Indianapolis: CBS Moving from WISH to WTTV 1/1/2015

[mvcg66b3r]

A likely scenario is Fox trading KRIV/KTXH to Tribune for KCPQ/KZJO, and possibly throw in KTBC to sweeten the deal. Tribune would have to sell KIAH, though.

Possibly to Gannett, to pair with KHOU?

 

[nathannah]

But KCPQ and KZJO are two stations; WTTV/WTTK is one station with two transmitters. Tribune told the FCC in its satellite continuation request that operating WTTK as a stand-alone station would not be feasible.
http://admin.epiq11.com/onlinedocuments/trb/exhibits/npp fcc/FCC0022.pdf

I did not know that they had to file this report; thanks for the link to it (though I think the $1 million in setup costs seems to be Sam Zell-spun numbers to tell their creditors then 'hey, I can't afford even that').

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

I have seen little mention of what's going on with WTTK though in all of this, especially with the CW/CBS split and the bandwidth fun to come for the engineering department . What I can see happening though with WTTV is the same arrangement Trib has with their Fox and MyNet stations in Seattle; KCPQ broadcasts from the west shore of Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula (licensed to Tacoma), so they use KZJO to rebroadcast KCPQ on their .2, which broadcasts from north of downtown to provide the center of town and northern suburbs a clean Fox signal in some way. With WTTV, they could easily use their satellite WTTK (licensed to Kokomo, but broadcasting from the WXIN tower in the digital age) to provide a full-HD CW signal for antenna viewers on their 29.2 and a reduced 720p/480i signal for CBS on 29.1, while the reverse occurs with WTTV; HQ HD for CBS on 4.1, 480i widescreen for CW on 4.2 (On cable/sat, they'll just get 1080i via fiber to the headend, no doubt, so it's just a matter of bumping over a public access channel or infomercial pipe for whatever new channel CW 4.2 gets). Both WTTK and WTTV have a big overlap in the digital age, so however they do it for now it should still work out for CBS and CW viewers over the air.

Or could Tribune do similar what Nexstar does a few hours west of Indy with WCIA Champaign-3.1/WCIX Springfield-49.1 in west central Illinois (Reduced signal for My on 49.1, Full-HD CBS on 49.2; vice-versa on 3.1 and 3.2) by having "CBS 4" on WTTV-4.1/WTTK-29.2 and "CW 29" on 4.2/29.1?

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

With Sinclair among the top three ABC affiliate groups now that they have Allbritton, this seems a little less likely, a 50/50 proposition now. A couple of years ago I could have seen it much more, though Trib only had WGNO back then as an ABC affiliate, and even now only has three ABC's after the Local TV LLC merger. At this point ABC can't find any reason to get SBG's ire; the days of the Nightline war dead list being aired despite Sinclair's objections are long over and you never hear about any ABC/Sinclair skirmishes any longer since they know it's a good chunk of their viewership. I would keep a watch on how that St. Louis renewal pans out, though if KDNL has to go CW, at least they have the Nielsen scratch-filled schedule already as an ABC affiliate to go with it.

I would also keep watch on the renewal process down the road in Terre Haute too, with WISH's LIN sister station WTHI-10.1 also a CBS affiliate (with Fox a subchannel at 10.2). Meanwhile, the only other game in TH is Nexstar-owned WTWO-2.1 (NBC) who also has a JSA with Mission Broadcasting's WAWV-38.1 (ABC).

 

[davidgheller47]

I can defintely see Tribune dropping all CW affiliates to go independent within the coming years. The CW can find other homes (New York: WLNY/55, LA: KCAL/9, Chicago: WCIU/26, Dallas: KTXA/21, etc--the list could go on. Only ones I'm thinking that won't probably move would be the ones like in Houston, New Orleans, Miami, or DC).

It would be an interesting move to have WTTV become CBS despite the fact that Tribune didn't move Fox down to ch. 4 in the first place. Can't say I didn't see that coming.

KPLR, I can see go ABC in the coming years too and it can be a likely move too. I'm sure KDNL wouldn't mind becoming the CW afterwards and possibly MyNetworkTV on a subchannel?

As for KFOR, that move makes just as much sense as Fox moving down to WOAI in San Antonio and NBC going to KABB. In other words, that is highly unlikely. Now if Oklahoma City were to have an NFL team in the NFC conference, then that would be more likely (that's the word in San Antonio about the Raiders possibly moving from Oakland btw, however, it wouldn't matter since the Raiders are an AFC team and CBS affiliate KENS probably won't be worried about that if they do move).

Another Tribune statement: Do you think WPHL/Philly is fine with MyNetworkTV? They are treating that station like an independent I believe. And since Fox owns WTXF, I doubt Fox would let go of the Eagles games on WTXF. Similar to Seattle with Tribune-owned Fox KCPQ in which I read somewhere that Fox was interested in purchasing the Tribune duopoly.

I believe WPHL could go to Fox, probably along with with KCPQ-KZJO in Seattle to Fox, for KRIV/KTXH. KIAH would have to be sold, if I had to guess I think KIAH will go to Gannett, and form a duopoly with KHOU-TV. That's the way I see it down in Houston should Fox, go after The Seattle duopoly owned by Tribune, and WPHL in Philly, and form a duopoly with WTXF. Also as far as KFOR, is concerned I think there's a possibility where KOCB, becomes an NBC station, KAUT ends up going back with MyNetworkTV, KFOR could go independent, and become a news-intensive station, and for KSBI, could end up moving ThisTV to the main channel and show movies, and picks up KFOR ends up with KSBI's sports rights (including Texas Rangers games simulcast with fellow independent station KTXA). That's a possibility, or they could swap with KOCO, and become an ABC station.

 

[davidgheller47]

With Sinclair among the top three ABC affiliate groups now that they have Allbritton, this seems a little less likely, a 50/50 proposition now. A couple of years ago I could have seen it much more, though Trib only had WGNO back then as an ABC affiliate, and even now only has three ABC's after the Local TV LLC merger. At this point ABC can't find any reason to get SBG's ire; the days of the Nightline war dead list being aired despite Sinclair's objections are long over and you never hear about any ABC/Sinclair skirmishes any longer since they know it's a good chunk of their viewership. I would keep a watch on how that St. Louis renewal pans out, though if KDNL has to go CW, at least they have the Nielsen scratch-filled schedule already as an ABC affiliate to go with it.

I have seen little mention of what's going on with WTTK though in all of this, especially with the CW/CBS split and the bandwidth fun to come for the engineering department . What I can see happening though with WTTV is the same arrangement Trib has with their Fox and MyNet stations in Seattle; KCPQ broadcasts from the west shore of Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula (licensed to Tacoma), so they use KZJO to rebroadcast KCPQ on their .2, which broadcasts from north of downtown to provide the center of town and northern suburbs a clean Fox signal in some way. With WTTV, they could easily use their satellite WTTK (licensed to Kokomo, but broadcasting from the WXIN tower in the digital age) to provide a full-HD CW signal for antenna viewers on their 29.2 and a reduced 720p/480i signal for CBS on 29.1, while the reverse occurs with WTTV; HQ HD for CBS on 4.1, 480i widescreen for CW on 4.2 (On cable/sat, they'll just get 1080i via fiber to the headend, no doubt, so it's just a matter of bumping over a public access channel or infomercial pipe for whatever new channel CW 4.2 gets). Both WTTK and WTTV have a big overlap in the digital age, so however they do it for now it should still work out for CBS and CW viewers over the air.

I agree, I would keep an eye on that, you would have to think at some point KDNL will lose its affiliation with ABC, because KDNL has been the weakest ABC station since it joined the network in 1995, whereas KTVI (when it was an ABC affiliate) it was one of ABC's strongest affiliates.

 

[crackedscreen]

I believe WPHL could go to Fox, probably along with with KCPQ-KZJO in Seattle to Fox, for KRIV/KTXH. KIAH would have to be sold, if I had to guess I think KIAH will go to Gannett, and form a duopoly with KHOU-TV. That's the way I see it down in Houston should Fox, go after The Seattle duopoly owned by Tribune, and WPHL in Philly, and form a duopoly with WTXF.

You're just regurgitating what's already been suggested a few posts above yours.

I agree, I would keep an eye on that, you would have to think at some point KDNL will lose its affiliation with ABC, because KDNL has been the weakest ABC station since it joined the network in 1995, whereas KTVI (when it was an ABC affiliate) it was one of ABC's strongest affiliates.

ABC doesn't care. They extended their affiliation agreement with KDNL through 2015, knowing it was an under-performing station. The deal was packaged with Sinclair's other ABC affiliates, so it's going to take some serious voodoo on Tribune's part to lure ABC away. Again, ABC doesn't care.

 

[davidgheller47]

You're just regurgitating what's already been suggested a few posts above yours.



ABC doesn't care. They extended their affiliation agreement with KDNL through 2015, knowing it was an under-performing station. The deal was packaged with Sinclair's other ABC affiliates, so it's going to take some serious voodoo on Tribune's part to lure ABC away. Again, ABC doesn't care.

That's the whole problem with ABC right now they don't care, they lost their sports division to ESPN almost a decade ago, and I think ABC should've been sold a few years ago, what I don't get is why Disney wants to get rid of the O&Os of the network? Doesn't make any sense, if you're going to get rid of that, you'd be better off just getting rid of the network altogether.

 

[thomwim]

Very, very few WC affilates, ignoring subchannels, will have a virtual channel between channels 2-13: New York (WPIX), Los Angeles (KTLA), Shit City (WGN), Seattle (KSTW), Denver (KWGN), San Diego (XETV), Evansville (WTVW), Marquette (WBKP), Eureka (KUVU), and Helena (KMTF).

 

[bpatrick]

Doesn't LIN also own CBS affiliate WANE/15 in Fort Wayne? That one might also be worth a watch.

With the talk about St. Louis (which I guess I started on this thread), I can't see KTVI going back to ABC for the same reason I can't see WGHP in my area going back: Fox doesn't program as many hours as ABC does, so there's lots more revenue potential. Despite the fact that KTVI is on virtual channel 2, I still think that if ABC goes anywhere in St. Louis it would be to 11.

 

[E-Cam]

I believe WPHL could go to Fox, probably along with with KCPQ-KZJO in Seattle to Fox, for KRIV/KTXH. KIAH would have to be sold, if I had to guess I think KIAH will go to Gannett, and form a duopoly with KHOU-TV. That's the way I see it down in Houston should Fox, go after The Seattle duopoly owned by Tribune, and WPHL in Philly, and form a duopoly with WTXF. Also as far as KFOR, is concerned I think there's a possibility where KOCB, becomes an NBC station, KAUT ends up going back with MyNetworkTV, KFOR could go independent, and become a news-intensive station, and for KSBI, could end up moving ThisTV to the main channel and show movies, and picks up KFOR ends up with KSBI's sports rights (including Texas Rangers games simulcast with fellow independent station KTXA). That's a possibility, or they could swap with KOCO, and become an ABC station.

I highly doubt that Tribune would let NBC go from KFOR. The whole point is Tribune is not happy with the CW and seeing that OKC's CW station is owned by Sinclair, I doubt Tribune would do anything new to OKC.

A likely scenario is Fox trading KRIV/KTXH to Tribune for KCPQ/KZJO, and possibly throw in KTBC to sweeten the deal. Tribune would have to sell KIAH, though.

Speaking for both quotes, I like that idea with Fox and Tribune swapping stations between Seattle and Houston. Would make a lot more sense rather than earlier when I read that Fox was interested in KIRO (CBS) in Seattle. As for Houston, yes either KIAH or maybe KTXH should be sold to another company (Gannett probably?).

I don't think Fox would let KTBC go but you never know.

 

[Kent]

That's a possibility, or they could swap with KOCO, and become an ABC station.

Hearst will not give up ABC without a fight.

I don't see much changing at Tribune in OKC. If anything, they'll put Fox on KAUT and leave KFOR NBC. However, I don't see that happening easily. Sinclair may not be everyone's favorite, but it owns it's fair share of Fox affiliates, too. Fox isn't likely to just walk off of KOKH.

 

[nathannah]

Doesn't LIN also own CBS affiliate WANE/15 in Fort Wayne? That one might also be worth a watch.

It would if CBS had anywhere else to go there. The Granite (soon to be Qunicy) quadopoly holds ABC/NBC and the netlets, and it took a lawsuit for collusion for Nexstar's WFFT to get Fox back from them after a couple years with Granite. The only other option alone is WINM from Angola, which doesn't cover the whole market and is another 'won't sell for a trillion dollars' religious broadcaster, while the other serious alone options are 3ABN translators. Because of the Granite regulatory mess, WFFT on DT2 is it for any kind of move.

 

[Kent]

Unless NBC were to leave WISE-TV for WANE. Doesn't seem terribly likely, but I've always heard WISE-TV was a rather weak NBC affiliate and has been for a long time.

 

[Unregistered]

KDNL should just switch to MyNetworkTV, and KPLR can carry ABC on a subchannel.

 

[E-Cam]

It would if CBS had anywhere else to go there. The Granite (soon to be Qunicy) quadopoly holds ABC/NBC and the netlets, and it took a lawsuit for collusion for Nexstar's WFFT to get Fox back from them after a couple years with Granite. The only other option alone is WINM from Angola, which doesn't cover the whole market and is another 'won't sell for a trillion dollars' religious broadcaster, while the other serious alone options are 3ABN translators. Because of the Granite regulatory mess, WFFT on DT2 is it for any kind of move.

Speaking of WFFT and Nexstar, I hope the deal with WEVV in Evansville to Nexstar/Mission would allow CBS to move to WTVW and have Fox on the WEVV .1 feed with the CW on the .2 feed. I hate the fact that "America's Most Watched Network" is on a weak station with no news department in the same market as "America's Least Watched (and Worst) Network" is on a strong VHF with a news department.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

KDNL should just switch to MyNetworkTV, and KPLR can carry ABC on 11.1 and The CW on 11.2, both in 720p HD.

Fixed.

 

[thomwim]

St. Louis is DMA #21, but it only has 10 stations. (Detroit, #11, has nine)

MNTV could join https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KPTN-LD.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

St. Louis is DMA #21, but it only has 10 stations.

I only counted nine on Wikipedia, including eight commercial stations.

 

[tsherck]

So what will happen to WLFI. Will they to ABC or NBC? Once WTTK takes over CBS in Kokmo