http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=18226
"The company is struggling with dwindling audiences and lagging advertising. "
"Mr. FitzSimons also is exploring swaps and sales of TV stations. Cost savings from owning two stations in one market are so attractive that Tribune could swap some for stations in markets where the company already owns one. Or the company could sell stations to other media concerns willing to pay hefty prices to create their own duopolies."
I suspect NBC would like ownership of WPHL 17, although it breaks from the current strategy of NBC station with Telemundo affiliate. But Hispanics are less here, so Telemundo isn't a big thing here. Sports-less WPHL underperforms in comparison to lot of other Tribune stations. Philly doesn't have the high income/big sports market feel like the top three markets or Boston or D.C., nor is it in the growing fast South. Local sports is primarily an inhouse niche thing here, on Comcast only. We didn't see KDAF 33(WB) outsourcing its news to the NBC-owned station (KXAS) in Dallas, and Dallas' WB is UHF also.
WPHL's daily lineup consists of second rate talk shows, comedies also found on cable/ TBS, and The WB, by which the latter will always be a fledgling niche net, not a major.
If Tribune and NBC are in bed for newscast synergies, what about these duopoly synergies in underperforming big markets, or small markets.
"The company is struggling with dwindling audiences and lagging advertising. "
"Mr. FitzSimons also is exploring swaps and sales of TV stations. Cost savings from owning two stations in one market are so attractive that Tribune could swap some for stations in markets where the company already owns one. Or the company could sell stations to other media concerns willing to pay hefty prices to create their own duopolies."
I suspect NBC would like ownership of WPHL 17, although it breaks from the current strategy of NBC station with Telemundo affiliate. But Hispanics are less here, so Telemundo isn't a big thing here. Sports-less WPHL underperforms in comparison to lot of other Tribune stations. Philly doesn't have the high income/big sports market feel like the top three markets or Boston or D.C., nor is it in the growing fast South. Local sports is primarily an inhouse niche thing here, on Comcast only. We didn't see KDAF 33(WB) outsourcing its news to the NBC-owned station (KXAS) in Dallas, and Dallas' WB is UHF also.
WPHL's daily lineup consists of second rate talk shows, comedies also found on cable/ TBS, and The WB, by which the latter will always be a fledgling niche net, not a major.
If Tribune and NBC are in bed for newscast synergies, what about these duopoly synergies in underperforming big markets, or small markets.