Scrolling quickly through the rest of the article before the paywall came up for me, nothing in the article stated anything about the radio division being sold.This article is behind a paywall and I would only see the first paragraph. So, there is a thought to buy WSB-TV. Would they take the radio division also?
A deal for WSB-TV? Atlanta News First owner interested in storied station.
Gray Media Chief Executive Hilton Howell said the company is open to acquiring WSB-TV.www.ajc.com
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CBS Leaving Ch 46
- Thread starter BarryATL
- Start date
Talk is cheap. Would CMG/Apollo sell WSB-TV alone and greatly devalue the worth of the remaining CMG TV group?
But...you never know!
But...you never know!
They really don’t have any other options in this current regulatory environment. No one’s really chomping at the bit for WSB and a bunch of other TV stations.
Broad question here, is it safe to say that a station will always do better as a Big Four affiliate, than they would as an independent with no such affiliation? (For the sake of argument I'll exclude legacy stations in very large markets, such as WWOR/WPIX in NYC, WGN in Chicago, or KCAL/KTTV/KCOP Los Angeles, which have all been around as long, if not longer, than the network affiliates, and had coveted VHF allocations that kept them on a par with the other major stations, as well as major-league sports carriage in some cases.)
Granted, WANF may have been a dog-crap CBS affiliate, but will they be any better off as an independent, especially with never having been iconic in the way WSB/WAGA/WXIA were?
When they're a network affiliate, the network bankrolls the programming. When they're an indie, THEY bankroll the programming. So it depends how much money they're willing to spend. Because people will only watch if there is programming they want to see.
But don't affiliates have to pay the network to carry their shows also?
Unless they are in major markets (which Atlanta is), I have to wonder how independent TV stations ever manage to turn a profit.
Yes the networks get paid by local stations to air its programming. Local stations use to be able to air certain shows or time shift programming and are very limited in their contracts on what changes they make to the network feed. The hours that the network let the stations program syndicated and news programming the stations keep all the advertising revenue but during network programming local stations have only the ability to sell a couple of spots.
Independent stations sell most of the ads and sometimes the programming they buy requires them to air spots. The thing that hurts independents is the programming they air draws less viewers but being with a network now you are competing with the networks streaming services.
I’m not sure how 46 will fare as a news heavy independent. 2 and 5 are not as great as they use to be. 11 was only strong in the 80s when they hired away top talent from 2and 5. Even I barely watch local tv and after 52 years in this market I’m gone in 3 weeks to the Greenville Spartanburg market but can stream any media from here that I care about.
Independent stations sell most of the ads and sometimes the programming they buy requires them to air spots. The thing that hurts independents is the programming they air draws less viewers but being with a network now you are competing with the networks streaming services.
I’m not sure how 46 will fare as a news heavy independent. 2 and 5 are not as great as they use to be. 11 was only strong in the 80s when they hired away top talent from 2and 5. Even I barely watch local tv and after 52 years in this market I’m gone in 3 weeks to the Greenville Spartanburg market but can stream any media from here that I care about.
There's a commercial split. The network gets a specific number of spots during the shows, and so does the local station.
WANF looking for 16 positions to expand operation
So this should be a sign 46 will dedicate more hours to news according to newsblues
So this should be a sign 46 will dedicate more hours to news according to newsblues
I doubt Paramount is going to change call letters for WUPA Atlanta. This is not like the time Paramount had to remove the call letters of KBCW San Francisco and change it into KPYX San Francisco back in 2023 as part of the agreement that Nexstar did to getthe CW affiliation for KRON San Francisco when CBS ended their affiliation with the CW.
Something else to keep in mind is that streaming services negotiate with the networks, not the stations. From what I understand, WANF will be pulled from all streaming services, like YouTube TV, Hulu, and Fubo, when CBS goes to 69. We may not see as many stations ditching their network affiliations as cable and OTA viewing go down. This was a story on FTVLive this morning: Bad, Bad News for Broadcast TV — FTVLive. Roughly half of all viewers will not have access to WANF on their favorite platforms.
It's the chicken and the egg setup. OTA networks don't have the money for 20 or 25 episodes of of their primetime programs. The more reruns the lower the viewership the less money for new episodes. IMHO very few TV shows are "strong" enough for folks to watch more than once as a "rerun". So after a 10 or 15 week run a lot of shows go into reruns. Why should I watch a show more than twice? If I want to watch a network show I missed I can get it on Hulu, Paramount or Peacock the next day.
(Boring) Broadcast logos in the age of streaming ….
I agree! CBS/WUPA should have already been promoting this change and i see nothing locally. No TV ads, Billboards, Marta ads, Radio Commercials… nothing!
It's still pretty early for that. Why sink lots of money into promoting something that isn't actually there yet for another month? That only leads to confusion.
I expect the promotions will ramp up in earnest just before the switch, and especially once NFL season begins.
What is CBS going to do for "local" news on 69? I believe there still is some money in local news. Of course it most likely will start out as a 30 min deal. They will have a 30 min. gap at 11PM to fill until May. Between 46 and 69 there should be a few folks moving into a "top ten" market from somewhere. I am sure they will get paid more than wherever they were working market #25 to 100+.
Good point, friend! I didn't even think of the ripple effect on talent.
I am sure CBS will offer an incentive to any air talent willing to make the move to Atlanta, plus, as you said, this is a big ol' top ten market anyway. Some folks will jump at the chance.