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Apollo, Standard General make $8 billion bid for Tegna
- Thread starter Ccook55
- Start date
Somehow I doubt they're going to swap the call signs and move the Channel 8 programming to channel 30. But then I've seen dumber things before lol
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That is exactly the plan, as KMPX RF30 has the better signal for DTV. The eventual signal swap with WFAA was part of the terms of sale of KMPX to Tegna a couple of years ago, and is also in the contract for the Standard General-Tegna merger.
WFAA 8.1 is already being simulcast on 8.8 via the RF30 transmitter. The virtual channels will also be swapped along with the transmitters, so 8.X on RF30 and 29.X on RF8.
JeeperOne
Banned
Based on what grounds??
The Apollo involvement is still the big sticking point. Although Standard General insists that Apollo will have no voting power, Apollo nonetheless can still put the arm on SG to influence decision making. And as Apollo controls Cox Media Group, there are Tegna markets where it can be argued that Apollo would have too much power when considered with co-located CMG holdings.
Much has been made of possible layoffs if the Tegna acquisition goes through. SG management has repeatedly denied they have any plans for staff cuts, which might be true at the corporate executive level of thinking. However those same executives will put heavy pressure on individual stations to meet new financial targets, and it is those local managers who will slash staff to make the numbers work.
Remember, these people are sharks. They will say anything and everything in order to get this deal approved.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (known as Team Telecom) says they have no objections to the acquisition. More on it here: Standard General Acquisition of TEGNA Receives Approval from Team Telecom.
Apollo owns CMG in some TEGNA markets and has too much power plus it is taking forever for this merger to get done as well. As I believe this should've been final by now. And I wonder how much both Standard General & TEGNA paid to get support from groups for their merger. I believe that Standard & TEGNA paid off groups for their support, in my opinion, will never know no one will say a word about it or go on the record.
JeeperOne
Banned
Such a swap would NEVER happen today as all that would happen is Comcast/NBC selling a station which they won't be able to get back
Besides, they ended up landing an O&O in Boston anyway once they kickd (Now the late) Ed Ansin & WHDH 7 to the curb bu having the network ride piggyback on their Telemundo O&O (On the .2 ??) & a network of translaters to cover the area
So good things DO come to those who wait as it only took them 20 years after selling WBZ 4 to CBS to do it
lol
JeeperOne
Banned
Why would they commit this kind of SUICIDE??
JeeperOne
Banned
But if the two companies "Split" in two like Gannett & TEGNA did & Nexstar & Mission Broadcasting & Sinclair does with the battery of companies it's associated with., NONE of this will come to pass
As I said before, the RF30 signal (currently KMPX) is considered superior to the RF8 signal (currently WFAA.) Many stations on VHF RF channels are moving to UHF, which works better for DTV.
Latest example: KVII in Amarillo, which just moved from RF7 to RF20. Better signal, and they are still virtual Channel 7.
Those who consider a VHF to UHF move foolish are still stuck in the analog era, where VHF provided the better signal. Not so in today’s DTV environment.
It was never actually on a .2 of the Telemundo O&O, WNEU. There was a 60.5 signal carrying NBC for a bit, but it was carried on the DTV signal of a different station closer to Boston, WMFP.Such a swap would NEVER happen today as all that would happen is Comcast/NBC selling a station which they won't be able to get back
Besides, they ended up landing an O&O in Boston anyway once they kickd (Now the late) Ed Ansin & WHDH 7 to the curb bu having the network ride piggyback on their Telemundo O&O (On the .2 ??) & a network of translaters to cover the area
So good things DO come to those who wait as it only took them 20 years after selling WBZ 4 to CBS to do it
But NBC upgraded very quickly, ending up with a "class A" license (the former WYCN in Nashua NH) that now channel-shares on one of the most potent signals in the market, WGBX. So even though NBC Boston is technically "class A low-power" on paper, its 15.1 signal via the WGBX transmitter is just as good as WCVB, WBZ or WHDH and a smidge better than WFXT.
JeeperOne
Banned
The Nexstar/Tribune deal took WAY WAY LONGER than this so it's nothing new or worry about
If you can find them an available UHF channel to move to, I'm sure they'd pay handsomely for that information.
- Trip
There is always WJYS they could try to buy it. Or quite a few others in the area, CBS could try to buy out and move into. When Tribune was up for sale CBS could've tried to buy WGN separately but didn't. They seem quite happy to cut a deal to simulcast on a low power TV station no one can get either. How about asking Weigel for one of the their subchannels on the full power station? Or on WCFC, lots of opportunities but either everyone is determined to keep WBBM off of UHF or CBS doesn't put much effort into it.
Even WLS put a lot of effort into getting UHF channel 44 when they were on channel 7 (actual and virtual)
Even WLS put a lot of effort into getting UHF channel 44 when they were on channel 7 (actual and virtual)
The SG-Tegna merger gets approval from Marcia Green, former director of Moline IL ABC affiliate WQAD, itself a Tegna station. More on it here (copy and paste as it's not letting me hyperlink):
www.tvtechnology.com
Former WQAD-TV Exec Urges FCC to Approve Standard General/Tegna Deal
Approving the deal would be “a big step forward for women all across our industry,” Marcia Green wrote
www.tvtechnology.com
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JeeperOne
Banned
The RF channel doesn't matter to the FCC
What matters to the FCC is how much of the audience each station gets. You can have two UHF stations in the same city but if those two stations are affiliates of "The Big 3" such as (Using Jacksonvil;le as an example) NBC & ABC (Fpx is is still considered a "Half" network by the FCC) , that will DEFINATELY get the attention of the FCC
Speaking of Jacksonville, there's NO way the FCC is going to let Apollo keep BOTH of those clusters as they make up ALL the "Big 4" networks. One of the clusters WILL have to be sold. There's NO getting around that that I can see
In Jacksonville, the issue with Tegna owning both the NBC (WTLV) and ABC (WJXX) is who is top rated and who isn't. The duopoly would never have flown if the two stations' ratings among the top four. As for Cox, they only operate WJAX (CBS) as where they outright own WFOX (Fox). Not sure about such precedent nor what will happen if and when the merger takes place.
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