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KSWB San Diego?

G

Garrett

SDRadio.net reports that KSWB 5/69 is part of the divesiture that is the the shrink wrapping Tribune Empire.
So who's most likely to buy this one? Will CBS be interested in the CW affiliate, or maybe a situation similar to Boston where an owner of one of the other locals will buy it, and reduce operations to satillite status? In Boston, Sunbeam eliminated all operations, closed the studio and replaced WLVI's news with an earlier version of WHDH News. Will that happen here?
 
It would come as something of a surprise if CBS came in and picked it up; for that matter, it would NOT surprise me if Zell didn't spin it sooner as opposed to later.

You can make the argument that the pieces of Tribune Broadcasting are worth more than the whole of the company (considering that just the prestige of the Chicago, NY or LA licenses are probably worth the outrageous price they'd command). I really wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to what a station like KSWB, with not the greatest ratings and revenue rankings, would draw in the open market.
 
Their high dial position (69, last on the dial), can't be much of a help either. I wonder if Midwest TV might be interested in taking it?
 
Does dial position even matter anymore? Especially since no TVs have "dials" anymore...
 
I think it depends. You have to consider that at 69, they have always stuggled, and while dial position shouldn't matter anymore, its an inherited problem. That's why they began identifying themselves as Channel 5, but this was never enough to help.
 
Sounds like they have programming nobody wants to watch. It's always been my experience that people will go any lengths to get what they want, but won't cross the street to get what they don't.
 
The thing about Channel 69 is that they've always had the worst signal, and WB was never enough to get people's attention. In fact, I don't think San Diego's been kind to either UPN or WB, seeing as how UPN was actually dropped by KUSI and put on a station that essentially NOBODY can see without cable (49).

I also think that singal problems are the reason why San Diego is not a bigger market than it is. You'd thihk that a big market bordering TJ and just to the south of LA would be a major player, but it just hasn't been so, not lately anway.
 
No, population is why San Diego is not a bigger market than it is. That and the fact that they're hemmed in by LA to the north, Palm Springs to the northeast, and El Centro/Yuma to the east. Not much chance to increase the reach of your market via translators. San Diego reminds me of Rochester, NY in that regard: geographically small market, relatively small population.

I would think that cable TV penetration is pretty high in the SD market, given its terrain, so signal shouldn't be an issue for most viewers.

I don't mean to belabor the point; I just think that programming quality is the single largest determinant in a station's success. Cable and satellite have pretty much taken signal quality out of the picture.
 
KSWB was years behind the curve in identifying itself by its cable position. KUSI and KPBS don't even use their channel identities, cable or otherwise, if I recall correctly (KUSI did use 9/51 and just plain "9" for a time); KNSD has used "7/39" for many years. Branding is SO critical in a fragmented television universe...KSWB just didn't get theirs out consistently until well after they should have.
 
whoever gets it won't be on ch 69 after 2009 anyway...
how good/bad is their signal (digital) on ch 19?
and will they stay on 19 after the analog is turned off...or take a second round choice?
 
The selection process has already been completed; there have already been 2nd and 3rd rounds.

Even so, KSWB selected ch 19 in the 1st round, and was approved by the FCC.

Unless they have some other special arrangement with the FCC, TV sets should continue to identify them as 69.x, although, based on what someone else in this forum told me, they should also be identified as 19.x.

Regardless of how they identify in the digital world, people who have them on cable or satellite will continue to see them on the same channel, so they likely won't know differently.
 
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