea went over with Bay Area TV viewers like a lead balloon, which is why it's now called NBC Bay Area. What makes you think it will work in DC ??

Regarding other possible stations, I'd think WGN America would make a good fit with Disney as well, local WGN Chicago less so but could fit as a duopoly with WLS,

OK, now you've REALLY lost it (And ME as well). Why would Tribune sell WGN to Disney - A COMPETITOR ?? What's to be gained by that? ???

Sinclair is more aligned with FOX anyways. The Seattle ABC which Sinclair bought could flip to FOX affiliation.

Tribune didn't like the idea of having WGNO 26 forcibly take the ABC affiliation in New Orleans when WVUE flipped to FOX. What makes you think they wouldwant the same thing with KCPQ 13 ?? That makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE !!

A deal with Tribune to cherry pick some stations would be easier than Disney buying out Allbritton. The latter would have made Disney involved in a number of small market stations like Birmingham and Harrisburg,

Birmingham didn't pay off for NBC when they owned the affiliate there. What makes you think ABC will fare any better ?? This makes EVEN LESS SENSE !!

a local cable news channel in DC, it would anyways have to sell and/or not want much or any involvement.

Umm.....You might wanna tell that to Gannett because all indicators I've seen on here point to them KEEPING NWCN & TXCN

Cheers & 73 ;D

DC is on the same scale as size as the SF/Bay Area. There is retransmission revenue that Disney gets when an O&O is on the cable system. Why should Sinclair get it? There's a reason ABC didn't just give away ABC affiliation to some low powered station in Monterey, but operated a cable only station for years. Only because Hearst is a strong ABC affiliate member did Disney give them the affiliation on a subchannel.

You misunderstood what I said about Birmingham. I said Disney wouldn't want to own and operate a station there, but an Allbritton buyout would have put them in Birmingham.

Rather than a full Allbritton buyout, Disney could buy WDCW, KJZO and a 75% stake in WGN America, which is an underperforming cable network for Tribune.

Tribune and Fox compete (WNYW vs. WPIX, KTTV vs. KTLA), yet Tribune operates Fox affiliates. Tribune and Disney compete in news, but not really like DirecTV vs. Dish Network, where it's a direct competition. The selling to a competitor argument in general doesn't make sense, since it happens all the time in business.

 

[ding12]

I would have taken your response seriously, but when you consider a market like Birmingham "Small" then I know that you don't know what you are talking about. It is in the top 50 largest in the nation, so that is far from being "small". It would be considered a "medium" sized market at best.

Birmingham is small. A big market is about a top 15 market, medium is in range of 15-30, everything else is small, just varying levels of small. Otherwise NBC wouldn't have sold stations, like the Columbus NBC station to Media General. Birmingham contributes less than 1% of the TV HH.

 

[kilamanjero]

I would have taken your response seriously, but when you consider a market like Birmingham "Small" then I know that you don't know what you are talking about. It is in the top 50 largest in the nation, so that is far from being "small". It would be considered a "medium" sized market at best.

Birmingham is small. A big market is about a top 15 market, medium is in range of 15-30, everything else is small, just varying levels of small. Otherwise NBC wouldn't have sold stations, like the Columbus NBC station to Media General. Birmingham contributes less than 1% of the TV HH.

See I definitely know you don't know what you are talking about when it comes to TV market (DMA) rankings. The TV markets are ranked as "major" 1-25, "medium" 26-50, and "small" (anything ranked greater than 50). Please stop making up mess to conform to your opinions.

FYI, NBCU sold those stations because they were in debt and had to lighten their debtload thus they unloaded their lower market stations which were the 4 in Birmingham, Columbus, Raleigh, and Providence.

 

[FightingIrish]

Although I doubt Disney would buy any stations, at this point, Disney could still make a deal with Tribune to buy out stations and get an ABC O&O in DC.

Disney could buy out WDCW from Tribune and convert it to DC's ABC O&O station similar like how NBC got KNTV and made it a cable Ch.3 in the Bay Area, NBC O&O.

Regarding other possible stations, I'd think WGN America would make a good fit with Disney as well, local WGN Chicago less so but could fit as a duopoly with WLS, and maybe a couple of other Tribune stations could be bought, like the duopoly in Seattle. The Sinclair & Disney station group affiliation isn't very wide like Hearst & Disney, or Scripps & Disney, which have many large DMAs, so I don't see any commitment or obligation that Disney really has with Sinclair. For all purposes, Disney could just deal with Tribune in DC and Seattle.

Sinclair is more aligned with FOX anyways. The Seattle ABC which Sinclair bought could flip to FOX affiliation.

A deal with Tribune to cherry pick some stations would be easier than Disney buying out Allbritton. The latter would have made Disney involved in a number of small market stations like Birmingham and Harrisburg, a local cable news channel in DC, it would anyways have to sell and/or not want much or any involvement.

Absurd.

First, if Disney was desperate enough for an O&O in DC, I'm sure they could have easily swung a deal for WJLA alone (which was originally listed separately). They didn't, so apparently owning a station there is not a priority.

If they were to buy WDCW, first Tribune would have to be willing to sell. They're in buying mode now, and aren't going to bail out of DC. And if Disney did buy WDCW and move ABC there, they would have to build a news division from scratch. They've already got plenty of headaches in other markets where their affiliates have terrible (or nonexistent) news operations.

This does not appear to be a replay of the KRON situation. Disney is not a spurned suitor. Likely, they were indifferent about buying any of the Albritton stations. So, unless Sinclair decides to dump WJLA, or they piss off ABC enough, WJLA will stay an ABC affiliate.

 

[only1moore]

Sinclair just became the Clear Channel of television. One has to wonder how long before they buy a network, since a majority of them are ABC affiliates.

They won't be able to because Sinclair will be bankrupt within a few years. The level of idiocy these days amongst broadcasters is amusing. Disney/ABC was too busy ignoring the facts rather than just acquiring the station group and spinning off the small market stations to individual owners.

Yeah, their plan to turn local cable news station News Channel 8 in DC into something on a national level (ie: make it more political) sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

I would love to see these cheap tightwads compete against Fox News.

Is anyone really interested in competing against Fox News since their audience is loyal and older?

It looks like Sinclair's vision of expanding NewsChannel 8 and going after FNC just became reality...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ar...onal_Rollout_for_Allbritton_Cable_Channel.php

 

[donta1974]

Disney/ABC did not want it bad enough. Sinclair did.

 

[Markxxx]

Doesn't ABC network have some sort of "approval" in the sale. I thought after the KRON sale networks put some sort of action into sales of big market stations.

I don't see how it would work, but I thought I read it some place.

I wonder if this will effect their Baltimore station any? Like if they'll move headquarters or something?

 

[nathannah]

Doesn't ABC network have some sort of "approval" in the sale. I thought after the KRON sale networks put some sort of action into sales of big market stations.

I don't see how it would work, but I thought I read it some place.

I wonder if this will effect their Baltimore station any? Like if they'll move headquarters or something?

Pretty sure that Hunt Valley gave them tax incentives to put their headquarters there, so a penalty would be assessed for moving out and it would be doubtful everything will move. But I'm sure national things like the centralcasted weather to non-news stations and The Point might move to be under NC8/WJLA's control.

But I'm sure there's no way ABC wants to see WJLA become KDNL (not like it could go that low), so expect their next affiliation agreement to be strict about keeping news.

 

[donta1974]

Doesn't ABC network have some sort of "approval" in the sale. I thought after the KRON sale networks put some sort of action into sales of big market stations.

I don't see how it would work, but I thought I read it some place.

I wonder if this will effect their Baltimore station any? Like if they'll move headquarters or something?

Pretty sure that Hunt Valley gave them tax incentives to put their headquarters there, so a penalty would be assessed for moving out and it would be doubtful everything will move. But I'm sure national things like the centralcasted weather to non-news stations and The Point might move to be under NC8/WJLA's control.

But I'm sure there's no way ABC wants to see WJLA become KDNL (not like it could go that low), so expect their next affiliation agreement to be strict about keeping news.

Hunt Valley and Baltimore county probably has given them tax breaks for there HQ being located there. It would make no sense for them to leave the building is very large with lots of office and studio space. The point is way to conservative to air on NC8/WJLA in the liberal Washington,DC TV market IMO. I would look for them to do newscast for there small market stations by using NC8 personnel however.

 

[Morgan Wick]

What are the chances of Sinclair (trying to) move WJLA into the Hunt Valley building?

 

[nathannah]

What are the chances of Sinclair (trying to) move WJLA into the Hunt Valley building?

Hunt Valley is way north of Baltimore, so virtually nil, though master control for the Allbritton stations could easily move to whichever facility SBG uses for their MC operations (not sure if it's Hunt Valley or WBFF's building on Television Hill), or vice versa. 7/NC8 moved to Arlington in 2002, so it's not as if they're in a technologically obsolete building.