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This TV moving in Chicago...Other Tribune markets to follow suit?

I

Iowan

It has been brought to my attention that 'This Chicago' is moving to WGN 9.3 this fall. With Tribune's recent acquisitions of both This TV (to be co-owned with MGM) and the stations from Local TV, LLC, I gotta wonder if This will move elsewhere as well. Here are a list of current This stations in future Tribune markets along with the station to be bought by Tribune:

Current This Station > Future Tribune Station

---Huntsville - Decatur, AL---
WAFF 48.2 > WHNT

---N.W. Arkansas---
Various LP Stations > KFSM / KXNW

---Des Moines, IA---
KDMI > WHO

---Davenport (Quad Cities), IA---
KGCW 26.2 > WQAD

---Kansas City, MO / KS---
KCWE 29.2 > WDAF

---Winston-Salem, NC---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WGHP

---Cleveland, OH---
WBNX 55.3 > WJW

---Oklahoma City, OK---
KSBI 52.2 > KFOR / KAUT

---Scranton, PA---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WNEP

---Memphis, TN---
WMC 5.3 > WREG

---Salt Lake City UT---
KMYU / KSTU

---Norfolk, VA---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WTKR / WGNT

---Richmond, VA---
WRLH 35.2 > WTVR

---Milwaukee, WI---
WDJT 58.3 > WITI
 
In markets where another affiliate has This TV, they may have to wait for the affiliation agreement to end, before Tribune can take over the affiliation of This TV. In Milwaukee, where Tribune will take over WITI, they might take over This TV this fall as well, since I believe WDJT (owned by Weigel Broadcasting) affiliated with This TV from the beginning, & might be willing to drop the network from the station. It would simply free up bandwidth for CBS, since it's in 1080i. With WITI being 720p, adding another subchannel might not make the station's HD channel look bad, as long as the bandwidth is allocated right. For WGN-TV, that might be a different story, since they'll now have to take bandwidth away from the HD channel to add This TV. For most shows, it might not make much of a difference, but any sportscasts, or other high demand HD programming, it could suffer, since WGN-TV is 1080i.

I only hope that for markets that don't have This TV, & markets that Tribune won't be entering anytime soon, that they don't make it difficult for a station to affiliate with This TV, like they already do with Antenna TV. TV stations must get cable carriage guaranteed for Antenna TV, before they can affiliate with Antenna TV, which isn't required for MeTV. That's why more stations have affiliated with MeTV. Otherwise, we could see This TV's growth stall, if Tribune make the same requirements for carrying Antenna TV for This TV as well (making sure that This TV gets cable carriage before they can affiliate with the network).
 
There are two possibilities:

Case one, Tribune is smart, in which case they leave everything alone except to add This TV where it is not already carried, namely, Greensboro, Scranton, Norfolk, Milwaukee (pretty sure Weigel won't keep it) and maybe Huntsville and Fort Smith. I question the latter two because Huntsville is doing dual HD and Fort Smith doesn't even run Antenna TV in full, only in pieces on the KXNW schedule.

Case two, Tribune is stupid (not beyond reason), in which case they do what Iowan suggests and ditch the affiliates across the board. One, you risk upsetting station groups that now have This TV, possibly causing a widespread defection from the network. (Who would sign up with a subchannel network that could get yanked away if Tribune happens to buy a station in the market when plenty of competitors don't have that problem?) Two, any competing station that is not running This TV could now be running a competitor, like Movies! or GetTV or COZI. In fact, I'm 100% certain Weigel would gladly welcome them back to the family with Movies! and I'm sure other networks like Bounce, TNN, GetTV, etc. would also go after them pretty aggressively.

- Trip
 
tripinva said:
There are two possibilities:

Case one, Tribune is smart, in which case they leave everything alone except to add This TV where it is not already carried, namely, Greensboro, Scranton, Norfolk, Milwaukee (pretty sure Weigel won't keep it) and maybe Huntsville and Fort Smith. I question the latter two because Huntsville is doing dual HD and Fort Smith doesn't even run Antenna TV in full, only in pieces on the KXNW schedule.

Case two, Tribune is stupid (not beyond reason), in which case they do what Iowan suggests and ditch the affiliates across the board. One, you risk upsetting station groups that now have This TV, possibly causing a widespread defection from the network. (Who would sign up with a subchannel network that could get yanked away if Tribune happens to buy a station in the market when plenty of competitors don't have that problem?) Two, any competing station that is not running This TV could now be running a competitor, like Movies! or GetTV or COZI. In fact, I'm 100% certain Weigel would gladly welcome them back to the family with Movies! and I'm sure other networks like Bounce, TNN, GetTV, etc. would also go after them pretty aggressively.

- Trip
Click to expand...

I would hope Tribune is smart, & wait out the affiliation agreements before taking the network themselves, in markets where a competitor already has This TV. I also hope the programming doesn't suffer either, or adding new affiliates in markets that don't already have This TV. They already make it difficult for stations to affiliate with Antenna TV, that that network's growth overall has stalled, while plenty of stations have affiliated with MeTV with fewer restrictions.

As for WHNT-TV, I don't understand why they're even running Antenna TV in HD, when nearly all the programming pre-dates HD. With Tribune taking over WHNT, if Tribune eliminates the dual HD, that should free up some bandwidth to add Antenna TV. Looking at your list of stations for the Huntsville market, This TV isn't even listed as being available in that market, though the This TV website does list it as 48.2 (your site lists Bounce). So I wonder if WAFF carries both networks, & splits the broadcast day, or if This TV was actually dropped from the station. Looking at WAFF-TV's website, the programming matches that with Bounce more than This TV. If that's the case that WAFF is affiliated with Bounce, then it's probably a safe bet that This TV could be safely affiliated with WHNT-TV (even if HD must be eliminated for Antenna TV, which isn't necessary at all).
 
WAFF ditched This a long time ago, so far as I know.

- Trip
 
Here in Houston we'll have to keep an eye on things. Tribune owns KIAH, but This-TV is carried on Post-Newsweek's KPRC.

KIAH currently has Antenna TV on its .2, but the .3 has been unused since Universal Sports dropped its OTA stations.

There has been speculation of Tribune eventually buying P-N, which makes things more interesting.
 
For Hartford/New Haven, ThisTV airs on WCCT-TV channel 20-2 of Waterbury/Hartford. WCCT-TV is the sister station of WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61 of Hartford. Antenna TV airs on WTIC-TV 61-2.

TheCool TV was just dropped from the LIN Broadcasting stations, most notably WCTX-TV channel 59-2 of New Haven. A station like ME-TV would be a nice subchannel to have. The only problem is that ME-TV already airs on WZME-TV channel 43 of nearby Bridgeport, CT. However, they are a portion of the New York City DMA, since Bridgeport is in Fairfield County.
 
Kevin,
I already sent an email to WTNH suggesting that they pick up ME-TV for WCTX's sub channel. They haven't responded back to me. As for WZME since it doesn't cover the entire area that WCTX covers I don't know if they would have to drop ME-TV or not. The situation in Boston was different. WMFP (WZME's sister station) had to drop ME-TV because WCVB picked it up. Both WMFP and WCVB are stations in the same market.
 
I think things might open up the door for KIAH-TV, because it might carry This TV network from its current afilliate KPRC. However KPRC lost its affilliation with LATV, While KIAH lost Universal Sports to exclusive carriage-only on Cable/Sattellite.
 
What about non-This TV stations like WCTV in Tallahassee Florida WCTV-DT2 has This TV during the daytime and My Network TV at nights anything changes since Tribune is taking over This TV... What would my local station will do if This-TV went to Tribune?
 
Iowan said:
It has been brought to my attention that 'This Chicago' is moving to WGN 9.3 this fall. With Tribune's recent acquisitions of both This TV (to be co-owned with MGM) and the stations from Local TV, LLC, I gotta wonder if This will move elsewhere as well. Here are a list of current This stations in future Tribune markets along with the station to be bought by Tribune:

Current This Station > Future Tribune Station

---Huntsville - Decatur, AL---
WAFF 48.2 > WHNT

---N.W. Arkansas---
Various LP Stations > KFSM / KXNW

---Des Moines, IA---
KDMI > WHO

---Davenport (Quad Cities), IA---
KGCW 26.2 > WQAD

---Kansas City, MO / KS---
KCWE 29.2 > WDAF

---Winston-Salem, NC---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WGHP

---Cleveland, OH---
WBNX 55.3 > WJW

---Oklahoma City, OK---
KSBI 52.2 > KFOR / KAUT

---Scranton, PA---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WNEP

---Memphis, TN---
WMC 5.3 > WREG

---Salt Lake City UT---
KMYU / KSTU

---Norfolk, VA---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WTKR / WGNT

---Richmond, VA---
WRLH 35.2 > WTVR

---Milwaukee, WI---
WDJT 58.3 > WITI
Click to expand...


Is this a for sure thing for all of these markets? I have noticed that a few of these channels already air Antenna TV , will they be dropping it or carry them both?
 
In Memphis if This moves to WREG, it will either go to 3.4, or they will have to eliminate their Mid South News Network on 3.2. One advantage I could see if that were to happen is that it might could open an opportunity for WMC to pick up Me TV, which would very likely put it on Charter Cable in West TN, since they currently carry This and Bounce, and we wouldn't have to put with WBBJ in Jackson's sorry treatment of Me TV.
 
neomedia said:
Iowan said:
It has been brought to my attention that 'This Chicago' is moving to WGN 9.3 this fall. With Tribune's recent acquisitions of both This TV (to be co-owned with MGM) and the stations from Local TV, LLC, I gotta wonder if This will move elsewhere as well. Here are a list of current This stations in future Tribune markets along with the station to be bought by Tribune:

Current This Station > Future Tribune Station

---Huntsville - Decatur, AL---
WAFF 48.2 > WHNT

---N.W. Arkansas---
Various LP Stations > KFSM / KXNW

---Des Moines, IA---
KDMI > WHO

---Davenport (Quad Cities), IA---
KGCW 26.2 > WQAD

---Kansas City, MO / KS---
KCWE 29.2 > WDAF

---Winston-Salem, NC---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WGHP

---Cleveland, OH---
WBNX 55.3 > WJW

---Oklahoma City, OK---
KSBI 52.2 > KFOR / KAUT

---Scranton, PA---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WNEP

---Memphis, TN---
WMC 5.3 > WREG

---Salt Lake City UT---
KMYU / KSTU

---Norfolk, VA---
This TV doesn't air in this area, opening the door for WTKR / WGNT

---Richmond, VA---
WRLH 35.2 > WTVR

---Milwaukee, WI---
WDJT 58.3 > WITI
Click to expand...


Is this a for sure thing for all of these markets? I have noticed that a few of these channels already air Antenna TV , will they be dropping it or carry them both?
Click to expand...

If you look at my post at the beginning of the thread, I believe Tribune would be smart to let the affiliation agreement expire, before taking This TV for themselves. They could run into legal issues if they forced the affiliation off their competitor stations before the agreements are up, unless the competing station is willing to give it voluntarily. Out of the stations listed that Tribune could take This TV for themselves immediate would be to take it from WDJT 58.3 (Weigel) & put it on WITI 6.3 (would have to be added). Weigel Broadcasting will likely eliminate This TV from their own stations as other stations are found (Chicago, Tribune taking over the network programming & affiliation from WCIU & will probably take it from WDJT, now that they're adding Milwaukee's WITI to their market list). For Weigel, that would leave just WCWW-LD as the only This TV affiliate in South Bend, IN, once it eventually leaves WDJT (Weigel already affiliates with Movies on sister station WMLW 48.3, since Fox no longer owns WITI, & they wanted Movies in Milwaukee right away, plus Tribune may want This TV on WITI instead, which Weigel will probably let them do).

I forgot to mention, in markets where Tribune already carries Antenna TV, in duopoly markets (whether where Tribune already has a station, where Local TV LLC has duopolies, or where a Local TV LLC station gives Tribune a duopoly in an existing Tribune market), they'll carry both networks. Tribune has technically, a triopoly in Indianapolis (WTTV & WTTK simulcast), the WTTV/WTTK simulcast has This TV, while WXIN has Antenna TV. Where Tribune only has one station & no one else is affiliating with This TV, both networks are carried on the same station (WPIX New York carries both This TV & Antenna TV). Where they're gaining duopolies, they'll simply move one network over to the other station in order to conserve bandwidth.
 
anotherguy said:
In Memphis if This moves to WREG, it will either go to 3.4, or they will have to eliminate their Mid South News Network on 3.2. One advantage I could see if that were to happen is that it might could open an opportunity for WMC to pick up Me TV, which would very likely put it on Charter Cable in West TN, since they currently carry This and Bounce, and we wouldn't have to put with WBBJ in Jackson's sorry treatment of Me TV.
Click to expand...

They just better not get rid of Antenna TV on 3.3 because I watch it a lot. I really could care less about This TV. The only thing I like on it is Green Acres.
 
kingskip said:
anotherguy said:
In Memphis if This moves to WREG, it will either go to 3.4, or they will have to eliminate their Mid South News Network on 3.2. One advantage I could see if that were to happen is that it might could open an opportunity for WMC to pick up Me TV, which would very likely put it on Charter Cable in West TN, since they currently carry This and Bounce, and we wouldn't have to put with WBBJ in Jackson's sorry treatment of Me TV.
Click to expand...

They just better not get rid of Antenna TV on 3.3 because I watch it a lot. I really could care less about This TV. The only thing I like on it is Green Acres.
Click to expand...

I meant to mention that WREG has Antenna TV, which I figure they'll keep, and I guess I forgot it. I really don't like This either, but if moving it to WREG will get Me TV to a better channel like WMC I'll be for it. Charter in Jackson carries all of WREG and WMC's subchannels, but they don't carry Movies from WHBQ (yet) and they don't carry WLMT at all, so we only get what little Me TV is avaliable from WBBJ in Jackson, but we've been through all that before.
 
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