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Sign of trouble for the CW

mrschimpf said:
With KDVR sold to LocalTV from Fox, Fox might look to target KWGN and get out from KDVR. I know that the deal was incumbent on every station sold by Fox to LocalTV staying with Fox for double-digit years, but Denver's a unique situation where a switch might be possible for the right price.
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No, that won't happen. I'm pretty sure Fox locked in all the stations it sold to LocalTV for 10 year affiliation agreements. If they somehow violated that agreement, not only would LocalTV sue Fox and win tens of millions of dollars, but LocalTV would be well within its rights to ditch Fox on all of its other stations and affilate with CBS, NBC or ABC.
 
tested said:
My Network TV is more attractive because it does not require "reverse compensation" and splits ad time equally with stations. (which comes to about 7 minutes of ads per hour or 14 minutes a night)

I don't think Tribune will switch a bunch of their stations over to My Network TV though. I think they may just go back to being independent stations. I think the numbers I just mentioned show that they can probably make that work pretty well for themselves.
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Note that MNTV has already modified that split downward -- originally, the affiliates got 9 minutes of ads per hour, with the network keeping only 5 minutes.

Agreed that the better split and lack of reverse compensation would make MNTV appealing, if the network carried any programming that would actually enhance a station's ratings and image. Unfortunately, up to this point, MNTV has not done so -- perhaps this will change after Smackdown moves to MNTV, but so far the MNTV primetime lineup is roughly the equivalent of a station filling it's primetime schedule with the absolute bottom rung programming available in syndication. Staying independent and keeping all 14 minutes of advertising time would be preferable to filling primetime with the crap that MNTV runs...

And, in the end, I think we both believe that Tribune would do better with the independent route than it would by going to MNTV.
 
Pat Cook said:
Then again, Tribune could just simply hand the CW over to CBS/KCAL in L.A. too.
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KCAL has no need for CW affiliation. It pulls better ratings with 3 hours of primetime news than CW does with programming. Besides, KCAL needs open slots for Lakers basketball which they've been hitched to for decades. I'd bet my money on the rabid Lakers fanbase than "Gossip Girl" or <Premiering Show That Has Yet To Be Named> to pull in total eyeballs. KCAL has to remain independent for it's own livelihood. I'd say the same for KCOP but Fox really thinks MNTV is going to work. ::)

Personally, I wouldn't give either "net" a chance of survival beyond 2010 tops. By then, both will likely be digital subchannels and left to die.
 
mrschimpf said:
mrfish67 said:
ChaseW said:
Kent said:
The rumor going around St. Louis is that Tribune wants the CW off all of its stations as soon as possible.
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So I guess that would explain the recent rebranding at KWGN since it's owned by Tribune.
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I don't mean to hijack the thread, but since somebody at Wikipedia removed my references to the KWGN re-branding, I wanted to post a few screencaps here to prove the re-branding (see the last one below). Also, KWGN did a logo montage, similar to that done by WPIX New York in 2006 when it transitioned from WB to the CW. They, unlike WPIX, have played their montage numerous times. These are the logos from the montage in chronological order:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1644.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1640.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1641.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1645.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1646.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1647.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1653.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/mrfish67/100_1649.jpg

The whole thing is accompanied by a cover version of the song "Changes" by David Bowie. I have no idea why they didn't update their web page at or near the time they re-branded. It still says "CW2" there, using the standard Tribune CW template.
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I read about the rebranding earlier in the month and was just waiting for the logos to come by myself so I could add them to the article. As one of the heavier editors in the WP:TVS project I always hate it when an editor takes 'the website' as the gospel when it comes to a new logo, especially from locals or actual viewers of the station (not even considering the fact that most of these redesigned sites won't launch until the launch of the syndie season after Labor Day as was done with the CW launch).
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Perhaps because they have no way of verifying that you ARE a local/actual viewer, as opposed to an eleven-year-old in Nowheresville messing around, and more to the point, most Wikipedians tend to have a "reliable sources" kick.

KTN Corp said:
Tribune is distancing themselves from the CW network for sure. First the KIAH change, then the WDCW rebranding. I think the CW will fold this summer and not come back this fall. How much longer will MyNetworkTV will be around? I hear their ratings are much worse than The CW's. Anyone think that Ion TV might rise in prominence after at least one of those two (or both) networks are gone?
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Don't read anything about the state of MyNet from its low ratings right now. Wait until Smackdown debuts. MyNet could end up doing what the CW was trying to do.

Pat Cook said:
Hi everyone:

tested said:
I recently noticed that my local CW affiliate has quit calling themselves "CW33" in the audio portions of promos and on their newscast. In fact, they changed their website name to eliminate the CW from the address. What makes this particularly interesting is that the station in question is Tribune-owned KDAF Channel 33 in Dallas-Fort Worth. On screen you still see CW33 on a lot of things, but the anchors call it the "KDAF 33 News At Nine." The website is now KDAF33.com.

The Tribune-owned CW station in Houston has just changed it's call letters to eliminate the CW from them. KHCW became KIAH (the identifier for the Houston airport) Tribune is also switching it's station in San Diego from CW to Fox. (the current Fox affil is picking up the CW)

So it makes me wonder if Tribune wants to dump the CW? If that were to happen, the network would have some pretty big holes to fill in its lineup. In the DFW area, they'd probably go with Viacom-owned KTXA (a former UPN affiliate). In Houston, their options would be some very low rated UHF stations that don't serve the market well. Other markets would be much tougher. I think the CW would go to KCAL in Los Angeles, WCIU in Chicago, but I'm not sure they could find decent affiliates in markets like New York, Washington, Miami, Denver, St. Louis, Portland, Indianapolis, Hartford, and New Orleans. They'd probably have to go with Ion stations or put the network on a digital sub-channel.

Has anyone heard anything?
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KWGN just recently dumped the CW part of it's logo when they launched their new 5:30 PM newscast and now just use the News 2 logo which they've been using for their newscasts for quite sometime.

As for the CW switching, the only place I can see it conceivably going would be to Gannett-owned KTVD 20 who I'm sure would LOVE to have the CW if for no other reason than to have decent ratings during primetime. The drawback to this for KWGN would be they would be stuck with MyNetwork TV in the deal UNLESS Gannett chose to have their cake AND eat it too by keeping MyNetwork TV on KTVD and simply time-shifting the lineup, which they have the luxury of doing if they so chose as this would give KTVD a formidable late night lineup.

But Tribune has even bigger problems in Los Angeles, Chicago & New York. I say this because unless they can strike a deal with News Corp. to carry MyNetwork on KTLA, WGN locally and WPIX respectfully (Yeah right like that's gonna happen since News Corp./FOX owns KCOP, WPWR & WWOR respectively, all of which are MyNetwork O&O's on VHF!!), Tribune will be stuck with the CW on KTLA, WGN & WPIX whether they like it or not.

Then again, Tribune could just simply hand the CW over to CBS/KCAL in L.A. too.

Am I missing anything?

Cheers :)

Pat
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Well, you missed the fact that WPWR is actually channel 50, and that other than that I said a lot of this already...
 
WCIU turned down the WB and UPN in the mid 90s, so I'm not so sure they'd want it now. WCIU is pretty commited with ethnic programming on their subchannel, they also carry ME-TV and MeTOO-TV on their subchannels (they indicated they would stop this once the low power Me-TV and MeTOO had digital low power though).

WCIU has also just signed a deal with MGM for more subchannel programming.

So I don't know if the CW would be especially welcome at WCIU.

Of course WJYS is a full power channel on 62 out of suburban Tinley Park with a very weak signal because it's out of south suburban Tinley Park (station is licensed to Hammond, IN) but it's digital transmitter is on Sears Tower.
 
I have noticed that KTLA has removed CW from its bug last night while airing the raiders pre season football game
 
It looks like WTTV in Indianapolis has also gotten into this game. Some promos are referring to the station as "Indiana's Four", not "CW Four". But some still say CW Four. I didn't notice a bug at all when I was watching this weekend.

WTTV is also a Tribune station.
 
lugnuts6 said:
I have noticed that KTLA has removed CW from its bug last night while airing the raiders pre season football game
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This may be a trend for stations that have high status with their original local identities. KTVU in the SF Bay Area IDs themselves as "KTVU, Fox 2" when they are running FOX network programming, or running promos for upcoming FOX shows. But the rest of the time, and especially during their high-status local news programmings, they ID the station as "KTVU Channel 2" much as they did 25 years ago.

Their news has been a local favorite (especially at 10:00 PM) for many years, before their affiliation with FOX. KTLA has a similarly long and distinguished history, and doesn't need to shout about the CW.
 
Hey, if the CW did shut down, what would happen to the digital channels that air CW programming (like here in lansing/Jackson WLAJ CW5 ) would they go off air or maybe join ..WGN AMERICA???????
 
KTN Corp said:
Anyone think that Ion TV might rise in prominence after at least one of those two (or both) networks are gone?
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They'll certainly have a better (and proven) primetime schedule, that's for sure.
 
Yesterday in New York City, I saw a billboard ad for the CW program "Gossip Girl". It was highlighted by the following quote: "Mind-numbingly inappropriate."

And to whom was that quote credited, per the ad? The Parents Television Council.

Now I'm not trying to go Pollyanna here. My point is, if the bane of your ad campaign is a quote from the Parents Television Council to promote one of your shows, you're really grasping for straws.
 
Someone earlier had mentioned "ION", well it looks like they are doing some changes too.

Last night during Family Feud I noticed a bug on the screen that said "New shows..new look..ION".

Changing again Huh?
 
mleach said:
Someone earlier had mentioned "ION", well it looks like they are doing some changes too.

Last night during Family Feud I noticed a bug on the screen that said "New shows..new look..ION".

Changing again Huh?
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I think it could just be hype of its new shows and a new logo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IONlogo2008.png
 
DToTheJ said:
Yesterday in New York City, I saw a billboard ad for the CW program "Gossip Girl". It was highlighted by the following quote: "Mind-numbingly inappropriate."

And to whom was that quote credited, per the ad? The Parents Television Council.

Now I'm not trying to go Pollyanna here. My point is, if the bane of your ad campaign is a quote from the Parents Television Council to promote one of your shows, you're really grasping for straws.
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No, the CW's NOT grasping for straws - CONSIDERING THAT MOST of the shows that they broadcast (though I LOVE "America's Next Top Model"... ;)) are aimed at that 18-34 female demo, the fact that they're using the PTC quote to PROMOTE the show is VERY characteristic....

Andrea
 
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