Comcast Likely to Purchase NBCU; Then Spin-Off NBC Network and O&Os

[JeeperOne]

2) You can't personality-track on TV like you can on radio. You might be able to do that with the anchors, but it's kinda hard to do with the weather people. You DEFINATELY can't do it with reporters & sportscasters as they do too much live stuff (And reporters are expected to be on the scene of breaking news events within a reasonable period of time too).

I disagree with you here..to a point. Perhaps not all the time but the idea of two stations in distant markets sharing reporters/weather forcasters/ect..isn't so far fetched actually it has been done in the past as I can remember not that long ago seeing every once in a while a reporter from NYC/WNYW doing a report for DC/WTTG and Baltimore's WJZ weather forcaster Bob Turk, about 5 years ago did the weather for Pittsbugh's KDKA because he was filling in for someone and according to DCRTV ( the local media website ) Turk cut those weathers from WJZ however I dont think Turk has done anything at all for KDKA ever since. In other words..this sort of thing can be done..just not full-time. Now behind the scnes such as master control operations, main anchors..that is being done more often. Actually a bit too much IMO.

Then again Denver's KMGH channel 7..much of their news and production comes from WRTV in INDIANAPOLIS !!

Do you have any PROOF supporting this claim or are you basing this on 2nd, 3rd or 4th hand information through some kind of rumor mill?

Proof? Names or social security numbers? Seriously, one of my best friends in Colorado works for Direct TV in Denver. About 4 years ago KMGH gave him a choice..either re-locate to Indianapolis or get the ax as McGraw-Hill "sent" his behind the scenes job to WRTV the McGraw-Hill station in Indy. He stayed in Denver to join Direct TV.

Okay so they were going to reassign him to Indy if he wanted to remain employed. Big deal. That's life in Corporate America. Such events can occur no matter what profession you're in.

But you still haven't answered the original question.....

Really its not hard to see that thanks to You Tube. KMGH "7 News" and WRTV "6 News". Both stations have pretty much the same opening and the exact same style of news not to mention last I checked very similar websites even though its been awhile since I have checked those sites.

Okay so they have the same set & website design. Big deal. What does that prove? NOTHING.

OBTW....FWIW to you, KMGH uses a variety of names for its newscasts. They've been known to call it anything from Denver's 7 News to (Yes!) ABC 7 News. Though the logo is still the ABC logo embedded with the new style circle 7 and the word NEWS next to it. They also have a logo that simply says Denver's 7 which they typically use for other things such as their annual Coats For Colorado campaign.

In short.....I hate to say it, but you haven't proven anything to me yet.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

EDIT Can one of the board ops fix this whereas it looks (And makes) sense as to who said what please? Thanks.

 

[imhomerjay]

A Web site template used for a station group is hardly new, and shifting some behind-the-scenes functions doesn't mean the bulk of the product comes from the local market. If the reporting is taking place in Denver--in this case--where a few buttons get pushed doesn't negate that.

 

[LKellerIII]

As for Young trying to get NBC back on KRON...think of the proverbial snowball in hell.

Couldn't a third party buy both stations and simply swap either the call letters (putting the KRON calls on the NBC affiliate) or swap the entire programming lineups (affiliations, news, branding, etc.)?

Yes, and I could inherit 10 million dollars from a maiden aunt I've never met. But neither scenario is likely. What would be the point? Radio and TV nerds like us get excited about heritage call letters, and like to speculate about affiliation switches, radio format flips and the like. Regular people are confused by things like that.

Over on the California board, people like to speculate that News Corp will buy KRON and turn it into Fox 4. But again, what's the point? If Murdoch wants a Bay Area O&O, why not buy KTVU and keep Fox where it is? But that's not very interesting to speculate about.


If a third party bought both KNTV and KRON, I think the most likely scenario would be to keep NBC on KNTV, and keep KRON as an indy that would time-shift KNTV's news and other programming...similar to the KTVU/KICU arrangement, or what CBS does with KPIX and KBCW. You know - NBC Bay Area News at 10:00 on KRON, and so forth.

 

[jal41]

Over on the California board, people like to speculate that News Corp will buy KRON and turn it into Fox 4. But again, what's the point? If Murdoch wants a Bay Area O&O, why not buy KTVU and keep Fox where it is? But that's not very interesting to speculate about.

Because Cox will not part ways with either of their Channel 2's (the other being WSB-TV/Atlanta).

My understanding is that Cox and Fox have had bad relations. I suspect Fox gets monster ratings from KTVU, and that is why Fox will put up with them (like ABC puts up with WSB-TV despite the frequent prime time preemptions...strong performer). Fox might want an O&O, and an acquisition of KRON may pave the way.

If NBC were to get KRON through the bankruptcy sale...they might move NBC back there, but no callsign changes. But let's remember...KRON is damaged goods. It will go for cheap, and whoever buys it will have to do something about their all-VJ news department, as well as servicing debt.

Back to the original topic...I wonder what the motivation for Comcast buying NBC Universal would be if they had to ditch one of the biggest assets...NBC. I wonder if they buing it strictly for the cable channels, which include not only the NBCU networks (USA, SyFy, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, The Weather Channel), but minority interests in the A&E networks (A&E, History), as well as the Rainbow Media networks controlled by Cablevision (AMC, Fuse, WE). This raises flags in my mind, as it seems an attempt at futher vertical integration (owning the cable systems and the cable channels). Comcast already owns E!, Style, G4, The Golf Channel, and Versus, as well as the various regional Comcast Sports that are illegally held from satellite providers.

It this is true and a deal is announced...Congress needs to investigate. If not already...this type of integration needs to be illegal.

 

[kenrayc]

Actually Comcast does not block Dish and Directv from the Comcast Sports channels as both Comcast Sports Network Bay Area and Comcast Sports Network California are on both companies here.

 

[azumanga]

Actually Comcast does not block Dish and Directv from the Comcast Sports channels as both Comcast Sports Network Bay Area and Comcast Sports Network California are on both companies here.

However, they do block CSN Philadelphia from cable and satellite viewers, as that service is broadcasted via microwave and fiber only, using the infrastructure formerly used by PRISM. Some of CSN's pro sports coverage from there are seen on satellite, however.

 

[PDXREXX]

Actually Comcast does not block Dish and Directv from the Comcast Sports channels as both Comcast Sports Network Bay Area and Comcast Sports Network California are on both companies here.

However, they do block CSN Philadelphia from cable and satellite viewers, as that service is broadcasted via microwave and fiber only, using the infrastructure formerly used by PRISM. Some of CSN's pro sports coverage from there are seen on satellite, however.

Same story Here in the Northwest as well
CSN Northwest Is not Available on Dish or Directv
it was started up when the Blazers didn't renewed its
contract with FSN and this was before the Sonics moved
to OKC and Comcast Offers it here in Seattle But on its
Digital Preferred package

 

[bpatrick]

Why do you think ABC affiliated with WSB in
the first place? ABC was underperforming in
Atlanta with WXIA, this at a time when ABC had
just finished a whisker behind CBS (1979-80) and
had been number one for three years prior to that.
Meantime, NBC was deeply mired in third, but WSB
was NBC's only number-one station in the top 25
markets. Problem: WSB was pre-empting so many
weak NBC shows to maintain its dominance in Atlanta
that it was straining the bottom line. With ABC, they
could make fewer pre-emptions (yeah, right). ABC
saw the real possibility of finally becoming as strong
in Atlanta as it was in similar-sized markets, WSB didn't
have to spend as much on programming, and the rest
is history.

I know little or nothing about KTVU's performance; I
would think that, being on Ch. 2, it would be one of
Fox's best affiliates. What I do know is that KNTV is
an NBC o&o and that relations between NBC and KRON
soured over compensation (which is how KNTV got NBC
in the first place). What makes you think NBC would take
KRON back? It seems about as likely as CBS ever going
back to WJXT Jacksonville...not at all.

 

[LKellerIII]

Over on the California board, people like to speculate that News Corp will buy KRON and turn it into Fox 4. But again, what's the point? If Murdoch wants a Bay Area O&O, why not buy KTVU and keep Fox where it is? But that's not very interesting to speculate about.

Because Cox will not part ways with either of their Channel 2's (the other being WSB-TV/Atlanta).

Sorry to return to the side-topic, but -again- I don't see the sense. You say Cox would never part with KTVU. That may be true, but again - the Young/KRON debacle provides an object lesson in what can happen when you lose your network affiliation. If Fox decided to pull the affiliation from KTVU at the end of their agreement, the station's value would drop like a rock. I'm sure Cox doesn't have the debt load that Young took on by buying KRON, but nevertheless, Cox might see the wisdom in selling KTVU to News Corp rather than trying to run it as an independent again.

 

[JayR]

Actually Comcast does not block Dish and DirecTV from the Comcast Sports channels as both Comcast Sports Network Bay Area and Comcast Sports Network California are on both companies here.

However, they do block CSN Philadelphia from cable and satellite viewers, as that service is broadcasted via microwave and fiber only, using the infrastructure formerly used by PRISM. Some of CSN's pro sports coverage from there are seen on satellite, however.

Same story here in the northwest as well. CSN Northwest is not available on Dish or DirecTV. It was started up when the Blazers didn't renewed its contract with FSN and this was before the Sonics moved to OKC and Comcast offers it here in Seattle but on its Digital Preferred package.

The reason neither DISH Network nor DirecTV are carrying CSN-NW is because Comcast is asking too much for carriage.

 

[DToTheJ]

Forget about all of the affiliate crap... The real question is what will be the new name of the combined companies if the sale is finalized?

Comcast
Universal
NBC
Television

Oh
No
You Di'in't!

 

[ding12]

Back to the original topic...I wonder what the motivation for Comcast buying NBC Universal would be if they had to ditch one of the biggest assets...NBC. I wonder if they buing it strictly for the cable channels, which include not only the NBCU networks (USA, SyFy, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, The Weather Channel), but minority interests in the A&E networks (A&E, History), as well as the Rainbow Media networks controlled by Cablevision (AMC, Fuse, WE). This raises flags in my mind, as it seems an attempt at futher vertical integration (owning the cable systems and the cable channels). Comcast already owns E!, Style, G4, The Golf Channel, and Versus, as well as the various regional Comcast Sports that are illegally held from satellite providers.

It this is true and a deal is announced...Congress needs to investigate. If not already...this type of integration needs to be illegal.

I think its for market domination. I mean Comcast already has content, but they figure if their marketshare isn't large enough, it's not worth it; the amount they own and run is too small.
They could buy and air content for Style, but they air less original programming and choose to run Supernanny reruns (i suppose good parenting is good style?) now, to save costs on the channel. So, they'd rather have a bigger piece of the pie by owning more channels, then shave off the costs while still increasing the fees to customers and other providers that will distribute the channels. While the NBC broadcast network and the major O&Os are likely inseparable, I can't see the Comcast bigwigs Roberts family having interest in Telemundo however.