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University of Georgia Buying WNEG

J

JackieSteele

Just posted this afternoon...

Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) and the University of Georgia announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement under which the University of Georgia Research Foundation will purchase the assets of Media General’s television station WNEG in Toccoa, Ga. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the third or fourth quarter of 2008. Terms were not disclosed.

Rest of the article here...
http://www.wneg32.com/index.php/news/article/uga-to-buy-wneg-32/1073/


(Yeah, yeah, yeah... not exactly Atlanta... but there ya go)
 
When I first saw it, I thought GPB was adding another station.

Then I read that the UGA foundation was buying it, and that the University would program it. I was amazed the foundation had a few million for a TV station (which shows UGA must have a pretty good sized endowment - still not the levels of Harvard or MIT).

From what I am getting, the station will ditch CBS and all of its current programming (which is a mirror of what WSPA airs - WSPA is the sister Media General CBS station for Greenville/Spartanberg). Cable companies in the GSP DMA that do not have it will add WSPA, and those in Atlanta DMA will add WGCL.

I suspect the current news department, which includes former WSB-TV and WXIA anchor Chuck Moore, will close. A new one will start up using Grady College of Journalism students instead.

The callsign will change to either WUGA-TV or WUOG-TV. (UGA, through the University System Board of Regents owns student run WUOG-FM 90.5, and GPB owns NPR WUGA-FM 91.7).

The studios will move to the campus in Athens. What remains to be seen is if the station will join the Atlanta DMA instead (Athens is in the Atlanta DMA).

From what I am reading, the station will be leased back to Media General for one year to continue to run out of Toccoa (with CBS) while UGA gets the new studios up and running. Target date for UGA-TV is Fall 2009.

Also...the station will remain a commercial license so that UGA can sell advertising.

This is not UGA's first foray into television. UGA put WGTV 8 (as an educational license) on the air in the 1960's. The station was later transfered with the other then Georgia Educational Television stations to the then new Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, a standalone state agency, in 1984 (when it became Georgia Public Television).
 
This is a great move. WNEG-TV now just duplicates WGCL for the most part, and both are locally available in Athens. In fact, I get a DTV signal from WGCL-DT in Oglethorpe County, while WNEG-DT has yet to go on the air.

The local news on there is decent, and it would be disappointing to lose Chuck Moore.

$1.4m for a TV station seems like a fire sale. UGA got a good deal. Given that it is the only commercial station in Athens, they ought to try to work out leasing DTV subchannels to provide some programming alternatives.
UGA already operates a channel on the local cable system, but I suspect the new station will be a great improvement.

UGA folks have long been disappointed that they lost control of WGTV, which they put on the air. Note that the UGA press release talks about the possibility of acquiring other small market stations.
 
The press release had a paragraph from the UGA president:

UGA President Michael F. Adams noted that by acquiring WNEG, the University of Georgia joins a handful of flagship universities nationwide that own commercial licenses. “This provides a winning combination of strengthening local markets by emphasizing local interests, while offering a real-world opportunity for faculty and students to work in research, development and teaching in media,” Dr. Adams said. “The revenue produced by this commercial venture will strengthen the operation of the television station while enhancing the research and outreach mission of the University.”
----------------------------------

So, it appears they plan to be a commercial station. Dr. Adams mentions a "handful of flagship universities nationwide that own commercial licenses." What are these "flagship universities" doing with their commercial licenses? What are they programming?
 
Firebird said:
KOMU/8 in Columbia, MO is owned by The University of Missouri. It's a full-powered ABC affiliate.

http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba907e95-c0a8-2f11-01bb-b559cc7dab3a
Click to expand...

And Missouri has one of the power-house journalism schools in the country, too... as does UGA. This potentially bodes well for Hazinski's Newsource15 classes. For those not familiar, the j school at UGA puts out a daily 30-minute newscast on UGA's cable access channel during spring semester, and I think the students still do "Georgia Gameday" prior to UGA games as well. If they could get those on a University-owned television channel, those kids' resumes would be dynamite. A lot of the Newsource alumni are discussing this sale.
 
BarryATL said:
Is it possilbe they will keep the CBS affiliation?
Click to expand...

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/062608/uganews_20080626039.shtml

No. The only reason CBS exists on WNEG is because of common same-market ownership with WSPA (WNEG's affiliation is lumped in with WSPA's affiliation agreement). WNEG is part of the Greenville/Spartanberg DMA.

Sale price reported at $1.44 million. Looks like Chuck Moore and company will keep their jobs. Pending FCC approval, closing date is reported to be October 15th.

WGCL will have a lot to gain as well, as they be the sole CBS provider for those counties in the Atlanta DMA, unless cable providers in those areas try to add WSPA (and I wonder if WGCL will fight it).
 
jal41, let's play True or False:
From what I am getting, the station will ditch CBS and all of its current programming: True

I suspect the current news department, which includes former WSB-TV and WXIA anchor Chuck Moore, will close. A new one will start up using Grady College of Journalism students instead: False. Students will not appear on air.

The callsign will change to either WUGA-TV or WUOG-TV: True. WUGA-TV

The studios will move to the campus in Athens: True

From what I am reading, the station will be leased back to Media General for one year to continue to run out of Toccoa (with CBS) while UGA gets the new studios up and running. Target date for UGA-TV is Fall 2009: False. With FCC approval, ownership will transfer to UGA. The station will not be "leased back." True, the station will remain in Toccoa while
UGA builds on campus studios.

Also...the station will remain a commercial license so that UGA can sell advertising: True

This is not UGA's first foray into television. UGA put WGTV 8 (as an educational license) on the air in the 1960's. The station was later transfered with the other then Georgia Educational Television stations to the then new Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, a standalone state agency, in 1984 (when it became Georgia Public Television): True. WGTV signed on in 1960.
 
So....what do we anticipate will be the programming on this channel once UGA takes control?

G
 
In no particular order: UGA orchestra, choral & band performances. Talk shows/round tables on the economy, media matters, research etc. Lectures from nationally known speakers, local news 3 times daily, high school sports, and UGA sporting events not licensed to ESPN, CBS, CSS, FSS, FSN, Lincoln Financial, etc.
 
fussbudget said:
In no particular order: UGA orchestra, choral & band performances. Talk shows/round tables on the economy, media matters, research etc. Lectures from nationally known speakers, local news 3 times daily, high school sports, and UGA sporting events not licensed to ESPN, CBS, CSS, FSS, FSN, Lincoln Financial, etc.
Click to expand...

Bleh.

G
 
How about a possible affiliate for the SEC Network? I know, the SEC network is primarily a Cable/Satellite venture that's still just being talked about, but wouldn't the network be carrying about the same stuff as the TV station? Or, could this be the catalyst for UGA to have many of their staff-produced programs ready for air on the SEC network?
 
I thought KOMU was an NBC affiliate. I know it
switched to ABC for about two years in the '80s,
then went back to the Peacock Network about
the time it became number one. I also believe the
Mizzou journalism students do all the station's newscasts.

I also think it's a shame if students aren't going
to appear on-camera on WNEG. As another poster
said, it would be a great resume-builder. I wish they'd
had it when I was there.
 
bpatrick said:
I thought KOMU was an NBC affiliate. I know it
switched to ABC for about two years in the '80s,
then went back to the Peacock Network about
the time it became number one.
Click to expand...

It is an NBC affiliate, though it was ABC briefly in the 1980s.

bpatrick said:
I also believe the Mizzou journalism students do all the station's newscasts.
Click to expand...

According to Wikipedia, they do only on weekends -- during the week, paid, professional staff anchor the news.
 
fussbudget said:
In no particular order: UGA orchestra, choral & band performances. Talk shows/round tables on the economy, media matters, research etc. Lectures from nationally known speakers, local news 3 times daily, high school sports, and UGA sporting events not licensed to ESPN, CBS, CSS, FSS, FSN, Lincoln Financial, etc.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that UGA will model the station after the University of Alabama's WVUA-CA/WUOA in Tuscaloosa, which are also commercial stations. Local news and/or talk/public affairs, old non-public-domain reruns, some paid religious programming, movie packages, college courses, UGA sports, and maybe a secondary affiliation with America One or some other low-cost program provider.
 
Eric;

You are absolutely correct. This is exactly what will happen. Hopefully, it will be done better than it has been in Alabama.
 
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