Three Boston stations contact NBC with affiliation interest

[DToTheJ]

The Herald's Jessica Heslam this morning says that three unidentified Boston stations called NBC "and expressed interest in joining the peacock network and taking homeboy’s Jay Leno’s new primetime show if Channel 7 rolls out a 10 p.m. newscast."

Full story:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/r...n_NBC_amid_Jay_Leno_flap/srvc=home&position=6

 

[Davros2006]

If WHDH loses the NBC affiliation, expect Canadian cable companies (and Bell TV) to drop the station and replace it with a new affiliate. (It happened with WJBK in Detroit in late 1994 when it switched from CBS to FOX and replaced with WTOL in nearby Toledo.)

Alternately, NBC would get fed up and despite the economy may offer to buy the station, making it an NBC O&O.

 

[pqgeorge]

I would not be surprised if WWDP-TV Channel 46/Norwell-Boston (Digital Channel 10) might be a player in this situation as well. I believe that NBC owns a good amount of that station as well and could possibly simply move NBC over to WWDP. The station has an equal footing on cable throughout the Boston market and beyond as well as satellite. So, don't be surprised if the unlikely scenario might actually be THE scenario. We shall see!

 

[BoscoGoldBear]

Alternately, NBC would get fed up and despite the economy may offer to buy the station, making it an NBC O&O.

If you read my post I'm projecting that NBC will pull a KNTV over KRON stunt here and pay Hearst over half $1B to get WNBL/9 (we're NBC Boston-Lowell) closer to Boston and give its 60 to Hearst's WMUR and compensate Hearst for all the trouble for accepting a weaker signal. WMUR could "move" to cable 10 in most of NH and get LPTV translators for those who don't do cable (that basically would include my mom, who has already rejected my offer to buy at least a small digital TV).

 

[bostonmediaguy]

Might the three be WBPX (68), WPXG (21), and WDPX (58)? They made a run at the NBC affiliation in 1995 as well.

 

[pqgeorge]

Might the three be WBPX (68), WPXG (21), and WDPX (58)? They made a run at the NBC affiliation in 1995 as well.

It's possible. In fact, it makes sense. Face it, the relationship with Ansin and NBC has not exactly been stellar, ever since the WSVN-NBC mess back in the '90's. I could see Channel 7 going Indie, with news being the mainstay of the day. As for Channel 56, well....who knows?

As for NBC in Boston, WBPX and company would cover the market like a glove. Cable and satellite coverage are already there. This should be very interesting.

 

[bostonmediaguy]

I could see Channel 7 going Indie, with news being the mainstay of the day. As for Channel 56, well....who knows?

I still say CW moves to 7 and MyNetwork TV to 56. All 7 has to do is jumble the daytime schedule a bit (expand morning news until 9am) and run the CW Daytime an hour earlier so that news can start at 4pm. I can't see CW not allowing that exception for the increased exposure in a top ten market.

 

[Davros2006]

I just thought of something else: call me crazy, but maybe Scripps should buy WHDH (they already own WXYZ, WEWS, and a few others) and gain a presence in Boston.

 

[BoscoGoldBear]

I just thought of something else: call me crazy, but maybe Scripps should buy WHDH (they already own WXYZ, WEWS, and a few others) and gain a presence in Boston.

Hate to say this, Mike, but Scripps would also have to buy WLVI and WSVN as well plus the Sunbeam home electronics company (does Sunbeam still do hgairdryers and popcorn machines?). ???

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

I just thought of something else: call me crazy, but maybe Scripps should buy WHDH (they already own WXYZ, WEWS, and a few others) and gain a presence in Boston.

Hate to say this, Mike, but Scripps would also have to buy WLVI and WSVN as well plus the Sunbeam home electronics company (does Sunbeam still do hgairdryers and popcorn machines?). ???

These are too wild of predictions so I'll throw my own in.

Maybe NBC will trade WTVJ (giving Ansin a duploy of major network affiliates in Miami NBC-Fox...it's not as bad as the WPLG-WTVJ deal was) and WVIT for WHDH. They've been wanting to unload those two for a long time.

In reality, either Ansin caves or NBC will move to another station, most likely their own.

I doubt anything more

 

[azumanga]

If WHDH loses the NBC affiliation, expect Canadian cable companies (and Bell TV) to drop the station and replace it with a new affiliate. (It happened with WJBK in Detroit in late 1994 when it switched from CBS to FOX and replaced with WTOL in nearby Toledo.)

Of course, when WTOL was selected as a replacement CBS affiliate for CANCOM, CBS had yet to find a replacement affiliate in Detroit until just days before WJBK switched to Fox -- they ended up buying then-WGPR, after all other local stations, including WADL, balked.

...Scripps would also have to buy WLVI and WSVN as well plus the Sunbeam home electronics company (does Sunbeam still do hgairdryers and popcorn machines?). ???

I thought Sunbeam Television was unrelated to Sunbeam appliances.

 

[MassMusicMan]

...Scripps would also have to buy WLVI and WSVN as well plus the Sunbeam home electronics company (does Sunbeam still do hgairdryers and popcorn machines?). ???

I thought Sunbeam Television was unrelated to Sunbeam appliances.

That would be correct. Once again, Steve N is talking out of his ass.

 

[BRNout]

If you read my post I'm projecting that NBC will pull a KNTV over KRON stunt here and pay Hearst over half $1B to get WNBL/9 (we're NBC Boston-Lowell) closer to Boston and give its 60 to Hearst's WMUR and compensate Hearst for all the trouble for accepting a weaker signal. WMUR could "move" to cable 10 in most of NH and get LPTV translators for those who don't do cable (that basically would include my mom, who has already rejected my offer to buy at least a small digital TV).

OK, there are so many things wrong with this scenario that I haven't got the time to properly address them all. So, I'll summarize.

1) WMUR makes a fine living in New Hampshire. It's #1 there and makes good money for it's owner Hearst-Argyle. As said above, it's the station of record. Heck, why not move a Providence station in too? Absurd.

2) Hearst-Argyle would not be able to leave Manchester without television service, per FCC regs.

3) Why bother with something so far-fetched, when there's NBC-owned WNEU, part-owned WWDP, and the Ion stations (Ion was formerly Pax and NBC held an interest in Paxson) all in the market already? All have cable must-carry status in a cable heavy market and all would love to host NBC.

4) Anson will blink rather than see his WHDH become the next KRON. This one is the most likely of all.

 

[ssetta]

I know nobody has brought this up, but WJAR from Providence is available on cable in much of the Boston market. I believe it is available on Charter cable throughout most of Worcester country, and some parts of Norfolk county, and of course Bristol county. Do you think maybe this would be a good reason/opportunity for some of the other companies like Verizon FiOS to add WJAR to their lineup in the areas that currently don't have it?

 

[DToTheJ]

Good point, but I doubt they would make these accommodations just because one show wasn't being cleared in the market...

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I just thought of something else: call me crazy, but maybe Scripps should buy WHDH (they already own WXYZ, WEWS, and a few others) and gain a presence in Boston.

Hate to say this, Mike, but Scripps would also have to buy WLVI and WSVN as well plus the Sunbeam home electronics company (does Sunbeam still do hgairdryers and popcorn machines?). ???

These are too wild of predictions so I'll throw my own in.

Maybe NBC will trade WTVJ (giving Ansin a duploy of major network affiliates in Miami NBC-Fox...it's not as bad as the WPLG-WTVJ deal was) and WVIT for WHDH. They've been wanting to unload those two for a long time.

In reality, either Ansin caves or NBC will move to another station, most likely their own.

I doubt anything more

Now that's an interesting idea but I think the public would be just as outraged at the idea of a WTVJ/WSVN duopoly in Miami.

NBC/Universal must be having some very big money problems. You don't see CBS selling WFOR Miami. One might say it's WTVJ's inferior signal after moving to Channel 6 but all that will be cured soon. The WTVJ-6 analog signal is in Homestead a long way from the other stations making coverage in Fort Lauderdale really weak. This won't be an issue for long since their DT signal is with the rest on the Dade County/Broward County line.

 

[Davros2006]

Also, didn't NBC sell (or attempt to sell) WTVJ to Post-Newsweek (who own 6 other stations, most of which are in Florida but also include stations in Detroit and Houston)?

 

[fybush]

Now that's an interesting idea but I think the public would be just as outraged at the idea of a WTVJ/WSVN duopoly in Miami.

NBC/Universal must be having some very big money problems. You don't see CBS selling WFOR Miami. One might say it's WTVJ's inferior signal after moving to Channel 6 but all that will be cured soon. The WTVJ-6 analog signal is in Homestead a long way from the other stations making coverage in Fort Lauderdale really weak. This won't be an issue for long since their DT signal is with the rest on the Dade County/Broward County line.

NBCU is still running a profitable business - but they have enough foresight to realize that the model of network owned-and-operated stations simply isn't ever going to be the guaranteed money-maker it once was. That's why they've sold a chunk of their O&O holdings already (WJAR, WNCN, etc) and why they're trying to unload Miami and Hartford - and why it's entirely likely that we'll see the rest of the group, except maybe WNBC and KNBC, put up for sale at some point in the near future.

It's also why I think it's highly unlikely that NBC will convert WNEU or WWDP or the Ion stations into a new Boston O&O. NBC hasn't been shy about saying that it sees a future in which it distributes its programming directly to cable/satellite or even direct to viewers via broadband, bypassing the old affiliate model completely.

Making that jump still won't be easy right now - no network wants to wave off the 5-35% of viewers, depending on the market, who still depend on OTA service for TV. But it's probably easier to pull off in a lower-cost model like the one that has Leno at 10 PM than in the old high-cost model of five 10 PM hour dramas a week.

It may not be the glory days of network TV, but I have to give NBC some grudging respect for trying to get out ahead of the curve and figure out where this business is going, rather than reacting after the fact, as so many broadcasters tend to do.

 

[fybush]

Also, didn't NBC sell (or attempt to sell) WTVJ to Post-Newsweek (who own 6 other stations, most of which are in Florida but also include stations in Detroit and Houston)?

They did, and by the letter of the FCC's duopoly rules, it might have passed muster - the rules say you can't own two of the four highest-rated stations in a market. That was meant to keep a big market's ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox stations each under separate ownership, presumably...but in Miami, #1 is Univision's WLTV, knocking NBC's WTVJ down to fifth place.

Nevertheless, Post-Newsweek pulled out of the proposed deal, and NBC still owns WTVJ for now.

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

Also, didn't NBC sell (or attempt to sell) WTVJ to Post-Newsweek (who own 6 other stations, most of which are in Florida but also include stations in Detroit and Houston)?

They did, and by the letter of the FCC's duopoly rules, it might have passed muster - the rules say you can't own two of the four highest-rated stations in a market. That was meant to keep a big market's ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox stations each under separate ownership, presumably...but in Miami, #1 is Univision's WLTV, knocking NBC's WTVJ down to fifth place.

Nevertheless, Post-Newsweek pulled out of the proposed deal, and NBC still owns WTVJ for now.

WTVJ is in 6th place, not 5th in Miami. It is behind Univision, ABC (Post Newsweek), CBS, Telemundo (sister station to WTVJ) and Fox (Ed Ansin's Sunbeam). Post-Newsweek felt it would not pass FCC muster under an Obama administration and thus pulled out of the deal.

A number of both Democrat and Republican congresspersons and both Senators in Florida were or were going to urge the FCC to not allow the deal to occur. That pressure would have killed the deal so Post-Newsweek made the right move and cut their legal costs.