Scripps + Hearst-Argyle

[JeeperOne]

Suppose it happens.....

Where would the problems be? I can only think of the obvious one - Baltimore, MD

WMAR 2 (ABC - Scripps)
WBAL 11 (NBC - Hearst-Argyle)

One of these would have to go. My guess would be WMAR 2 - To Disney/ABC since Comcast/NBC Universal is maxed out

Any others?

Cheers & 73 ;D

 

[nomadcowatbk]

also in Kansas City and Cincinnati

 

[TroyG]

Not gonna happen.

 

[mgsports]

My guess KSHB to Cox/with MEGATV and so on with it so it can be like Orlando minus one company either the people who own Myfoxorlando or WKMG would have to own FOX4KC bring Get Movies or so on with it.

 

[michael hagerty]

Suppose it happens.....

Where would the problems be? I can only think of the obvious one - Baltimore, MD

WMAR 2 (ABC - Scripps)
WBAL 11 (NBC - Hearst-Argyle)

One of these would have to go. My guess would be WMAR 2 - To Disney/ABC since Comcast/NBC Universal is maxed out

Any others?

Cheers & 73 ;D

Networks aren't in buying mode at the station level. If the above scenario happened (big if), WMAR would get spun to another group, either an existing one or a newly-created one like Jack Sander is putting together as a response to the Gannett-Belo deal.

 

[KTN Corp]

Suppose it happens.....

Where would the problems be? I can only think of the obvious one - Baltimore, MD

WMAR 2 (ABC - Scripps)
WBAL 11 (NBC - Hearst-Argyle)

One of these would have to go. My guess would be WMAR 2 - To Disney/ABC since Comcast/NBC Universal is maxed out

Any others?

Cheers & 73 ;D

Networks aren't in buying mode at the station level. If the above scenario happened (big if), WMAR would get spun to another group, either an existing one or a newly-created one like Jack Sander is putting together as a response to the Gannett-Belo deal.

Buying a station in a Top 10 market is a different story though; it might might be worth their while for the networks to go through the trouble of purchasing a TV station.

 

[michael hagerty]

Suppose it happens.....

Where would the problems be? I can only think of the obvious one - Baltimore, MD

WMAR 2 (ABC - Scripps)
WBAL 11 (NBC - Hearst-Argyle)

One of these would have to go. My guess would be WMAR 2 - To Disney/ABC since Comcast/NBC Universal is maxed out

Any others?

Cheers & 73 ;D

Networks aren't in buying mode at the station level. If the above scenario happened (big if), WMAR would get spun to another group, either an existing one or a newly-created one like Jack Sander is putting together as a response to the Gannett-Belo deal.

Buying a station in a Top 10 market is a different story though; it might might be worth their while for the networks to go through the trouble of purchasing a TV station.

Maybe a top 10.

Maybe.

Baltimore's #27.

 

[ding12]

It'd be weird if ABC and Hearst were competing directly against each other, as Hearst+Scripps would be ABC's largest affiliate group, part owner of ESPN and Lifetime as well. Besides that, Disney would probably want ABC 7 in DC over ABC 2 in Baltimore, if it were to add another ABC affiliate into the owned column. So it wouldn't want WMAR really.

If Hearst+Scripps were to happen, WBAL would flip to ABC affiliation, and WMAR would get the NBC affiliation and be sold off.

But, it might not need to be sold off, esp. if WMAR could be held and created as an indy for Maryland. WMAR has "MAR" for Maryland but it currently services less than half of Maryland's population. Under that scenario, WBAL flips to ABC affiliation as above but Comcast uses WRC 4 signal piped into Baltimore. WRC's newscast then just provides a more comprehensive regional weather forecast, and Comcast inserts Baltimore area ads on it's system in the Baltimore DMA.

Changing the COL from Baltimore to Bethesda can make this DC must-carry, while servicing most of Maryland's population. It'd still keep Baltimore carriage, with historical carriage and assuming it went neutral on syndication between the markets. Bethesda lacks a TV station, while Baltimore has numerous, so it could be possible. It'd be a win-win as Comcast's owned WRC would cover both markets as NBC, while WMAR would be in the DC DMA+Baltimore DMA but as an indy.

 

[jdb820]

also in Kansas City and Cincinnati

And West Palm Beach too. Tampa has both but a duopoly of WFTS and WMOR would pass muster especially since Tampa would have enough voices remaining.

There are better fish for Hearst to fry

 

[only1moore]

This merger would be tricky indeed. And since Scripps and Hearst would like to see their stations aligned with ABC, there would have to be a give or take in some markets, which could see WXII, KJRH, KCCI, WLKY, WPTV (if WPBF is put on the sales block), WGAL, WDSU, WYFF, WBAL (if WMAR is put on the sales block), KCRA, WESH, WPTZ/WNNE and the DT1 of KSBW ditching their contracts with their current networks. I would've include WLWT and KSHB, but WCPO and KMBC looks like safe bets to stay with ABC if the merger were to go forward.

That would mean that Sinclair (in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point and Greenville/Ashville/Spartanburg), Citadel (Des Moines), Gannett/Belo (Louisville and Sacramento), Tribune (New Orleans), Albritton (Tulsa and Harrisburg/Lancaster), Nexstar (Burlington/Plattsburgh) and Cox (Orlando) will want something out of this deal to make it happen, like extending their ABC affiliation deals with their other outlets (sans Tribune) to make up the difference.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

I'm not going to speculate on speculation too much...

...but I will say this: if Scripps and Hearst were to combine their broadcast assets, regardless of the wording of the arrangement (Scripps buying Hearst, Hearst buying Scripps, or a straight merge), the strongest stations in the conflict markets should be the ones retained. That is only logical. Those would be WBAL-TV in Baltimore and KMBC-TV in Kansas City, right off the bat.

If the Tampa-St. Petersburg market can support it and the Feds allow it, WFTS and WMOR-TV could be merged into a duopoly.

West Palm Beach and Cincinnati are toss-ups. I'm partial to say WPTV and WLWT would be the ones kept.

Worry about network alignments and everything else later...if it happens.

 

[michael hagerty]

And while we're talking about that....

Network affiliation contracts are not voided by station sales. Unless you're selling an affiliate of one network to a competing network itself, which intends to operate it as an O&O (as happened in many markets in the mid-90s when FOX bought CBS affiliates), the affiliation stays the same (the contracts are typically ten years long).

Also, unless there's seriously bad blood somewhere, no chain "prefers" having their stations aligned with a single network. Scripps has more ABC stations than others, but a lot of that was the way dominoes fell in the mid-90s shuffle. Scripps had FOX affiliations in Tampa and Phoenix, and pitched CBS before doing deals with ABC in those markets. Hearst has nine NBC affils.

So if (again, BIG if) Scripps and Hearst were to merge, they'd simply find buyers for the stations they couldn't keep under current FCC rules. And given that the biggest market where that would happen is market #14, I wouldn't expect a network to be one of the buyers.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Also, unless there's seriously bad blood somewhere, no chain "prefers" having their stations aligned with a single network. Scripps has more ABC stations than others, but a lot of that was the way dominoes fell in the mid-90s shuffle. Scripps had FOX affiliations in Tampa and Phoenix, and pitched CBS before doing deals with ABC in those markets. Hearst has nine NBC affils.

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.

 

[michael hagerty]

Also, unless there's seriously bad blood somewhere, no chain "prefers" having their stations aligned with a single network. Scripps has more ABC stations than others, but a lot of that was the way dominoes fell in the mid-90s shuffle. Scripps had FOX affiliations in Tampa and Phoenix, and pitched CBS before doing deals with ABC in those markets. Hearst has nine NBC affils.

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.

Wikipedia, while better than it once was, can be edited by anyone. As a result, wrong stuff pops up there.

The real story is that Scripps had the FOX affiliations on UHF stations (channels 15 and 28) in Phoenix and Tampa. The FOX/New World deal ripped those away. It also ripped a rather large hole in CBS's affiliate roster since most of the New World stations were CBS affiliates.

CBS approached Scripps about flipping WEWS, Cleveland and WXYZ, Detroit to CBS, filling the holes in those markets. Scripps said yes, as long as CBS would give the UHFs in Phoenix and Tampa affiliations as well. CBS asked for some time to think about that (they'd been hoping to fill the holes in those markets with full-power VHFs). Meantime, word got to ABC about the Scripps/CBS conversation. ABC (which once owned WXYZ and still felt parental) asked Scripps to stop talking to CBS. Scripps told ABC it would have to do what they'd asked CBS to do...award the affiliations in Phoenix and Tampa to Scripps' UHFs.

ABC felt like it had a gun to its head. It was prepared to do Tampa, but KTVK was, at the time, the #1 ABC affiliate in the southwest. So the network called the sole owner, Del Lewis, and asked if they could buy some or all of KTVK, giving it the ability to tell Scripps with a straight face they had a legal reason they couldn't do Phoenix, but that they'd accomodate the Tampa request.

Del said no. It was a family station and it was going to stay that way. ABC told Del it might cost him the affiliation. Del said after 40 years of a partnership, he expected ABC to behave honorably. Del needed to look up the phrase "New York Television Network Executive". ABC did the Scripps deal.

Again, that's two markets where they had stations that were going to be UHF indies if they didn't do something. It didn't affect their other properties, which include 3 NBC affiliates.

And, of course, the irony of the story is that three years later, Del Lewis sold KTVK to Belo. And Belo's sale to Gannett (with the sale of KTVK to former Belo exec Jack Sander) is what's started this whole conversation.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Also, unless there's seriously bad blood somewhere, no chain "prefers" having their stations aligned with a single network. Scripps has more ABC stations than others, but a lot of that was the way dominoes fell in the mid-90s shuffle. Scripps had FOX affiliations in Tampa and Phoenix, and pitched CBS before doing deals with ABC in those markets. Hearst has nine NBC affils.

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.

Wikipedia, while better than it once was, can be edited by anyone. As a result, wrong stuff pops up there.

The real story is that Scripps had the FOX affiliations on UHF stations (channels 15 and 28) in Phoenix and Tampa. The FOX/New World deal ripped those away. It also ripped a rather large hole in CBS's affiliate roster since most of the New World stations were CBS affiliates.

CBS approached Scripps about flipping WEWS, Cleveland and WXYZ, Detroit to CBS, filling the holes in those markets. Scripps said yes, as long as CBS would give the UHFs in Phoenix and Tampa affiliations as well. CBS asked for some time to think about that (they'd been hoping to fill the holes in those markets with full-power VHFs). Meantime, word got to ABC about the Scripps/CBS conversation. ABC (which once owned WXYZ and still felt parental) asked Scripps to stop talking to CBS. Scripps told ABC it would have to do what they'd asked CBS to do...award the affiliations in Phoenix and Tampa to Scripps' UHFs.

ABC felt like it had a gun to its head. It was prepared to do Tampa, but KTVK was, at the time, the #1 ABC affiliate in the southwest. So the network called the sole owner, Del Lewis, and asked if they could buy some or all of KTVK, giving it the ability to tell Scripps with a straight face they had a legal reason they couldn't do Phoenix, but that they'd accomodate the Tampa request.

Del said no. It was a family station and it was going to stay that way. ABC told Del it might cost him the affiliation. Del said after 40 years of a partnership, he expected ABC to behave honorably. Del needed to look up the phrase "New York Television Network Executive". ABC did the Scripps deal.

Again, that's two markets where they had stations that were going to be UHF indies if they didn't do something. It didn't affect their other properties, which include 3 NBC affiliates.

And, of course, the irony of the story is that three years later, Del Lewis sold KTVK to Belo. And Belo's sale to Gannett (with the sale of KTVK to former Belo exec Jack Sander) is what's started this whole conversation.

So, mostly true? I was going off of memory and I'm not sure anything you said actually contradicted anything on there.

 

[michael hagerty]

Also, unless there's seriously bad blood somewhere, no chain "prefers" having their stations aligned with a single network. Scripps has more ABC stations than others, but a lot of that was the way dominoes fell in the mid-90s shuffle. Scripps had FOX affiliations in Tampa and Phoenix, and pitched CBS before doing deals with ABC in those markets. Hearst has nine NBC affils.

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.

Wikipedia, while better than it once was, can be edited by anyone. As a result, wrong stuff pops up there.

The real story is that Scripps had the FOX affiliations on UHF stations (channels 15 and 28) in Phoenix and Tampa. The FOX/New World deal ripped those away. It also ripped a rather large hole in CBS's affiliate roster since most of the New World stations were CBS affiliates.

CBS approached Scripps about flipping WEWS, Cleveland and WXYZ, Detroit to CBS, filling the holes in those markets. Scripps said yes, as long as CBS would give the UHFs in Phoenix and Tampa affiliations as well. CBS asked for some time to think about that (they'd been hoping to fill the holes in those markets with full-power VHFs). Meantime, word got to ABC about the Scripps/CBS conversation. ABC (which once owned WXYZ and still felt parental) asked Scripps to stop talking to CBS. Scripps told ABC it would have to do what they'd asked CBS to do...award the affiliations in Phoenix and Tampa to Scripps' UHFs.

ABC felt like it had a gun to its head. It was prepared to do Tampa, but KTVK was, at the time, the #1 ABC affiliate in the southwest. So the network called the sole owner, Del Lewis, and asked if they could buy some or all of KTVK, giving it the ability to tell Scripps with a straight face they had a legal reason they couldn't do Phoenix, but that they'd accomodate the Tampa request.

Del said no. It was a family station and it was going to stay that way. ABC told Del it might cost him the affiliation. Del said after 40 years of a partnership, he expected ABC to behave honorably. Del needed to look up the phrase "New York Television Network Executive". ABC did the Scripps deal.

Again, that's two markets where they had stations that were going to be UHF indies if they didn't do something. It didn't affect their other properties, which include 3 NBC affiliates.

And, of course, the irony of the story is that three years later, Del Lewis sold KTVK to Belo. And Belo's sale to Gannett (with the sale of KTVK to former Belo exec Jack Sander) is what's started this whole conversation.

So, mostly true? I was going off of memory and I'm not sure anything you said actually contradicted anything on there.

Here's the quote:

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.


Not all of Scripps' stations...just two of them.

 

[Brother]

So, mostly true? I was going off of memory and I'm not sure anything you said actually contradicted anything on there.

Here's the quote:

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.


Not all of Scripps' stations...just two of them.

Michael's telling the truth here. Remember, Scripps owned (and still owns) KSHB in Kansas City, which lost its Fox affiliation in the New World shakeup. There was no talk of flipping that station to ABC (or CBS for that matter), they cut a deal to pick up the NBC affiliation instead.

 

[michael hagerty]

So, mostly true? I was going off of memory and I'm not sure anything you said actually contradicted anything on there.

Here's the quote:

The last time I looked at Wikipedia, it claimed that Scripps used the possibility of WEWS and possibly other strong stations flipping to CBS to intimidate ABC into flipping all Scripps' stations to ABC.


Not all of Scripps' stations...just two of them.

Michael's telling the truth here. Remember, Scripps owned (and still owns) KSHB in Kansas City, which lost its Fox affiliation in the New World shakeup. There was no talk of flipping that station to ABC (or CBS for that matter), they cut a deal to pick up the NBC affiliation instead.

Right. And KJRH Tulsa has been NBC since 1954 and Scripps since 1971....and WPTV, West Palm Beach has been NBC since 1954 and Scripps since 1961.

 

[mescutia]

If Hearst was to buy Scripps's stations, I would think the easiest solution to the overlap problem would be that Hearst doesn't buy all of the stations. Instead, Scripps holds on to WPTV, WMAR, KSHB, KMCI, and WCPO, and eventually sells them to another company.

 

[michael hagerty]

If Hearst was to buy Scripps's stations, I would think the easiest solution to the overlap problem would be that Hearst doesn't buy all of the stations. Instead, Scripps holds on to WPTV, WMAR, KSHB, KMCI, and WCPO, and eventually sells them to another company.

Depends. They'd probably end up with the same eventual buyer(s). If Scripps (more accurately, Scripps' stockholders) wanted all the money at once and to move on, it would make sense to let Hearst handle the spinoffs. It avoids getting stuck with one or more stations they can't get a deal done for and acquiring a "dead company walking" reputation.