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

[bpatrick]

Now I can see WUSA as
an NBC affiliate, since most Gannett stations are with the Peacock network
(at least four of which, WXIA, KUSA Denver, WTSP Tampa/St. Petersburg,
and WTLV Jacksonville, were formerly ABC affiliates; and WBIR Knoxville
is a fomer CBS affiliate)...

WTSP is actually a CBS affiliate these days -- since 1955 NBC was, and still is, on WFLA.

My mistake; I was thinking about WTSP having been an ABC affiliate
and should have listed it separately from all the other Gannett NBC
affiliates that came from other networks.

 

[JeeperOne]

This will be interesting in The Bay Area being that KNTV 11 the O&O station was owned by Gannett. It can also give KRON 4 a chance to get their network affiation back with NBC.

???

This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE WHATEVER. KRON 4 is owned by Young Broadcasting - NOT GANNETT.

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

This would have quite an impact on station affiliations throughout the country. I would imagine the new owners would want all of their stations to be O&O affiliates. Only Gannett and Belo have stations in NBC O&O markets; WUSA/Washington and WFAA/Dallas, respectively.

About Washington DC, last I heard NBC wanted to get rid of WRC-TV and had the station up for sale so maybe when its all said and done I guess we really could see a "CBS 4" and "NBC 9" in Washington, DC.

Don't count on a change in DC as there's nothing to gain or lose.

However though, I'd look for The Mouse to JUMP at the chance to land ABC's (Purpotedly) Top-Ranked affiliate in WFAA 8 Dallas/Ft. Worth to put under their Christmas Tree this year (And moved to the Disney/ABC family umbrella in January 2010) since NBC has heritage O&O KXAS 5. If Disney/ABC balks at WFAA (And Belo becomes a part of the NBC network), you can bet YOUR RANCH that either HA or McGraw Hill will get it instead.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

If this does go through expect Versus to be back on DirecTV in the future.

As Universal Sports that is. I'm sorry, but I just can't see them keeping the Versus name when the dust settles.

That said though, I vividly remember just a couple of years ago, we (Just like we did when MyNetwork TV burst onto the scene) were all laughing when Versus acquired the NHL rights after the strike. NONE of us gave the network a chance. Yet over time, Versus (Albeit very slowly & very methodically) became what ESPN2 was.

Only two differences being.....

1) Versus is ESPN minus SportsCenter

2 While ESPN is airing SportsCenter, Versus is airing an unsyndicated, unbartered version of Best Damned Sports Show Period in Sports Soup. Take THAT Fox Sports Net.

When combined with Universal Sports, Versus will be a sports outlet that simply CANNOT be laughed off anymore (Only DirecTV is doing this now). Add what is now Universal Sports & that channel would become Universal Sports 2. It'd still be made available the same way the original is now, but it would simply have more LIVE events than it does now.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Okay, my bad. I was only aware of the strength of Hearst's ABC affiliates. In fact, I had forgotten that WESH usually pulls a strong second.
Here's a thought: What if Comcast were to sell the O&O stations but keep the network itself?

If they did that, NBC would be THE ONLY one of the Big 4 networks without O&Os.

Look peoples - No matter what some of you might say or believe, NBC will NEVER sell WRC, WNBC, KNBC or any of its other O&Os. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

Deal with it.

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

In the event where Washington's WUSA does go NBC, I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of "marriage" to take place between them and Denver's KUSA. Notice I didn't say "merger" but I wouldn't be surprised say that some KUSA people like Kathy Sabine or Adele Arakawa end up being seen more often on WUSA or WUSA's Andrea Roane or Topper Shutt doing "things" for KUSA. After all, both would be NBC, both Gannett, both use "metromix", both uses the news brand "9 News" ( though WUSA does have that extra "NOW" ) and of course both stations the similar call letters are well known to their local TV audiences.

Yeah there is quite a bit of distance between DC and Denver but I doubt DC viewers would object or even notice say for example Kathy Sabine doing the local DC weather from the 9 News backyard in Denver ( of course with no mention of any Denver references ) likewise with Topper Shutt doing the same for KUSA. Something tells me this could very well happen if WUSA does go NBC.

WTF are you smoking

You are ON DRUGS if you think that ANYTHING REMOTELY CLOSE to this will happen!!!

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[JayR]

Okay, my bad. I was only aware of the strength of Hearst's ABC affiliates. In fact, I had forgotten that WESH usually pulls a strong second.
Here's a thought: What if Comcast were to sell the O&O stations but keep the network itself?

If they did that, NBC would be THE ONLY one of the Big 4 networks without O&Os.

Look peoples - No matter what some of you might say or believe, NBC will NEVER sell WRC, WNBC, KNBC or any of its other O&Os.IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

Deal with it.

Oh, but NBC did try to sell one of its O&Os. Does WTVJ "NBC 6" Miami ring a bell?

DING! DING! DING!

 

[MarcB]

Oh, but NBC did try to sell one of its O&Os. Does WTVJ "NBC 6" Miami ring a bell?
DING! DING! DING!

Right. WTVJ Miami and WVIT in Hartford were both taken off the market due to poor economic conditions, but NBC did successfully sell WJAR NBC 10 in Providence, Rhode Island a few years back.

And while we're on the subject of NBC O&O's, when did NBC change the name of their licensing company with the FCC to NBC TELEMUNDO LICENSE COMPANY? (Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that NBC owns Telemundo).

 

[KeithE4]

Oh, but NBC did try to sell one of its O&Os. Does WTVJ "NBC 6" Miami ring a bell?

DING! DING! DING!

They sold their third-tier-market stations (Birmingham, Columbus, Raleigh, Providence) several years back, and sold WKYC-TV Cleveland in 1991, but haven't yet sold their Miami, Hartford or San Diego stations.

But NBC will never (OK, probably never - anything's for sale for the right price, but we have a better chance of seeing the Cubs in the World Series first ;D ) sell their Top-10 market O&Os. Those stations are cash-cows - important when the network is tanking.

 

[bpatrick]

This will be interesting in The Bay Area being that KNTV 11 the O&O station was owned by Gannett. It can also give KRON 4 a chance to get their network affiation back with NBC.

???

This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE WHATEVER. KRON 4 is owned by Young Broadcasting - NOT GANNETT.

Cheers

That's not what he said. He said that KNTV was owned by Gannett (when was this?).
He's also saying that NBC could move back to KRON, nothing said about Gannett
ever owning KRON, even though I think they tried to buy it back in the early '80s.

As for WFAA becoming an ABC o&o, I'd love to see it; the station has reminded me
somewhat of an ABC o&o ever since I first watched it in 1976. But there are a couple
of other stations that come up when the subject of additional ABC o&os is mentioned:
WJLA Washington and WFTV Orlando. What does anyone think of the chance that ABC
might buy one of them?

 

[kenrayc]

This will be interesting in The Bay Area being that KNTV 11 the O&O station was owned by Gannett. It can also give KRON 4 a chance to get their network affiation back with NBC.

???

This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE WHATEVER. KRON 4 is owned by Young Broadcasting - NOT GANNETT.

Cheers

That's not what he said. He said that KNTV was owned by Gannett (when was this?).
He's also saying that NBC could move back to KRON, nothing said about Gannett
ever owning KRON, even though I think they tried to buy it back in the early '80s.

As for WFAA becoming an ABC o&o, I'd love to see it; the station has reminded me
somewhat of an ABC o&o ever since I first watched it in 1976. But there are a couple
of other stations that come up when the subject of additional ABC o&os is mentioned:
WJLA Washington and WFTV Orlando. What does anyone think of the chance that ABC
might buy one of them?

I was talking about KNTV ,but it was owned by Granite not Gannett, my mistake, Gannett does own the ABC affiliate KXTV 10 in neighboring city, Saramento.
The Bay Areas main Cable company is Comcast, and if they sell KNTV there's still a chance that long time NBC affiliateKRON can get NBC back.Young Broadcasting does have KRON up for sale, it's being discussed on the California TV bourd.

 

[JeeperOne]

Okay, my bad. I was only aware of the strength of Hearst's ABC affiliates. In fact, I had forgotten that WESH usually pulls a strong second.
Here's a thought: What if Comcast were to sell the O&O stations but keep the network itself?

If they did that, NBC would be THE ONLY one of the Big 4 networks without O&Os.

Look peoples - No matter what some of you might say or believe, NBC will NEVER sell WRC, WNBC, KNBC or any of its other O&Os.IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

Deal with it.

Oh, but NBC did try to sell one of its O&Os. Does WTVJ "NBC 6" Miami ring a bell?

DING! DING! DING!

They did the same thing with top-ranked KCNC 4 here in Denver. Only difference is KCNC (Along with a few other stations went to CBS & became one of their O&Os. But since they landed on the other (Albeit very arguably, depending on the newscast & its ratings) top-ranked station in town in Gannett-owned KUSA 9, one would have to say that NBC fared pretty well in the deal.

But otherwise you're right. I should've added the word ALL in that sentence because there's NO WAY they're going to sell ALL of them. One would have be on drugs if they were to think THAT though.

I think NBC learned from its mistake when they tried to get out of the radio business back in the mid-1980s. Last time I checked, they're STILL trying to find a way to do that.

Cheers

 

[LKellerIII]

This will be interesting in The Bay Area being that KNTV 11 the O&O station was owned by Gannett. It can also give KRON 4 a chance to get their network affiation back with NBC.

???

This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE WHATEVER. KRON 4 is owned by Young Broadcasting - NOT GANNETT.

Cheers

That's not what he said. He said that KNTV was owned by Gannett (when was this?).
He's also saying that NBC could move back to KRON, nothing said about Gannett
ever owning KRON, even though I think they tried to buy it back in the early '80s.

I was talking about KNTV ,but it was owned by Granite not Gannett, my mistake, Gannett does own the ABC affiliate KXTV 10 in neighboring city, Saramento.
The Bay Areas main Cable company is Comcast, and if they sell KNTV there's still a chance that long time NBC affiliateKRON can get NBC back.Young Broadcasting does have KRON up for sale, it's being discussed on the California TV bourd.

I doubt that seriously. Anybody purchasing KNTV would purchase it with the understanding that it would stay an NBC affiliate. Otherwise, it's just another independent station of lesser value. Young Broadcasting is in bankruptcy - and its because they paid so much money for KRON ($850 million), then lost the NBC affiliation to KNTV and couldn't service their debt as an indy. There's an object lesson in that for any potential purchasers of KNTV.

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

 

[mescutia]

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.)?

 

[dhett]

They probably could, assuming additional duopolies in the market are still allowed, but the better question is this: why would anyone do so?

 

[mleach]

In the event where Washington's WUSA does go NBC, I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of "marriage" to take place between them and Denver's KUSA. Notice I didn't say "merger" but I wouldn't be surprised say that some KUSA people like Kathy Sabine or Adele Arakawa end up being seen more often on WUSA or WUSA's Andrea Roane or Topper Shutt doing "things" for KUSA. After all, both would be NBC, both Gannett, both use "metromix", both uses the news brand "9 News" ( though WUSA does have that extra "NOW" ) and of course both stations the similar call letters are well known to their local TV audiences.

Yeah there is quite a bit of distance between DC and Denver but I doubt DC viewers would object or even notice say for example Kathy Sabine doing the local DC weather from the 9 News backyard in Denver ( of course with no mention of any Denver references ) likewise with Topper Shutt doing the same for KUSA. Something tells me this could very well happen if WUSA does go NBC.

WTF are you smoking

You are ON DRUGS if you think that ANYTHING REMOTELY CLOSE to this will happen!!!

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

LOL

But then again viewers in either market simply will NOT care just like Denver radio listeners dont even care about the lack of "da Boggieman" on Denver's KOOL 105 FM ( they really dont....ask KXKL-FM or Cha Cha their PM drive chick.. LOL ). Nah if this will happen viewers in Denver wont even know if Kathy Sabine is giving the weather for WUSA from KUSA unless one get both stations ( nah they wont be able to do that ) or vice-versa. Denver and Washington TV viewers I believe just don't care anymore. Afterall "9News" is well.."9 News"..who really cares in todays world where it comes from ? Then again Denver's KMGH channel 7..much of their news and production comes from WRTV in INDIANAPOLIS !! The other Denver stations know that ( I heard this from KDVR FOX 31 ) but they have done nothing about it such as saying that KMGH might as well be an Indy station so I guess its another example that the Denver stations..well they just don't care sadly.

 

[JeeperOne]

LOL

But then again viewers in either market simply will NOT care just like Denver radio listeners dont even care about the lack of "da Boggieman" on Denver's KOOL 105 FM ( they really dont....ask KXKL-FM or Cha Cha their PM drive chick.. LOL ).

Two things wrong with this analogy in this situation.....

1) Most people didn't even know who "Da Boogieman" was before his gig on KOOL 105 (Much less remembered his earlier days on KIMN)

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).

Nah if this will happen viewers in Denver wont even know if Kathy Sabine is giving the weather for WUSA from KUSA unless one get both stations ( nah they wont be able to do that ) or vice-versa. Denver and Washington TV viewers I believe just don't care anymore. Afterall "9News" is well.."9 News"..who really cares in todays world where it comes from ?

See my comments above.

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?

The other Denver stations know that ( I heard this from KDVR FOX 31 ) but they have done nothing about it such as saying that KMGH might as well be an Indy station so I guess its another example that the Denver stations..well they just don't care sadly.

You are WAY off base here IMO.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[mleach]

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 McCraw-Hill "sent" his behind the scenes job to WRTV the McGraw-Hill station in Indy. He stayed in Denver to join Direct TV. While he wouldn't tell me the exact number of people who had faced the same situation as he had but he did tell me that quite a bit of production that is currently being done for the McCraw-Hill stations does indeed come out of WRTV. 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.

 

[Stitch]

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 McCraw-Hill "sent" his behind the scenes job to WRTV the McGraw-Hill station in Indy. He stayed in Denver to join Direct TV. While he wouldn't tell me the exact number of people who had faced the same situation as he had but he did tell me that quite a bit of production that is currently being done for the McCraw-Hill stations does indeed come out of WRTV. 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.

Indeed, McGraw-Hill hubbed master control operations out of WRTV in Indianapolis years ago. KMGH, KGTV/San Diego, and KERO/Bakersfield, CA MC operations all originate from Indy.

 

[KentBrockman]

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