Gannett Buys Belo TV Stations

[KeithE4]

If I learned anything from my 45 years in broadcast news, I learned nothing good happens when new owners come in saying "oh we love what you guys are doing. You're doing a great job and we want you to keep up your good work." Uh-huh.

Especially if your employer is bought out by a a competitor.

It only took one experience like that to teach me to ALWAYS keep my resume and audition tape up to date and handy.

My previous employer, not in broadcasting, was bought out by a competitor in 1995. They "promised" to keep us open for at least 5 years. The lease on our factory was (guess what) 5 years. As soon as they were able to buy out the lease, in a year and a half, we were shut down and I found myself unemployed. So it's not just in broadcasting, it's any business.

But the same thing happened with my current employer. We were bought by a competitor in 2006 and we're still open. So it can go both ways.

 

[arnoldevns]

There won't be much independence. Gannett makes that pretty clear:
http://mobile.broadcastingcable.com/article/494112-Sen_Cantwell_Criticizes_Gannett_Belo_Deal.php

I don't know of a person in this business that sees this deal as good for the stations Sander will "own."

I think the B&C article could have been written more clearly. Unless Gannett has become wildly inconsistent (not likely approaching a deal of this magnitude), the plan is hands off Phoenix and St. Louis:

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/gannett-promises-to-keep-same-market-stations-separate-in-belo-acquisition_b94125

I hope you are right and I am wrong.. but my gut tells me that you're going to see several of these Belo news departments folded into the Gannett stations and hundreds or thousands of jobs lost. That's what happens with mergers. If Gannett was bundling these stations and selling them as a group to Mr. Sander and NOT doing a JSA then I might agree with you. But the way this business is today that is simply not the way it works. This is set up to let Gannett skirt the ownership rules the same way Sinclair does it. The FCC ALWAYS looks the other way and pretends this is okay. It isn't.

I am actually not opposed to companies owning lots and lots of stations. I'm not opposed to duopolies. But I am opposed to triopolies or quadopolies that flagrantly violate the FCC rules using phony ownership groups like this. That's exactly what's going on here and it stinks.

 

[600kogo]

Too bad for ABC; if they had known Belo was for sale, they would probably have gone hard after WFAA, their largest non-owned station (CBS would probably have lusted after KHOU as well).

CBS probably will acquire KHOU. Gannett owns stations in Washington and Atlanta, markets larger than Houston. Houston is on the bottom of the top 10 and probably the first large DMA station to be sold to meet ownership caps.

Wouldn't be surprised if KENS is included as a package deal (channel stuffing) to CBS.

CBS Television is already at a cap for TV ownership, so they would (just to buy KHOU) have to sell at least one station (probably Tampa).

 

[600kogo]

Or CBS would sell their Walker, MN stations to buy the others.

 

[michael hagerty]

Too bad for ABC; if they had known Belo was for sale, they would probably have gone hard after WFAA, their largest non-owned station (CBS would probably have lusted after KHOU as well).

CBS probably will acquire KHOU. Gannett owns stations in Washington and Atlanta, markets larger than Houston. Houston is on the bottom of the top 10 and probably the first large DMA station to be sold to meet ownership caps.

Wouldn't be surprised if KENS is included as a package deal (channel stuffing) to CBS.

CBS Television is already at a cap for TV ownership, so they would (just to buy KHOU) have to sell at least one station (probably Tampa).

Guys, seriously....CBS isn't buying. Neither's ABC or NBC.

 

[mr.ric]

Too bad for ABC; if they had known Belo was for sale, they would probably have gone hard after WFAA, their largest non-owned station (CBS would probably have lusted after KHOU as well).

CBS probably will acquire KHOU. Gannett owns stations in Washington and Atlanta, markets larger than Houston. Houston is on the bottom of the top 10 and probably the first large DMA station to be sold to meet ownership caps.

Wouldn't be surprised if KENS is included as a package deal (channel stuffing) to CBS.

CBS Television is already at a cap for TV ownership, so they would (just to buy KHOU) have to sell at least one station (probably Tampa).

Guys, seriously....CBS isn't buying. Neither's ABC or NBC.

That's what they also said about Tribune... until yesterday.

I don't see an issue with CBS going after a TOP-10 market affiliate like KHOU. If so, they might as well go after the KUBE too, to make a CBS duopoly here.

 

[michael hagerty]

Too bad for ABC; if they had known Belo was for sale, they would probably have gone hard after WFAA, their largest non-owned station (CBS would probably have lusted after KHOU as well).

CBS probably will acquire KHOU. Gannett owns stations in Washington and Atlanta, markets larger than Houston. Houston is on the bottom of the top 10 and probably the first large DMA station to be sold to meet ownership caps.

Wouldn't be surprised if KENS is included as a package deal (channel stuffing) to CBS.

CBS Television is already at a cap for TV ownership, so they would (just to buy KHOU) have to sell at least one station (probably Tampa).

Guys, seriously....CBS isn't buying. Neither's ABC or NBC.

That's what they also said about Tribune... until yesterday.

I don't see an issue with CBS going after a TOP-10 market affiliate like KHOU. If so, they might as well go after the KUBE too, to make a CBS duopoly here.

Well, it's what some people said about Tribune. I wasn't saying it, nor was anyone in the industry that I'm aware of.

ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC are going to sit all this out, I think. They don't see the advantage in spending billions to gobble up OTA signals, and will happily collect the reverse compensation dollars from the groups for as long as there are OTA affiliates.

These deals (and we've only seen the first two of what will be several) are all about scale. Gannett has no reason to sell KHOU.