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Dismantle the CW, Or MNTV or Ion. OK then what?

Markxxx

Markxxx

I see a theme where many poster regard the smaller networks as a joke. I can't disagree with anything they say, as they are right. The programming isn't much.

But I thought I'd do a "OK, now what thread."

I am fortunate that I live in Chicago. We got WCIU a "real" independent that does seem to innovate programs and scheduling.

So for the sake of this thread, think of your own market, if the CW or MyNetwork or Ion dismantle, what do you think would happen to your stations? I keep getting the feeling instead of going back to the strong independent days of WGN or decent programming on WPWR, we'd get more infomercials and more duopolies with these former CW, Ion or MNTV stations just being dumps for lousy shows the other half of the duopoly didn't want. (Like WPWR and WWOR are now)

I'm not asking what you'd LIKE to see, but what you think in reality you'd see. Of course if you want to share what you'd like to see, you can include that as well.

And I also just used those three as the most prominent, feel free to include other small networks that may exist

Thanks
 
Well, we already have an "independent" station in Minneapolis (KSTC - 45, although they are a duopoly with KSTP, they have no network affiliation), it depends on what network folded. If Ion folded, I'm thinking 41 would probably go dark, unless CBS or Gannet wanted it. The signal was built closer to St Cloud than to Minneapolis, so it doesn't cover Minneapolis well on the OTA side. They had an application to move to Minneapolis, but due to the financial troubles at the time, that never happened. The station has a storied past, to say the least, and was dark for many years.

If MyNetworkTV goes dark, I could see that turning independent (since it is owned by Fox and is a duopoly). Not sure what Sinclair would do with 23, as that station seems to be barely holding on since The CW launched (they weren't doing well with The WB, but have gotten worse since the switch). I don't think we have enough of a Hispanic population for any of them to go spanish.
 
In a similar vein to the Twin Cities, Fox of course has a duopoly here in Los Angeles (KTTV and KCOP); KCOP will survive still, but it'll continue to be a dumping ground for whatever programming KTTV doesn't have room for. Personally, I think KCOP has a better lineup of programming than its sister station, albeit I could do without the court shows. MyNetworkTV is only ten hours a week in primetime, and they carry the same programming you can find elsewhere...KCOP could simply replace those hours with other off-network syndication product, plus sports and movies.

KTLA has historically been one of the stronger stations in the market, and like what with KCOP, their network programming (The CW) is also ten hours a week. One thing that KTLA has in its favor is that it could (and already does) carry some shows from its subchannels (Antenna TV and This TV), or maybe could expand its news product even more. They recently added two additional hours of news on Sunday nights, and counting the 6 and 10pm hours, that's four hours of news each Sunday night.

As for Ion...their over-the-air stations could go back to what they were before PaxTV/Ion came along: a 24-hour-a-day dumping ground for religious shows and infomercials. Either that, or they'll turn their licenses back to the FCC.
 
In many markets the lesser performing netlet stations could easily convert to independents by dropping a movie package in place of the prime time programming the smaller networks provide.
 
In Memphis if CW were to fold WLMT 30.1 would probablz fill the time with either movies or more trash talk and courtroom shows like they have in the daytime.

If MNTV were to fold WLMT 30.2 would pickup ME-TV since 7-9 PM CT is the only time they don't carry it.

If ION were to fold WPXX 50 would probably go back to home shopping and/or infomercials or shut down. (My choice if they can't come up with anything else other than that.)

In Jackson, TN CW or ION folding would free up channels on Charter that hopefully could be filled with something better.
 
In Chicago, if MNT folded, WPWR-TV would become an independent, & continue to be a dumping ground for programming that WFLD either has no room for, or time-shift programs that are carried on WFLD in a different timeslot on WPWR-TV. Both stations are owned by Fox.

If Ion Media folds, WCPX would be up for sale, & depending on who buys it, it could either be bought by CBS, Weigel, a religious broadcaster, or one of the smaller Spanish language networks. Univision already has a duopoly, & are out. Telemundo is owned by NBC & already has a duopoly, & that too is out. I doubt ABC would buy it. With Tribune being in bankruptcy, they can't buy it, nor can they buy it with them owning the Chicago Tribune. They would have to sell the Chicago Tribune in order to acquire WCPX. If Weigel bought WCPX, they would simply move MeTV, MeToo, & Bounce over to that channel, & remove the MeTV & MeToo simulcast (MeTV from WWME-LD & MeToo from WMEU-LD) from WCIU, and all 3 networks would have full market coverage. There would be no way this station would go off the air, because there's someone that wants to be on the air in the Chicago market, & could make this station work. The possibilities are endless for this station.

If the CW folds, WGN-TV would simply go independent. They were a successful independent for nearly 40 years before joining the WB in 1995, then CW in 2006. Going independent would allow them to not farm out weekday sportscasts (unless 2 sportscasts air at the same time) to WCIU. Primetime hours with no sportscasts would either have movies (like prior to 1995), or they could have off-network syndicated shows in primetime.
 
OK if KRON a MyNetwork Station were to go off the air then channel 4 will have to go blank. Or a second theory would be KNTV will Move NBC to 4 and KSTS will go on 11 and 48 will go blank.


But Look at KBWB-TV 20 in 2006 they went independent once they lost their WB affiliation. in 2007 TV-20 in SFO had contracts with ABC to air KGO-TV's ABC7 News at 9pm and secondary ABC station in San Francisco whenever KGO has to air breaking news or other programs that the Network wants KGO to air . In 2008 KBWB became KOFY-TV 20 again and they brought back shows from the first KOFY era from James Gabbert like Dance Party.
If the CW folds in San Francisco CBS would just either put TV-44 Blank or CBS will operate TV-44 the same way that KCAL9 is operated in LA as a secondary CBS station. Heck TV-44 can sign contracts with MLB, or NBA to put the A's or Warriors on TV-44. the same way LA Lakers and Angels air on KCAL 9.
 
Great question. I suspect that reading the answers will show why most of these networks are here to stay.

Here in DFW, KDFI 27 would go back to syndicated talk shows and old reruns like Matlock in prime time instead of My Network TV. KDAF would run lots of off network sitcoms and dramas like they do now on the weekends instead of CW. Ion's KPXD would likely go back to infomercials.
 
I wonder if Hartford/New Haven would get a full-powered Telemundo affiliate? For years, it was only available on low-powered analog W13BF-TV channel 13 of Hartford, which later moved to low-powered analog channel 50 before the 2009 digital conversion. Presently, this market has WUVN-TV (UNI) channel 18 of Hartford, with two of their subchannels offering LATV and Telefutura. Other stations to look at in this market would be:

WCCT-TV (CW) channel 20 of Waterbury. They have ThisTV on 20-2. They are the sister station of WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61 of Hartford. WTIC-TV is a charter FOX affiliate from 1986-87.

WHPX-TV (ION) channel 26 of New London. They started out in September of 1986 as WTWS-TV (IND) and even had their own 10 pm newscast for a while in the late 1980s. They carried the New York Yankees for a few seasons, back when the Yankees were still on WPIX.

WCTX-TV (MY) channel 59 of New Haven. They have TheCoolTV on 59-2. They are the sister station of WTNH-TV (ABC) channel 8 of New Haven. They started out in 1995 as WTVU-TV (WB). They increased their power and changed their letters to WBNE-TV (Warner Brothers New England). Sometime in 2000-01, they changed their call letters to WCTX-TV and switched their WB affiliation for UPN, which had been on channel 20 of Waterbury to that point.
 
Possible reality in the Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida TV market:

If MyNetworkTV were to end today, WFGX-TV would most likely broadcast a movie from ThisTV or syndicated programs between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM (Central time) Monday through Friday. The station would continue to broadcast syndicated programs "The Jerry Springer Show", "The Maury Povich Show", "Roseanne", "Better TV", "Extra", "Inside Edition", "Cheaters", "Excused", "Ring of Honor Wrestling", "Bones", "Grey's Anatomy", and "Scrubs" along with paid commercial programming, local programming, and Jewelry Television programming.

If the CW Television Network were to end today, WFNA-TV would mostly likely become an independent station and continue to broadcast some of the same syndicated programs and local programs broadcasts by WALA-TV. WFNA-TV would broadcast syndicated programs between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM Monday through Friday.

What I would like in the Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida TV market:

If MyNetworkTV were to end today, WFGX-TV would show all programming from ThisTV, WEAR-TV (a "sister station") would broadcast "Inside Edition", and other local stations would broadcast "The Jerry Springer Show", "The Maury Povich Show", "Better TV", "Excused", "Cheaters", and the local programs. WEAR-TV would no longer be sharing "Ring of Honor Wrestling", "Bones", and "Grey's Anatomy" with WFGX-TV.

If the CW Television Network were to end today, WFNA-TV would be operating as an independent station under a new owner with no connections to other local TV stations. The station would continue to broadcast programming from Bounce TV on their digital sub-channel.
 
Mario-500 just beat me to some good speculation about Mobile, so I'll tackle Montgomery, AL: It lost its original MyNetworkTV affiliate after a bankruptcy sale (then WRJM-TV, now operating as WIYC with The Country Network), and just missed out on seeing Ion Television over-the-air.

It'd help to know that the owners of the local CBS affiliate (WAKA TV-8) are merging operations with the local ABC affiliate (WNCF 32), who just happened to own the market's CW station, WBMM 22. (Click here for all the gooey details.)

WBMM 22 actually signed on with Pax in 1999, but opted for a stint with Daystar before picking up The CW in 2006. Should The CW fold, WBMM won't have to look hard for new programming. It could easily return MyNetworkTV to an area that lost it after a previous broadcaster went bankrupt (the former WRJM-TV, now WIYC with primary coverage of The Country Network).

Obviously, the demise of either or both MyNetworkTV or Ion Television affects no Montgomery, AL area viewer--but if both MyNet AND The CW left, that opens things up some. It wouldn't surprise me to see Me-TV, This-TV, or one of the African-American targeted netlets (Bounce TV, KIN, etc.) get primary clearance on WBMM 22, as the entire outfit would dependent mostly upon its combined combined CBS/ABC offerings.
 
Here in Denver, the following would happen.....

KWGN 2 (CW) - Would likely go Independent but could also become the new home to FOX if Tribune/Local Media really wanted to make it such to give FOX a more prominent prescence

KTVD 20 (MyNetwork TV) - Would likely go Independent or move MeTV to 20.1 & free up 20.2 to another diginet (I'm thinking LiveWell would go here under this scenario)

KDVR 31 (FOX) - Would go Independent should Tribune/Local Media decide to move the FOX affiliation to KWGN 2

KPXC 59 (ION) - Would likely go full time Religion if not 24/7 shopping/infomercials (Which would be a waste of RF for a STRONG FULL POWER station IMO) or go Latin & become the new home to Azteca America (Which is on an LP on the RF side that's riding piggyback on KMGH 7 for HD service)

JMO.....

Cheers & 73 ;D
 
Why would you kill ION? You do realize they now program actual programming - movies and dramas than infomercials, right? They're on the air 1PM-3AM Monday-Sunday. That's 98 hours of actual programming per week plus 1 hour of QUBO programming 8AM-9AM Wedneday-Friday for a total of 101 hours of programming per week.

If my calculations are correct that's more than any of the other networks.

CBS has 95 hours of programming a week including the CBS Overnight News and the 1/2 CBS Morning News, but not including Play-By-Play.

NBC has 82 hours of programming a week including the 2AM Best of Kathy Lee & Hoda, The 3 AM best of Fallon, Early Today at 4AM, The Saturday Qubo Block, and The Sunday overnight best of Dateline NBC. Again I'm not counting play-by-play.

ABC has 91 1/2 hours of programming a week including the ABC Overnight News, ABC Morning News, and The Litton Entertainment Block on Saturday Mornings.
 
The MyNet affiliate in Charlotte just signed a deal to carry the local Major League Lacrosse team. I'm more likely to watch the station now.
 
MarcB said:
Why would you kill ION? You do realize they now program actual programming - movies and dramas than infomercials, right? They're on the air 1PM-3AM Monday-Sunday. That's 98 hours of actual programming per week plus 1 hour of QUBO programming 8AM-9AM Wedneday-Friday for a total of 101 hours of programming per week.

If my calculations are correct that's more than any of the other networks.

CBS has 95 hours of programming a week including the CBS Overnight News and the 1/2 CBS Morning News, but not including Play-By-Play.

NBC has 82 hours of programming a week including the 2AM Best of Kathy Lee & Hoda, The 3 AM best of Fallon, Early Today at 4AM, The Saturday Qubo Block, and The Sunday overnight best of Dateline NBC. Again I'm not counting play-by-play.

ABC has 91 1/2 hours of programming a week including the ABC Overnight News, ABC Morning News, and The Litton Entertainment Block on Saturday Mornings.
Click to expand...

Ion Television & subchannels Qubo & Ion Life may have a lot of hours of programming, but what hurts Ion the most, is that they insist on owning all their stations. They have let a few stations affiliate with Ion Television & Qubo, but so far have let no one affiliate with Ion Life. If Ion Media didn't own so many stations, they probably could get better programming for their stations, & maybe an actual network. It might also be true that most of those stations have skeleton crews, but the electricity alone is the biggest expense for all those stations. Having some affiliates would actually give them some money to get better programming, & even create some original programming. I don't see how they'll be able to keep this up, with owning so many stations, & be able to program a network with enough programming for the most important timeslots (even as the network is satellite fed to all their stations). At least the other networks are smart to not own so many stations. ABC owns 8 stations & all are ABC. CBS has 31 with 17 of them CBS, while the rest are either independent or CW. NBC has 26 stations with 10 of them NBC, & the other 16 Telemundo. Fox has 29 with 17 (including a translator) with Fox, & the rest with MNT. Ion Media has 65 stations, & all of them with Ion TV, Qubo, & Ion Life.
 
NBC does not own WWDP. I think you're thinking of WNEU, the NBC-owned Telemundo affiliate in New Hampshire.
 
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