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NBCU to buy KASA

A

AbqAnonymous

NBCU is purchasing KASA-TV channel 2 which is primarily affiliated with Telemundo from Ramar Communications which bought the station for just $2.5 million in 2016. The sale to NBCU is worth $12.5 million so that is a $10 million gain for Ramar which apparently is exiting the TV business. It also includes the LPTV stations KTEL-CA 15, KUPT-LD 16, and KRTN-LD 39 which mostly just show duplicates of everything on KASA with a couple exceptions. Also included are the satellites KTEL 25 Carlsbad, KUPT 29 Hobbs, and KRTN 33 Durango as well as the statewide translator network.

However in addition to Telemundo the other networks carried are MeTV, H&I, Start TV, and Charge! the first three are owned by Weigel Broadcasting and Charge! is an MGM channel. So the question now is what happens with the other networks? Looking at the affiliate list on rabbitears.com it does not look like Weigel has any deals with NBC owned stations. Cozi TV will probably be moved from KASY 50.4 back to KASA when the deal closes and a channel called LX will probably be added as appears to be the case with most Telemundo O&Os. I'm not sure what if anything NBC would want to do with the LPTVs. Although converting one of them to ATSC 3.0 might be a good idea. They also could sell a couple, perhaps Weigel may want to buy something here to stay on. But it's very likely MeTV will continue to be shown somewhere since it seems to be quite popular, but could there be another TV shakeup?

The story is here: NBCU Buying KASA Albuquerque For $12.5M
 
The sale was approved last month and a consummation notice was filed yesterday (10/5) and right now it looks like someone is playing around with things especially with the LPs. Cozi TV has apparently replaced H&I on channel 29.1 while it is also still on channel 50.4 (about 8 seconds ahead!) and also on LP channels 16.3 and 15.5. MeTV, Start TV, and Charge! are still on the KASA signal which has had an odd setup since Ramar took over remapping to channels 2, 15, 29 or 33 rather than just 2.x like before. The FCC database also has it listed as virtual channel 2 although I doubt there are any legal violations using the other channels. The TeleXitos network is currently shown twice on channel 2.2 from both KRTN-LD and KUPT-LD but not on the full powered signal yet. Also the Movies! network is still on the LP channels 16.1 and 15.6. MeTV is also shown on 39.1 and Charge! on 39.6 but everything in between has been cut out. MeTV on KASA channel 15.1 has also recently been changed from from a 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9.

So far it looks like H&I, Buzzr, a couple of infomercial channels and Jewelry TV (which is now on KYNM 21.2) have been dropped. Perhaps KASY could pick up H&I on 50.4. I just wonder if Weigel can work out a deal with NBC because it may be a little challenging finding new affiliates for all of their networks here. Decades is on KOB 4.4 but their signal seems packed right now with six channels plus they are supposed to add the Newsy channel soon. Maybe KOAT could also make some deal as well. Just wait and see what happens!
 
Well now TBD is airing on channel 33.1 (picture in 4:3) and 39.6 (with a 16:9 aspect ratio and better quality picture) in place of Charge!. It already airs on channel 41.4 although it is about 2 hours ahead of what the EPG schedule lists while 33.1/39.6 show exactly what is listed there.

It makes sense that they would have the local NBC affiliate provide newscasts for the station. KOB picked up H&I shortly after it was dropped in October on channel 4.4 while it recently brought back Decades on channel 4.7. The Newsy website lists KOB 4.6 as it's Albuquerque affiliate which is actually TrueReal while the TrueReal website lists KOB 4.4 as the local channel. Currently Newsy is not shown here. Cozi is also still shown on channel 50.4.
 
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