UPN & WB to merge...Upstate impact?

[upstate29650]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060124/ap_on_en_tv/tv_network

The big question will be, who will carry the new CW network? 40 or 62?

G

 

[MLB]

> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060124/ap_on_en_tv/tv_network
>
> The big question will be, who will carry the new CW network?
> 40 or 62?
>
> G
>

Good Question. WASV 62 has the 10pm newscast, so you'd think they would want to keep their network affiliation. But who knows what will happen..

 

[moedog1]

I would think WASV would get the affiliation. They have a much better signal, a newscast and better local programing, and who would want to get hooked up with SINclair if they could help it? But what about in Cola? Both WB and UPN are fairly new with relatively weak programs and no news. Poor UPN 47 has only been on the air for a year. Even worse, the parent company has three UPNs all fairly new. They just put a new UPN on the air in Jackson MS a few weeks ago! And their St. Louis station will not get the CW affil since Tribune owns a station there....

 

[thebroker]

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. If Asheville and Greenville/Spartanburg were separate markets, this would not be an issue. WASV is licensed to Asheville, while WBSC is licensed to Anderson. Slightly ironic when you consider that WB40 is run from Asheville and WASV from Greenville.

If WB40 is left in the cold, it's value will drop like a lead balloon. What on earth do you do with a full-power signal in a rated market with no network affiliation? Sell it to the Holy-Rollers, I suppose.

Here's an idea for ya...why not take WBSC and try a full-time news station like those in Charlotte and Raleigh?

 

[upstate29650]

> I would think WASV would get the affiliation. They have a
> much better signal, a newscast and better local programing,
> and who would want to get hooked up with SINclair if they
> could help it? But what about in Cola? Both WB and UPN are
> fairly new with relatively weak programs and no news. Poor
> UPN 47 has only been on the air for a year. Even worse, the
> parent company has three UPNs all fairly new. They just put
> a new UPN on the air in Jackson MS a few weeks ago! And
> their St. Louis station will not get the CW affil since
> Tribune owns a station there....
>

But isn't the WB a cable only service in Columbia? Or...is it that station out of Sumter (or is that UPN?) Me confused.....

But yeah, I think 62 stands the best chance of landing the CW network. It transmits from atop Hogback Mtn (or does it? I know it's atop some mtn.), whereas 40 is on a tall stick south of Simpsonville, but still doesn't have the HAAT. I presume 62 would continue 10:00 news courtesy of WSPA.

As far as what to do with 40....the bible thumpers already have 16. I don't know if this area is ready for an all news channel. My thought is model it after Cox's "Action" concept: Carry pro sports from Charlotte & Atlanta, get WLOS to produce a 10PM newscast, and build their library of sitcoms.

Unless Sinclair sells 40 to Univision.....

G

 

[moedog1]

>
> But isn't the WB a cable only service in Columbia? Or...is
> it that station out of Sumter (or is that UPN?) Me
> confused.....
The WB is a full powered station, broadcasting from the WOLO tower in Elgin. They are based in Cola but are licensed to Sumter. UPN is also full power, broadcastng from I think the old WLTX/WNOK-TV tower near Two Notch and Beltline. All their programing comes out of St. Louis.

> But yeah, I think 62 stands the best chance of landing the
> CW network. It transmits from atop Hogback Mtn (or does it?
> I know it's atop some mtn.), whereas 40 is on a tall stick
> south of Simpsonville, but still doesn't have the HAAT. I
> presume 62 would continue 10:00 news courtesy of WSPA.
>
> As far as what to do with 40....the bible thumpers already
> have 16. I don't know if this area is ready for an all news
> channel. My thought is model it after Cox's "Action"
> concept: Carry pro sports from Charlotte & Atlanta, get WLOS
> to produce a 10PM newscast, and build their library of
> sitcoms.
>
> Unless Sinclair sells 40 to Univision.....
>
> G
>
Like Sinclair/WLOS is going to be able to produce a newscast for the upstate with their NC ONLY news department. But channel 40 should be ok---maybe SINclair can stick on Montel reruns and judge show reruns (a la Cox indies) to fill the time vacated by UPN.

 

[thebroker]

> Unless Sinclair sells 40 to Univision.....


Now THERE'S a thought...would it work?

 

[MLB]

> Like Sinclair/WLOS is going to be able to produce a newscast
> for the upstate with their NC ONLY news department. But
> channel 40 should be ok---maybe SINclair can stick on Montel
> reruns and judge show reruns (a la Cox indies) to fill the
> time vacated by UPN.
>

Well, that's what they did as WFBC 40 most recently until they picked up The WB. They ran syndicated talk shows like Jenny Jones in primetime.

 

[thebroker]

I know we've definitely strayed from radio to TV, but a good point has been brought up. WLOS does certainly cover only WNC news, just as WSPA and WYFF cover mostly Upstate news. WHNS seems to be the only station trying to actually cover both. It begs the question, why aren't the two markets separated? It seems odd to think that any news team could cover both areas well, and they are most definitely two entirely separate advertising markets. Is it simply because there aren't enough big sticks to go around? Does anybody know the background here?

 

[upstate29650]

Viva la WBSC?

> > Unless Sinclair sells 40 to Univision.....
>
>
> Now THERE'S a thought...would it work?
>

The Hispanic population is rapidly growing here. I don't see why not.

G

 

[upstate29650]

> I know we've definitely strayed from radio to TV, but a good
> point has been brought up. WLOS does certainly cover only
> WNC news, just as WSPA and WYFF cover mostly Upstate news.
> WHNS seems to be the only station trying to actually cover
> both. It begs the question, why aren't the two markets
> separated? It seems odd to think that any news team could
> cover both areas well, and they are most definitely two
> entirely separate advertising markets. Is it simply because
> there aren't enough big sticks to go around? Does anybody
> know the background here?
>

Seems to me that by combining the markets, stations can charge more to advertisers (Hey, this is market #35, not #150...and you're gonna pay top 50 rates, bucko!). That, and to keep the big 3 in the same market. But this is just a theory.

G

 

[moedog1]

The reasons why Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville ended up as one market is not a mystery. Back in the 50s the FCC allocated channels to the area just as it did across the US. All three cities recieved a mixture of VHF and UHF channels, and some of each came on the air in each area (who can forget wonderful WAIM/40). But the terrain and distance, not to mention political pressures) was not kind to UHF. And the populace in all three areas found they could recieve 4-7-13 (all 3 megapowerful staions) very well. Bye bye to the Us (except 40), since all 3 networks at that time were covered. The tri city area was the first, by far, in the carolinas to have 3 primary network affils. And who would have thought that a region that had no city of over 60000 people would become a major market. That had to surprise even the owners of the stations. But there really is no reason for the market to be divided. 4 and 7, as well as 21, do cover news from the entire area, though 4 and 7 concentrate on their home city. It is only 13 that is so silly and cheap as to pretend that SC does not exist. Dog, they do not even give the temps for SC cities on their weathercasts. Its crazy, like the state line is the end of the world. But its funny, SC does not exist, but WLOS has a sales office in Greenville. I guess that is Sinclair for you...

 

[thebroker]

Frankly, I'm glad WLOS chooses to ignore South Carolina. Otherwise, WNC would never get decent news coverage. I'm sure they have a Greenvlle sales office simply becauase they will have decent ratings for the ABC programs outside of the news. Plus, they also sell WB40.