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CBS Leaving Ch 46

B

BarryATL

I know this is more television but it does affect the news industry in Atlanta as a whole. My angle on this is how will this affect WSB radio and television. We have discussed that gray has been investing millions in its local use organization and now it looks like they're going to take it to the next level. They don't think the network is worth it anymore and they may be right. If they continue to expand their news organization. Are they just going to gobble up everything? I can see them suddenly go head-to-head against Fox 5 at 10:00 and try to take on Cox Media.

Currently WSB radio has their news organization slightly tied to the television. As far as content goes. One way that gray could monetize their news organization is to get a radio partner. Who might that be?

www.atlantanewsfirst.com

Atlanta News First set to expand news footprint, end its affiliation with CBS Network

Atlanta News First will end its 31-year-affiliation with the CBS Network.
www.atlantanewsfirst.com www.atlantanewsfirst.com

By the way, I voice dictated this while I was in a parking lot, so I apologize for all of the errors and I'm too lazy to go back and fix them. 😎😎
 
Barry, the press release you linked implies this was WANF's decision, and I'm not sure it was. CBS is moving the affiliation to WUPA/virtual 69, which they own.

WUPA has been without a network affiliation since it (and all CBS O&O's that carried it) dropped The CW a couple of years back. My impression is CBS was waiting for WANF's contract to end and planned to move the affiliation to WUPA at that point.
 
Woah now that WUPA is now being converted into CBS News Atlanta. There are two TV markets left where Paramount owns the station like WTOG Tampa and KSTW Seattle but the CBS affiliation is taken by another party like Cox has for KIRO Seattle and Tegna has for WTSP Tampa.

For Atlanta specifically it would simply be “CBS News Atlanta” and also I don’t know if WUPA will even have to mention any channel number at this point given CBS is putting emphasis on promoting Paramount+ in cities where they own a CBS affiliate.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
Barry, the press release you linked implies this was WANF's decision, and I'm not sure it was. CBS is moving the affiliation to WUPA/virtual 69, which they own.

WUPA has been without a network affiliation since it (and all CBS O&O's that carried it) dropped The CW a couple of years back. My impression is CBS was waiting for WANF's contract to end and planned to move the affiliation to WUPA at that point.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that's the case. You were around when CBS bought 69 and it was because of desperation. At the time Tribune owned 46 and they refused the CBS affiliation. CBS was worried that it might not have a place to go. They absolutely did not want to go to 69 because it did not have a news organization. They finally cut a deal with Tribute and ended up on 46 which had already begun a news outfit. Not sure why they have held on to 69 all these years, but I agree that for whatever the reason CBS will probably end up on 69. Will they start a news organization?

46 plans on adding another 20 hours of news programming. The Atlanta newsroom is the basis for all of their news gathering for all of their stations. It's a huge operation. Again. I still wonder if they are going to try to monetize that use operation for more than just their broadcast stations. To be honest, I am using them for all of my alerts for local news. They do a much better job than WSB does.
 
This seems to be a growing phenomenon. WPLG in Miami recently announced it would drop its ABC affiliation for the same reason: to concentrate on local news. Traditional network television appears to be following traditional network radio into oblivion.
 
BarryATL said:
I agree that for whatever the reason CBS will probably end up on 69. Will they start a news organization?
Click to expand...

Here's the press release from CBS

Paramount Press Express | CBS STRENGTHENS LOCAL FOOTPRINT IN ATLANTA WITH NEW O&O NETWORK HOME, WUPA

WUPA Channel 69 to Deliver CBS’ Leading Entertainment, News and Sports Programming Beginning Aug. 16 New CBS-Owned Station Includes Launch of CBS News A
www.paramountpressexpress.com www.paramountpressexpress.com

If they're calling it "CBS News Atlanta," I suspect the answer to your question is yes.

They may already have a national bureau there.
 
On the Dial said:
This seems to be a growing phenomenon. WPLG in Miami recently announced it would drop its ABC affiliation for the same reason: to concentrate on local news. Traditional network television appears to be following traditional network radio into oblivion.
Click to expand...
It’s not a smart idea for WPLG to do that. But it is for 46. CBS 46 was a dog crap station in the market. It made no sense for gray to hang onto cbs when their ratings are going nowhere. This move probably should’ve been done years ago. Gray is serious about sinking their teeth deeper into the braves
 
BarryATL said:
I'm not sure that's the case. You were around when CBS bought 69 and it was because of desperation. At the time Tribune owned 46 and they refused the CBS affiliation. CBS was worried that it might not have a place to go. They absolutely did not want to go to 69 because it did not have a news organization. They finally cut a deal with Tribute and ended up on 46 which had already begun a news outfit. Not sure why they have held on to 69 all these years, but I agree that for whatever the reason CBS will probably end up on 69. Will they start a news organization?

46 plans on adding another 20 hours of news programming. The Atlanta newsroom is the basis for all of their news gathering for all of their stations. It's a huge operation. Again. I still wonder if they are going to try to monetize that use operation for more than just their broadcast stations. To be honest, I am using them for all of my alerts for local news. They do a much better job than WSB does.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that Gray just renewed the contracts for all 52 of their other CBS affiliates. The only contract they didn't renew was WANF's.
 
The Paramount press release says CBS will start a 24/7 streaming CBS Atlanta News channel. They barely have any resources in Atlanta. It will be an expensive proposition to start up. Just ask Gray. They have spent millions on their Atlanta news operation. Is there a market for a fifth news operation in Atlanta?
 
My initial thought was that maybe Gray didn't want to renew the network affiliation because they want to make a run at WSB (or Cox Media generally) and they couldn't own two major network affiliates.

But if they did acquire WSB, wouldn't they have to sell one of the three Atlanta stations that they would then own? I know one company can't own more than one NBC/CBS/ABC/Fox affiliate in a market, but there's a different rule regarding the number of "media voices" one company can own in a market.

Tegna would run into the same issue if they were to buy WSB. The other two major network affiliate owners are/would be O&Os and not interested in owning competing network affiliates.

The other idea is Gray is planning on using an independent station as a sports platform, with their acquisition of Raycom and the third-tier ACC games, their new Peachtree Sports Network, and maybe some additional programming; could Gray max out how many Braves and Hawks games they could show per league rules? Could Gray try to eventually replace Bally FanDuel? As a Braves fan who misses the days when all the games were on Channel 17, I would love this.

Live sports is one of the few types of programming that has proven resistant to cord-cutting.
 
This AJC article makes it seem like while it was a Gray decision, it was forced by CBS.

“In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gray chief executive officer and board chairman Hilton Howell said the decision to separate from CBS was ultimately Gray’s call.

“I’m happy about it,” Howell said. “It worked out well on all fronts.”

Gray, the second largest owner of broadcast TV stations in the country behind only Nexstar, renewed 52 additional CBS affiliations on “better terms,” though Howell didn’t elaborate on the sticking point between the two companies.

“It removes an issue between CBS and Gray,” he said.”

www.ajc.com

CBS in Atlanta will move from Channel 46 to Channel 69 in August

If you're looking for "The Price is Right" or "60 Minutes," it won't be on Channel 46 come August
www.ajc.com www.ajc.com
 
So, we have been talking about the first time 69 was "almost" a CBS affiliate. Here is a snippet from the Wikipedia page. I am sourcing the original link to the page and copying the section on the "almost" CBS story. Hopefully, I am still in the fair use rules for RadioDiscussion.com

WUPA - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Y2kTheNewOldies said:
Woah now that WUPA is now being converted into CBS News Atlanta. There are two TV markets left where Paramount owns the station like WTOG Tampa and KSTW Seattle but the CBS affiliation is taken by another party like Cox has for KIRO Seattle and Tegna has for WTSP Tampa.

For Atlanta specifically it would simply be “CBS News Atlanta” and also I don’t know if WUPA will even have to mention any channel number at this point given CBS is putting emphasis on promoting Paramount+ in cities where they own a CBS affiliate.
Click to expand...
"69" is going away, as it will be simply known as "CBS Atlanta." Similar to Denver when "CBS 4" became simply "CBS Colorado"
 
Well, that was the situation in 1994, but it's now 2025, and a lot has changed in 31 years.

Technology has been the catalyst.

In 1994, WUPA (WVEU) as a UHF station at the higher part of the spectrum, had an inferior signal. With the conversion to digital transmission in 2010, WUPA's signal became as good as that of any station.

Establishing a "local" news operation will be far less expensive than in 1994. Case in point: the 10 o'clock local news that WUPA has been running. It's local news, but unbeknownst to virtually all viewers, most of the talent does the news from elsewhere. Sam Crenshaw, who is known in Atlanta, was enough the give the newscasts a local presence. Think of radio, where people in regional hubs do traffic reports for many markets, and jocks could be anywhere.

I realize that I'm speculating. Atlanta will be an important market for CBS, and the press release suggests they see this as a big opportunity. They might be willing to hire a fair amount of local staff, but I would bet that technology will play a part in cost efficiency.

CBS has a streaming channel in all of their O&O markets.

WANF/Gray is going to be spending a great deal of money. The station for the most part has been ratings deprived even with CBS programming that gets high ratings in most markets. Are they going to get ratings with news in a market where WSB-TV (right or wrong) is reputed to be the news authority and where All-News radio has never been able to get any traction? Time will tell. I wish them the best.
 
Another part here is that Gray also owns CW affiliate WPCH-TV Atlanta. CW is expanding their sports division such as getting rights to PAC-12 games. That had to be a factor on why WANF had to end the CBS affiliation is because of this. This has to take into account whatever WPCH-TV pre empts CW programming like prime time shows due to overtime from sports events they are airing from the network.

www.pba.com

The CW Network and the PBA Strike a Deal for Multi-year Broadcast Agreement Set to Launch in 2026

The CW Network and the PBA Strike a Deal for Multi-year Broadcast Agreement Set to Launch in 2026
www.pba.com www.pba.com

apnews.com

Pac-12 announces TV deal with The CW, CBS and ESPN for 2025

The Pac-12 announced a television deal for the 2025 football season that will put all of the home games for Washington State and Oregon State on The CW Network, CBS or ESPN.
apnews.com apnews.com
 


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