Superstation WGN to re-launch

[FloydB]

Oh, I thoiught they were blocked out (like the Red Sox are when you watch WSBK), my bad. But even then, how many people in Detroit are Cubs Fan.

Wait, don't answer that... LOL.

The Cubs possibly have more out-of-town fans than any other team in MLB (definitely more than any other National League team) thanks to being on WGN all these years.

That was the whole issue with the TBS/WTBS-TV (now WPCH-TV) splitup. Ted Turner grew a national fanbase for the Atlanta Braves since he broadcasted their games on TBS for just under 30 years. One engineer I used to work with said he first fell in love with the Braves when he lived in Nevada. Now, Braves fans have to turn to five or six different networks to pick up their games and, the fans that are out of Peachtree TV's footprint were in an uproar so much that arrangements had to be made to broadcast the Peachtree TV games in their markets. So, when the "Superstation" ceases to broadcast Cubs and Sox games, out of market fans will have to suscribe to MLB.com which has streaming broadcasts (mostly audio, but some video IIRC) or to DirecTV's MLB Extra Innings package.

 

[jal41]

All I know is their revenue took a major spike upward both at the local Chicago AND the national superstation level when they pre-empted CW programming for the 60th anniversary specials. Anyone think the new Tribune honchos may opt out of their side of the CW sooner than later?

Tribune does not own any part of the CW. The CW is 50% Time Warner and 50% CBS. (The WB was about 25% Tribune and 75% Time Warner). Tribune only has affilation agreements with the CW for some of their stations.

As for WGN...the superstation fad is over. WWOR pulled the plug in 1996, and TBS last year. WGN-TV Chicago will not change it's calls or anything, but the cable end will probably change the name and drop all references to WGN...if not this year, within the next couple of years or so.

I suspect Tribune will sell the cable station for the same reason I suspect WPCH-TV will be on the market soon. They are not core entities within their companies (WGN Superstation is the only cable property for Tribune...they hired another company to run its satellite affairs because it is out of core...and WPCH is the only FCC license Time Warner has). It may not be until after the current economic crisis blows over before either is sold, but I suspect WGN is making plans to go in that direction.

 

[JayR]

As for WGN...the superstation fad is over. WWOR pulled the plug in 1996, and TBS last year.

WWOR did not pull the plug on its' national feed; AEC did. Discovery Networks made AEC an offer they couldn't refuse.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

All I know is their revenue took a major spike upward both at the local Chicago AND the national superstation level when they pre-empted CW programming for the 60th anniversary specials. Anyone think the new Tribune honchos may opt out of their side of the CW sooner than later?

Tribune does not own any part of the CW. The CW is 50% Time Warner and 50% CBS. (The WB was about 25% Tribune and 75% Time Warner). Tribune only has affilation agreements with the CW for some of their stations.

As for WGN...the superstation fad is over. WWOR pulled the plug in 1996, and TBS last year. WGN-TV Chicago will not change it's calls or anything, but the cable end will probably change the name and drop all references to WGN...if not this year, within the next couple of years or so.

I suspect Tribune will sell the cable station for the same reason I suspect WPCH-TV will be on the market soon. They are not core entities within their companies (WGN Superstation is the only cable property for Tribune...they hired another company to run its satellite affairs because it is out of core...and WPCH is the only FCC license Time Warner has). It may not be until after the current economic crisis blows over before either is sold, but I suspect WGN is making plans to go in that direction.

If Superstation WGN is sold (and the news and perhaps Cubs/Sox games are removed from the national WGN feed), if I was in charge, I would create a "third" WGN (similar to Turner South) that would only be offered in Illinois (outside the Chicago DMA), Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin that would retain the WGN News programming and the Cubs, Sox, Bulls, etc. (maybe even some additional games), but have some of the features of the "new" Superstation WGN (e.g. perhaps original programming a la TBS/TNT) and some of the programming currently offered on the Superstation.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Turner South is no longer available. It was sold to Fox and is now Sport South.

 

[rch66]

I think it's a bad idea, and status quo might make more sense. But, they could convert the channel to be an alternative to TV Land, as mentioned, and essentially take over the TV Land business while Viacom converts TV Land to Reality TV Land. Perhaps it could be a blend of TV Land and AMC, before they were deteriorated.

The question is whether WGN (or whatever new name it takes) would gain more HH and fees, by being national, and be more profitable. Opimistically, they could do the TV Land business better than TV Land, from the viewer perspective.

Tribune doesn't have the resources to make it competitive to TBS/TNT, FX, USA or Lifetime. I'm guessing it'll be more wimpy like a WE or Oxygen channel in the end. Another option is they could use the cable channel contract space and flip it to something entirely different, like a niche channel like Animal Planet. If you recall, Discovery purchased EMI's WOR feed satellite space to launch Animal Planet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Planet But, that would require investment in new programming. Costly and risky, when cable operators are more into # of HD channels offered, and amount of VOD offered, than adding new non HD channels per se. At this point, the marginal benefit of that is minimal.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Maybe with the relaunch they could bring back CBC's "The National" on U.S. television, and put it on at 10:00 pm Eastern (opposite "BBC World News America" on BBC America) while WGN-TV has their news!

Jonathan Allen

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Maybe with the relaunch they could bring back CBC's "The National" on U.S. television, and put it on at 10:00 pm Eastern (opposite "BBC World News America" on BBC America) while WGN-TV has their news!

Jonathan Allen

The ULTIMATE question:

What were the ratings like when CBC's The National was available in the States?

I can only guess the closer to the border, the better the ratings, but the United States is a pretty big place.

Is there a strong enough demand for this program to air once again in the States?

If so, why WGN?
Wouldn't someone else have been quick to pick up on the idea as at least being better than ratings for another program they air around that time?

 

[lugnuts6]

By the way
Blame VERSUS for the reason you wont see Chicago Blackhawks Hockey on "THE SUPERSTATION"