GRAY TELEVISION OF ATLANTA (36 STATIONS, BUT NONE IN ATLANTA)

[gregg75]

I think it's interesting (or odd) that Gray Television is headquartered in Atlanta but has no
stations here. They have 36 stations and the highest market is Knoxville, TN. They do
have a station in Augusta and one in Albany/Valdosta.

The Atlanta market must be considered too big for them, but you'd think they might at
least be interested in a low power station here, to claim for themselves.

 

[bpatrick]

IIRC, the company was founded in Albany; James H. Gray was the
longtime mayor there.

Media General is another company without a station in its headquarters
city. The company is headquartered in Richmond but because of crossownership
rules (it owns the Times-Dispatch) it does not own a television station; had it
not been for the rule Media General might have been able to buy WTVR along with
the other Park stations. The closest Media General stations are in Roanoke (WSLS),
Raleigh (WNCN), and Greenville, NC (WNCT). Its largest market is Tampa (WFLA).

 

[azumanga]

IIRC, the company was founded in Albany; James H. Gray was the
longtime mayor there.

At the time, Gray had a station in Albany -- WALB; they sold the station off to Raycom a few years back due to coverage restrictions after Gray's purchase of WCTV in Tallahassee.

I think Gray still have operational offices in Albany today, making it two cities they are based in where they don't have stations.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I have sometimes wondered if a broadcasting company is better off to be headquartered where they DO NOT have a station. The people at all the other stations often feel like orphans while the "flagship" station is considered by all the other stations to be pampered and spoiled. Whether it is true or not, staff at the outlying properties will feel that way.

 

[bpatrick]

IIRC, the company was founded in Albany; James H. Gray was the
longtime mayor there.

At the time, Gray had a station in Albany -- WALB; they sold the station off to Raycom a few years back due to coverage restrictions after Gray's purchase of WCTV in Tallahassee.

I think Gray still have operational offices in Albany today, making it two cities they are based in where they don't have stations.

True, Gray did own WALB. In addition to WCTV, Gray owns two other nearby stations: WTVY Dothan, AL; and WJHG Panama City, FL. Interestingly, WTVY is the de facto CBS affiliate for Panama City (WJHG is an NBC affiliate; Media General's WMBB is the ABC one).

 

[kilamanjero]

I have sometimes wondered if a broadcasting company is better off to be headquartered where they DO NOT have a station. The people at all the other stations often feel like orphans while the "flagship" station is considered by all the other stations to be pampered and spoiled. Whether it is true or not, staff at the outlying properties will feel that way.

I don't think it matters because flagships gets "pampered and spoiled" regardless.

 

[ricksegers]

IIRC, the company was founded in Albany; James H. Gray was the
longtime mayor there.

At the time, Gray had a station in Albany -- WALB; they sold the station off to Raycom a few years back due to coverage restrictions after Gray's purchase of WCTV in Tallahassee.

I think Gray still have operational offices in Albany today, making it two cities they are based in where they don't have stations.

They, at one time, owned KALB-TV in Eldorado, Arkansas/Monroe, LA.

True, Gray did own WALB. In addition to WCTV, Gray owns two other nearby stations: WTVY Dothan, AL; and WJHG Panama City, FL. Interestingly, WTVY is the de facto CBS affiliate for Panama City (WJHG is an NBC affiliate; Media General's WMBB is the ABC one).

 

[bpatrick]

KALB is the NBC affiliate in Alexandria, LA. The station I
think you're referring to in Monroe/El Dorado is another
NBC affiliate, KTVE.

 

[Bengalsfan]

KALB is the NBC affiliate in Alexandria, LA. The station I
think you're referring to in Monroe/El Dorado is another
NBC affiliate, KTVE.

KTVE was owned by Gray until it was sold in 1996 to GoComm Television. BTW, we used to get mail addressed to KALB at the WALB studios.

 

[azumanga]

In addition to WCTV, Gray owns two other nearby stations: WTVY Dothan, AL; and WJHG Panama City, FL. Interestingly, WTVY is the de facto CBS affiliate for Panama City...

Furthermore, WTVY's transmitter is a few miles south of the border in the town of Bethlehem, Florida, in Holmes County, which is part of the Panama City market.

(WJHG is an NBC affiliate; Media General's WMBB is the ABC one).

Media General sold off WMBB a couple of years back to Hoak Media, which mainly owns stations in the Great Plains and the Rockies.

 

[Poledo]

IIRC, the company was founded in Albany; James H. Gray was the
longtime mayor there.

At the time, Gray had a station in Albany -- WALB; they sold the station off to Raycom a few years back due to coverage restrictions after Gray's purchase of WCTV in Tallahassee.

I think Gray still have operational offices in Albany today, making it two cities they are based in where they don't have stations.

Doesn't Gray still own the Albany Herald (newspaper)? That, plus owning the CBS affiliation for Albany (which is also the biggest TV station in the immediate area) seems like a very good reason to have an office there. It wasn't long ago that Atlanta based Cumulus didn't really own any stations in ATL (Dickey brothers AM stations make this a vague statement).

Why did Gray have to sell WALB when they bought WCTV yet they got away with owning WTVY and WJHG in Panama City? It was like the same exact situation except WSFA is the most watched NBC affiliate in the Dothan market and channel NBC 40 in Tallahassee wasn't a big station at the time (WALB was significantly viewed in Tallahassee but WJHG was NOT significantly viewed in Dothan.) Was it the Albany Herald newspaper that put them "over the edge" or did they own some cable systems in the area?