TWC and CW Cable Affiliates, Buffalo
> And remember, the CW affiliation is on the table in three
> more TWC-dominant markets in upstate New York: Buffalo
> (where LIN's WNLO has yet to sign), Elmira and Binghamton
> (the latter two on WB 100+ cable outlets). Could TWC turn
> the very successful "WB16" experience in Rochester into a
> regional CW service, with nice strong drawing points like
> Syracuse University sports? Don't bet against them.
I've never seen "WB16", but at least from the web site it appears to be very similar to a strong over-air WB affiliate. And I did notice one thing while visiting the site - they have an HD feed on cable channel 1016. Since HD is supposedly important to the CW folks, TWC would have no problem launching complementary HD feeds in Buffalo and other upstate New York markets.
It'd also been a big splash when TWC takes over the Adelphia systems in Buffalo and environs. It all fits together rather nicely, no?
Add to that another fact in Buffalo... LIN has come out rather strongly against the CW's reverse compensation model. Read here:
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29469>http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29469</a>
"In a Feb. 15 conference call with investors, LIN TV Chief Financial Officer Vincent Sadusky drew a line in the sand responding to reports that The CW expects reverse compensation. Sadusky noted LIN already programs 22 out of 24 hours where it gets four to five times the number of commercial availabilities to sell. 'Even if we get only half of the ratings, it is far from a negative scenario' given the greater number of spots, he concluded."
Doesn't sound like a group itching to sign up, does it? Like Syracuse, I figure The CW would basically have to come down completely from its reverse compensation model, which I don't consider likely to happen.
I wonder how many stations like WSTQ-LP will be caught in that squeeze and basically go away? If TWC mounts the Syracuse version of "WB16", do they have any incentive to even still keep running WSTQ-LP, if it survives as an entity without UPN? I doubt it...
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