Could more O&O stations work in Atlanta?

[electroboy73]

Just for interesting conversation:

Personally, I would love it if CBS returned to Channel 5 (As CBS-5). After the 45 year stint with WAGA being CBS. it just seems right. And actually I have always thought about what it would be like if more O&O's could or would have happened in Atlanta.

What would it be like if say, WXIA-11 would become an NBC O&O station? It's perfect because The Weather Channel has recently merged with NBC and is based here in Atlanta. Plus, (finally they could drop that TIRED "11Alive" moniker and call it, NBC 11. WATL could go back to being FOX O&O, FOX 36.

Or better yet, (even tho tho it would cause a huge shake up), how about if WSB-TV 2 became a Walt Disney O&O, "ABC 2" (yaayy!! NO MORE ABC NETWORK PREEMPTIONS)!! Guess that would NEVER happen here tho, huh?

Any thoughts? Or has any of this been brought up before?

 

[bpatrick]

About thirty years ago Ch. 5 had a slogan: "5 Belongs"--
and as far as I'm concerned 5 belongs with CBS. But
on a related thread, someone said that Fox would not
be willing to sell 5, and even if they were CBS would have
to shell out some big bucks.

As for 2 and 11, Cox is not likely to sell its flagship (I
still think that if any Cox station becomes an o&o it
should be ABC affiliate WFTV in Orlando--perfect match:
Disney World and ABC), and I think Gannett is too tight
with NBC as it is to want to give up 11.

But...money talks. Let's see what CBS is willing to offer
Fox for WAGA.

 

[tripinva]

But...money talks. Let's see what CBS is willing to offer
Fox for WAGA.

What makes anyone think CBS is offering anyone anything for WAGA?

- Trip

 

[Mr11WXIA]

It would not be easy to undo the WXIA/WATL duopoly. WXIA spent a lot of money enlarging the existing WATL 36 studio so WXIA could move in. Any separation of the two stations would mean one of them would have to pay to relocate and either build or convert some existing building, neither of which in this economy would be a good business move. In 1993 WXIA tried to drop 11 Alive off of their news name and after a short trial, saw that viewers wouldn't accept it. Gannett had managed to drop Alive off many of their stations in other TV markets. But in Atlanta, people seem to like the name enough that it's pretty much going to be a marketing nightmare to convert people away from a name that's been tied to WXIA for so many decades. In this economy, it wouldn't be financially feasible.

 

[bpatrick]

But...money talks. Let's see what CBS is willing to offer
Fox for WAGA.

What makes anyone think CBS is offering anyone anything for WAGA?

- Trip

At this point nobody has confirmed if CBS is offering anything. I suppose to clarify my point, I should say that if CBS is interested in WAGA, let's see what it would be willing to offer. Remember, too, that the reliability of the sources on this leaves something to be desired, so the operative word here is "if".

I remember a similar incident about 25 years ago; NBC had become number one and ABC had fallen back to third; the rumor mill began buzzing that WSB was going back to NBC, but it never happened. This, too, may be rumor, but I say let's wait and see what CBS has in mind, if anything.

It is interesting that, given the growth of Atlanta over the last 30 years or so, it hasn't attracted the networks; Dallas/Ft. Worth, on the other hand, has three o&os: KDFW (Fox), KXAS (NBC majority), and KTVT (CBS), and there have been postings on this website that ask why ABC hasn't acquired WFAA (for the same reason it will never acquire WSB; both are their companies' flagship stations). And I wouldn't bet the proverbial snowball's chance you-know-where that WXIA will become an NBC o&o, although I remember a couple or so years back that Gannett was rumored to be buying NBC, which might have turned 11 Alive into NBC 11. But again, it was a rumor.

And that's what this WAGA/CBS/Fox thing is right now. What I'm saying is: if there's any truth to it, let's see what CBS would be willing to pony up to get WAGA. And one other thing: a station can have a duopoly if one of the two stations isn't one of the top four, and at this point WATL is not; there's nothing that says that, if WAGA did return to CBS, WATL couldn't get the Fox affiliation and still be partnered with WXIA. By the same token, Chs. 5 and 69 could be a duopoly, even though if 5 went back to CBS it would be up against what apparently is company policy: CBS o&os do not have duopolies (I thought KCBS and KCAL was one).

 

[Sammi Brie]

Gannett had managed to drop Alive off many of their stations in other TV markets. But in Atlanta, people seem to like the name enough that it's pretty much going to be a marketing nightmare to convert people away from a name that's been tied to WXIA for so many decades. In this economy, it wouldn't be financially feasible.

There was only one other Gannett market where it took forever to get Alive out of the branding (but it happened and worked): KOCO "5 Alive" Oklahoma City. Alive managed to work its way out in 1994 – in its final few years under Gannett. Until Hearst bought the station, they were simply "5 News".

KPNX-12 here in Phoenix did that in the early-mid 1980s, but it was definitely gone by 1986 (when they switched from Hello News to a news theme under the image campaign "We're Going Where You're Going" AND dropped the name 12 Action News). Gannett used that branding seemingly everywhere it owned a station.

 

[bpatrick]

When the "Alive" thing started in 1976 WXIA and three sister
stations used it; the others being KOCO (5 Alive), WPTA Ft. Wayne
(21 Alive), and WLKY Louisville (32 Alive). At the time I don't recall
Phoenix, Denver, or Little Rock using it. Do I understand you to say
that KPNX once identified itself as 12 Alive, because I certainly don't
remember it.

WLKY dropped the "Alive" moniker when it became a Hearst station;
WPTA still uses it, although it is no longer a Gannett station.

 

[Mr11WXIA]

WPIX in New York used the 11Alive name from1976-1982.

 

[bpatrick]

So did WPXI Pittsburgh, WSB's sister station. I was
referring only to Combined Communications (bought by
Gannett in 1979) stations.

 

[kilamanjero]

I don't think so about WAGA going back to CBS. Fox/Newscorp loves their #2 spot in the market and won't let that go because its a top 10 market and they would have to build a news operation from the ground up unless it winds up on WGCL (which is the red headed stepchild of the market's news). CBS would likely buy WGCL from Meredith (which would be much cheaper) before they spend a huge sum to acquire WAGA.

Gannett and NBC relationship is tight since the majority of Gannett's stations are NBC affiliates. There was a point when NBC sold their "then-lower market" O&Os (nowadays former NBC O&O WNCN/Goldsboro-Raleigh-Durham is in a top 25 market) in the mid-2000s that WXIA would have been purchased with that sum of money. However, when the economy went into the crapper then it fell through.

 

[bpatrick]

As I said, in the mid-2000s the rumor mill was turning with
talk of Gannett buying NBC, possibly making WXIA an
NBC o&o, depending on which stations the company wanted
to keep to conform with FCC ownership regulations. As we
know, nothing came of it.

I think that with today's development (Meredith is assuming
control of WPCH and will interview WPCH employees for positions
at WGCL) Meredith will maintain ownership of Atlanta's CBS affiliate.
I have yet to come up with one logical reason in my mind why CBS
would want WGCL as an o&o; it's bad enough having WWJ Detroit
as one.

So nothing changes.

 

[onenil]

CBS would likely buy WGCL from Meredith (which would be much cheaper) before they spend a huge sum to acquire WAGA.

The only way Meredith would sell WGCL is if they were going to get out of broadcasting altogether.

 

[Sammi Brie]

WLKY dropped the "Alive" moniker when it became a Hearst station;

No, sir. The last WLKY "32 Alive Newsroom" newscast aired in September 1986. Hearst bought the Pulitzer stations in 1999; WLKY had been sold by Gannett in 1983.

 

[kilamanjero]

As I said, in the mid-2000s the rumor mill was turning with
talk of Gannett buying NBC, possibly making WXIA an
NBC o&o, depending on which stations the company wanted
to keep to conform with FCC ownership regulations. As we
know, nothing came of it.

I think that with today's development (Meredith is assuming
control of WPCH and will interview WPCH employees for positions
at WGCL) Meredith will maintain ownership of Atlanta's CBS affiliate.
I have yet to come up with one logical reason in my mind why CBS
would want WGCL as an o&o; it's bad enough having WWJ Detroit
as one.

So nothing changes.

Unlike WWJ-TV, WGCL has an established news operation which means there is cash flowing into the station.

The reasons why NBC sold its lower market O&Os because their lose of revenue due to a tanking schedule on the network. If NBC was doing better in the mid-2000s then they would have likely kept some of their O&Os or swap ownership in an exchange of a station or stations of equal amount with Gannett to get hold of WXIA.

 

[Markxxx]

With digital TV channel numbers aren't important. It'd be a better way to spend money to buy a cheap TV station and spend the money to lobby the FCC to allow stations to map to a lower virtual channel

 

[bpatrick]

WLKY dropped the "Alive" moniker when it became a Hearst station;

No, sir. The last WLKY "32 Alive Newsroom" newscast aired in September 1986. Hearst bought the Pulitzer stations in 1999; WLKY had been sold by Gannett in 1983.

OK, thanks for the correction. I knew WLKY didn't always call itself "32 Alive" after Gannett sold it, but I don't have many Louisville retros from the '80s and didn't know they hung onto the "Alive" name for three years. Gannett would probably like to get another station in Louisville (as it did in Little Rock, where it once owned KARK and now owns KTHV) but it won't happen while the company owns the Courier-Journal; the crossownership rules split the Courier-Journal/WHAS combo years ago, and I don't think the FCC would undo it for Gannett to buy another television station there.