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Kimmel returns Tuesday

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What do you think of these scenarios in Connecticut if Disney doesn't renew Nexstar's contract with ABC and if the Nexstar-Tegna meger doesn't go through?

Might ABC wind up on Tegna's WCCT-TV/20 and CW ending up on Nexstar's WTNH/8.

If the Nexstar-Tegna Merger does go through the only option for ABC would be for Gray's Low-power WWAX-LD/27 which is also simulcast on WFSB 3.4 unless WFSB's contract with CBS is also up and then ABC can go to WFSB and CBS can go to Nexstar's WTNH/8.
 
K.M. Richards said:
(Capital Cities sold WXYZ-AM/TV and WRIT-FM in Detroit in 1986 when they acquired ABC, because at the time FCC ownership rules would not have allowed them to keep the two stations they already owned in the market ... WJR and WHYT-FM.)
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Slight corrections, if I may: WXYZ (AM) was sold by ABC in 1984 and became WXYT.

And the FM was, and still is, WRIF.
 
Rollo-Smokes said:
Considering that channel 9's next owners were the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation (aka Metromedia), it was an unintended good move to keep those KMBC calls.
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At least, the WHB calls still exist where they first began, on the AM dial in 1922, where most of the rich history of WHB is. I like the fact that AM 810 is still branded with them. Most TV stations disguise the calls opting for name branding with either network affiliation, or location.
 
Rollo-Smokes said:
Considering that channel 9's next owners were the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation (aka Metromedia), it was an unintended good move to keep those KMBC calls.
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MBC = Midland Broadcast Central - which is what Arthur Church called the station. He wasn’t exactly the original owner but the origins of KMBC are surprisingly complicated, too much so to go into in this thread.
 
K.M. Richards said:
If the Aussies can do it, why couldn't we, right?
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But that doesn't address the portion of my question as to whether local stations would keep their historic channel numbers for PSIP purposes, or whether they would be forced to map to the network's universal PSIP channel number. If they did the former, they'd have to flip back and forth between their legacy channel number and the network's channel number (very confusing for viewers), but if they did the latter, they might choose to use their legacy channel for marketing purposes, but in every market, they'd be (for instance) "ABC 7" on PSIP. (And what about viewers who live in between two markets and get ABC from both? Not all DTV receivers can handle multiple PSIP channel numbers.)

But some stations do use a "marketing channel" different than their PSIP channel, such as WCIV "ABC 4" in Charleston SC which is on PSIP channel 36.2 (that situation is too complicated to be succinctly described here), and WBTS "NBC 10 Boston" which uses PSIP channel 15.1.
 
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MarcB said:
What do you think of these scenarios in Connecticut if Disney doesn't renew Nexstar's contract with ABC and if the Nexstar-Tegna meger doesn't go through?

Might ABC wind up on Tegna's WCCT-TV/20 and CW ending up on Nexstar's WTNH/8.

If the Nexstar-Tegna Merger does go through the only option for ABC would be for Gray's Low-power WWAX-LD/27 which is also simulcast on WFSB 3.4 unless WFSB's contract with CBS is also up and then ABC can go to WFSB and CBS can go to Nexstar's WTNH/8.
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What happens to WCTX-TV channel 59 New Haven? Are they even a network affiliate anymore?
 
MarcB said:
What do you think of these scenarios in Connecticut if Disney doesn't renew Nexstar's contract with ABC and if the Nexstar-Tegna meger doesn't go through?

Might ABC wind up on Tegna's WCCT-TV/20 and CW ending up on Nexstar's WTNH/8.

If the Nexstar-Tegna Merger does go through the only option for ABC would be for Gray's Low-power WWAX-LD/27 which is also simulcast on WFSB 3.4 unless WFSB's contract with CBS is also up and then ABC can go to WFSB and CBS can go to Nexstar's WTNH/8.
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Gray and CBS just signed long term renewals.
 
MarcB said:
What do you think of these scenarios in Connecticut if Disney doesn't renew Nexstar's contract with ABC and if the Nexstar-Tegna meger doesn't go through?

Might ABC wind up on Tegna's WCCT-TV/20 and CW ending up on Nexstar's WTNH/8.
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Highly doubtful. Tegna doesn't want to exist and wants to sell itself if it still can. They aren't going to invest in any additional infrastructure for an ABC affiliation unless they 100% have to.

My question is, if the Tegna-Nexstar merger isn't dead yet and ABC mass disaffiliates from both companies at this time next year, how much would it devalue both companies and imperil the merger? The valuation of the LIN-MediaGeneral merger was negatively impacted by WISH losing CBS overnight, and that was only one station.
MarcB said:
If the Nexstar-Tegna Merger does go through the only option for ABC would be for Gray's Low-power WWAX-LD/27 which is also simulcast on WFSB 3.4 unless WFSB's contract with CBS is also up and then ABC can go to WFSB and CBS can go to Nexstar's WTNH/8.
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Far more likely ABC pipes in WABC-TV via cable, Hulu and YTTV and foregoes having a Hartford affiliate at all. As would be the case in all other markets.
 
The idea of a mass disaffiliation is just not going to happen. There isn’t somewhere viable to put the affiliation in many markets.

I know…but Miami. That was a unique one-off that isn’t replicable in most cases. For good, for bad, and for whatever in between, there will be relatively little change. There will be dancing and posturing, but each group has needs of the other, whatever headaches the relationship may have.

We’re not at the point where the networks are going to chuck the existing model (in a significant chunk of the country) and go over the top just yet. Will we get there? Sure. But that’s a longer term horizon.

The public has short memories and the very nature of the chaos in Washington under this administration means we’ll be ok to the next scandal and this one-week tiff will be a distant blip on the radar. And while executives may have longer memories and deeper grudges, in the end, the bottom line wins.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
The idea of a mass disaffiliation is just not going to happen. There isn’t somewhere viable to put the affiliation in many markets.
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Who says there would need to be replacement affiliates? It's obvious ABC is in the early stages of sunsetting regular operations as a network and folding into Hulu and Disney+.
AbrahamJSimpson said:
I know…but Miami. That was a unique one-off that isn’t replicable in most cases. For good, for bad, and for whatever in between, there will be relatively little change. There will be dancing and posturing, but each group has needs of the other, whatever headaches the relationship may have.
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I would argue that what Sinclair and Nexstar did to ABC and Disney far outweighed any of the tensions and saber rattling between Ed Ansin and NBC in Boston. By an order of magnitude.

Furthermore, Nexstar doesn't need ABC at all. They own the CW and will simply make their ABC affiliates as CW owned-stations. Sinclair would be up the creek but they made their choice.
AbrahamJSimpson said:
We’re not at the point where the networks are going to chuck the existing model (in a significant chunk of the country) and go over the top just yet. Will we get there? Sure. But that’s a longer term horizon.
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I disagree. The age disparity for shows on ABC and streamed next day on Hulu is already stark and damning.

From a 2024 WSJ article:
The median age of an “Abbott Elementary” viewer is 61 on ABC and 36 on streaming services, according to Nielsen data. For “The Bachelor,” the median age of a viewer is 60 on traditional TV and 32 on streaming.
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If anything, ABC is looking like it's being propped up by Hulu and Disney+ than the other way around.
AbrahamJSimpson said:
The public has short memories and the very nature of the chaos in Washington under this administration means we’ll be ok to the next scandal and this one-week tiff will be a distant blip on the radar. And while executives may have longer memories and deeper grudges, in the end, the bottom line wins.
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Doesn't matter what the public thinks. This is solely a decision made by Disney itself. And they are 100% capable of holding a grudge.

The ABC network could literally go down to their eight owned-stations and GMA and WNT would still have a good chance at being #1.
 
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Don CT said:
Could ABC buy back affiliates from Nexstar/Sinclair in bigger markets.
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I don't see anything in what Iger has said that suggests they want to buy more towers and transmitters. If anything, they're in sell mode.

They had an opportunity to buy WJLA in DC a while back and didn't move on it.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't see anything in what Iger has said that suggests they want to buy more towers and transmitters. If anything, they're in sell mode.

They had an opportunity to buy WJLA in DC a while back and didn't move on it.
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Is there anything legally stopping them or is it strictly financial.
 
Don CT said:
Is there anything legally stopping them or is it strictly financial.
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It's all philosophical. They don't see themselves in the towers & transmitters business. They are all about content.

They have the money. They see no reason to buy more of a declining asset.

They were ready to sell radio in the 90s. It took them a while to find a buyer.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't see anything in what Iger has said that suggests they want to buy more towers and transmitters. If anything, they're in sell mode.

They had an opportunity to buy WJLA in DC a while back and didn't move on it.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Channel 6 Action News is fully moved to a FAST and Disney disposes of the paper that contains WPVI's broadcast license. Ditto with Eyewitness News in NYC.
 
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