Sinclair and Fox reach new affiliation deal

[only1moore]

Sinclair's ABC affiliate in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, WXLV,
carries "News 14 Carolina," which already airs on Time Warner Cable
systems in the Triad and, AFAIK, in Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte as well.
This is after two unsuccessful attempts to launch its own local newscast.
(The name comes from the fact that it airs on Ch. 14 on Time Warner cable
outlets.)

But I don't think Sinclair would pull the plug on ABC45 either, since the former
ABC station, WGHP FOX8, is one of the highest-rated Fox affiliates in the country;
WFMY (CBS) is a heritage station that has been with the Eye Network since 1949
and has no reason to change as long as CBS and Fox are battling for number one;
WXII (NBC) has had the same network affiliation since 1953 and I have no reason
to believe it would change networks unless Hearst were to buy ABC at some point,
for which I'm not holding my breath.

Also, there's Chattanooga, where ABC affiliate WTVC was bought by Sinclair not
too long ago. Theoretically, Sinclair could switch it to Fox from WDSI/61 but I
think ABC would fight that move every step of the way; going from 9 to 61 would
be about as bad as CBS going from 5 to 46 in Atlanta or, worse, 2 to 62 in Detroit.

You have a point there. If Hearst were to buy out ABC, WXII and WYFF/Greenville would automatically switch ASAP. But one get the feeling that Scripps, Cox, Gannett and/or Sinclair will make Hearst sell their non-ABC affiliated properties if that were to happen, and I don't see Hearst doing that anytime soon.

As for Chattanooga, lets not forget that CBS affiliate WDEF's parent company, Morris Multimedia, also owns WWAY/Wilmington and WTVQ/Lexington, both ABC affiliates. Chances are that if WTVC defects to another network one can see ABC work out something with Morris that would make WDEF the new affiliate but that is just speculation at this point since WDEF and CBS are loyal to each other.

 

[EricStein]

Sinclair apparently felt that Fox was going to pull its affiliation from WBFF, in favor of having an O&O in Baltimore (on WUTB)--which Fox denies...

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ar...ct_Fox_Stations_Fear_Affiliation_Switches.php

FOX should have learned its lesson from Evansville, Springfield, MO, and Boise - putting the network on stations no one watched before is risky. WUTB has only been general entertainment for 14 years and has no news operation. I believe the only reason FOX made the move with Tribune in San Diego was because of XETV's Mexican license. I'm certain a network like FOX doesn't want to move to what was previously the lowest rated station in the market, which some of these Sinclair stations they have the option of buying are.

 

[ding12]

I thought the point of the ownership cap (if it still exists?) was to restrict a network broadcaster from doing just this. With everything now UHF, has the effective cap increased for Fox?

In this case, it's mid markets - not markets like Boston or Atlanta, which seems a bit desperate for Fox to do this. There must be other ways to make money than squeezing stations in DMA #30-50. Fox and the other nets already had the benefit that it could own the all the top market stations, and the caps were increased over time.

FOX should have learned its lesson from Evansville, Springfield, MO, and Boise - putting the network on stations no one watched before is risky. WUTB has only been general entertainment for 14 years and has no news operation.

They could rely on WTTG to help develop a Baltimore news operation or atleast a newscast to fill in.

 

[PirateJohnny]

Sinclair doesn't put $ into local news, they dropped local news in St. Louis after their low budget attempt on their low budget ABC affiliate couldn't get above 4th place

Nashville's WZTV (FOX) just got a new studio and HD control room and ENG equipment as well as a satellite truck.

they'll pull the plug if it doesn't get any ratings

From what I understand, WZTV has had local news since 1997. I don't think Sinclair would "pull the plug" on it now.

still lacks the long history of an original big 3 station, something KDNL in St Louis never had

FOX was ready to cancel the affiliation unless WZTV started local news. It was the largest market FOX affiliate without local news. WZTV leased studio space and crew from WKRN, the ABC affiliate for over a year while WZTV's facilities were remodeled to do news. Up until that time the WZTV studio had been leased out for music video shoots and some cable program production.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Sinclair doesn't put $ into local news, they dropped local news in St. Louis after their low budget attempt on their low budget ABC affiliate couldn't get above 4th place

Nashville's WZTV (FOX) just got a new studio and HD control room and ENG equipment as well as a satellite truck.

they'll pull the plug if it doesn't get any ratings

From what I understand, WZTV has had local news since 1997. I don't think Sinclair would "pull the plug" on it now.

still lacks the long history of an original big 3 station, something KDNL in St Louis never had

FOX was ready to cancel the affiliation unless WZTV started local news. It was the largest market FOX affiliate without local news. WZTV leased studio space and crew from WKRN, the ABC affiliate for over a year while WZTV's facilities were remodeled to do news. Up until that time the WZTV studio had been leased out for music video shoots and some cable program production.

have they gotten above 4th place?

 

[only1moore]

I'm surprised that we forgot about WUTV/Buffalo, and they don't have newscasts either since they tend to target the other side of the US border. I'm surprised that Fox don't put any pressure on Sinclair to put a newscast on that station or at least move the telecast that WGRZ produces for WNYO to WUTV

 

[bpatrick]

Sinclair's ABC affiliate in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, WXLV,
carries "News 14 Carolina," which already airs on Time Warner Cable
systems in the Triad and, AFAIK, in Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte as well.
This is after two unsuccessful attempts to launch its own local newscast.
(The name comes from the fact that it airs on Ch. 14 on Time Warner cable
outlets.)

But I don't think Sinclair would pull the plug on ABC45 either, since the former
ABC station, WGHP FOX8, is one of the highest-rated Fox affiliates in the country;
WFMY (CBS) is a heritage station that has been with the Eye Network since 1949
and has no reason to change as long as CBS and Fox are battling for number one;
WXII (NBC) has had the same network affiliation since 1953 and I have no reason
to believe it would change networks unless Hearst were to buy ABC at some point,
for which I'm not holding my breath.

Also, there's Chattanooga, where ABC affiliate WTVC was bought by Sinclair not
too long ago. Theoretically, Sinclair could switch it to Fox from WDSI/61 but I
think ABC would fight that move every step of the way; going from 9 to 61 would
be about as bad as CBS going from 5 to 46 in Atlanta or, worse, 2 to 62 in Detroit.

You have a point there. If Hearst were to buy out ABC, WXII and WYFF/Greenville would automatically switch ASAP. But one get the feeling that Scripps, Cox, Gannett and/or Sinclair will make Hearst sell their non-ABC affiliated properties if that were to happen, and I don't see Hearst doing that anytime soon.

As for Chattanooga, lets not forget that CBS affiliate WDEF's parent company, Morris Multimedia, also owns WWAY/Wilmington and WTVQ/Lexington, both ABC affiliates. Chances are that if WTVC defects to another network one can see ABC work out something with Morris that would make WDEF the new affiliate but that is just speculation at this point since WDEF and CBS are loyal to each other.

Gannett and Hearst go head-to-head in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point; Gannett owns CBS affiliate WFMY and I don't think they'd care who WXII affiliates with just as long as it isn't CBS. If Hearst bought ABC, I think you're looking a straight WXII/WXLV swap (ABC ends up on Ch. 12, NBC on Ch. 45); in Greenville it could be a two-way (WYFF to ABC, WLOS to NBC) or even a three-way swap (WLOS to Fox, WHNS to NBC). But all of this is blue-skying; I've heard unconfirmed rumors that Disney would like to sell ABC, Hearst is a logical buyer, but don't hold your breath that any of this happens. After all, a few years ago it was almost a given that Gannett was going to buy NBC. Didn't happen.