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Warren Buffett is investing $600 million in EW Scripps deal to buy ION Media

https://www.nexttv.com/news/no-retrans-no-problem-for-scripps-ion-deal

Here is more on the proposed Ion/Scripps deal.

One rarely hears about a station group deciding not to pursue lucrative retransmission consent fees but when E.W. Scripps agreed to acquire Ion Media for $2.65 billion, it said the Ion stations would stick to must-carry.

Analysts initially said they were surprised by the unusual strategy and asked about it during a conference call in which Scripps executives went over details of the transaction.

“Just so I’m 100% clear, there’s no affiliate fees or retrans today from Ion and your plan is that going forward, you’re not necessarily looking for a subscription supported carriage model on the content,” asked Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo. “Is that right?”
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Kelly A said:
Man, I must be missing something here. Retrans fees make up on average 30% of your reoccurring revenue.
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In some markets, such as Palm Springs, CA, retrans is as much as half of the gross annual revenue in normal times; it is probably closer to 60% to 70% this year.
 
RadioPatrol said:
https://markets.businessinsider.com...w-scripps-to-buy-ion-media-2020-9-1029619184#





If this deal is waiting for FCC and SEC approval then Scripps would have to Divest in some parts of the country where ION and Scripps have duopolies for the deal to be approved. Or Scripps can shut down some of the ION Stations in some parts of the country and move it to a subchannel though.


https://uk.reuters.com/article/ion-...shire-backed-deal-for-ion-media-idUKL3N2GL2J6
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People dont even hardly watch ion channels its literally close to last in most markets they don’t have original programming mostly just replays of criminal minds and occasional older movies on the weekends.
 
Syfy said:
People dont even hardly watch ion channels its literally close to last in most markets they don’t have original programming mostly just replays of criminal minds and occasional older movies on the weekends.
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Remember, cable channels get carriage fees and they also get revenue based on their national reach. If the combination is more than costs, it's profitable.
 
Why changes do you think will be made to Ion, Ion Plus and Qubo? Maybe a national news program for Ion and a rebrand of Ion Plus to something else or a complete shutdown?
 
With regards to markets where Scripps has stations where there is no ION: Will Scripps add ION to a subchannel?
 
https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/254654/scripps-taps-knutson-tomlin-for-new-roles/

Management changes at EW Scripps. This comes as the Ion Deal is pending.


The E.W. Scripps Co. today announced new roles for two of its senior leaders, contingent on the closing of its acquisition of Ion Media. Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Knutson will lead the new Scripps national television networks business, and Executive Vice President, National Media Laura Tomlin will become chief administrative officer of the company.

Scripps’ acquisition of Ion Media is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approvals. In their new roles, Knutson and Tomlin will continue to report to Scripps President-CEO Adam Symson.

Knutson will oversee the operations of the newly combined businesses of Ion Media, the five Katz networks and Newsy. She joined the company in 2005 and served as chief strategy officer and chief administrative officer before being appointed chief financial officer.
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JeeperOne said:
No, WPIX is already owned by Scripps & the pairing of it with the ION station wouldn't be affected

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPIX
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Actually, yes, WPIX does affect the deal. It's not that Scripps can't own both WPIX and WPXN; it could. It's that Scripps needs to have its sale of WPIX to Mission close quickly, because Scripps needs to get WPIX off its books to free up space under the national ownership cap. WPIX counts as a VHF station, while WPXN counts as a UHF station, and thus only half of the NYC DMA population would count toward the national cap under the (now completely bogus, but still on the books) "UHF discount."

If Scripps can't get the WPIX sale to Mission to close quickly, it will have to add three fairly big markets to the list of ION stations it's spinning off, in order to stay under the cap.
 
The 3 stations in reference to are Minneapolis, San Fran and Philly

per northpine.com

If the WPIX sale is not complete before the ION purchase closes, KPXM and stations in the Philadelphia and San Francisco markets will be included in the divestiture. If the WPIX sale is completed before or simultaneously with the ION deal, Scripps will keep the Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and San Francisco stations, but still divest the 23 others.*
 
Anybody care to post list here on who because have to pay yo read that story and the only one out their so far.

Also IONTV has signed up NCIS New Orleans and Hawaii Five 0.
 
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https://www.nexttv.com/features/burgess-ponders-what-hell-do-after-selling-ion-media

Life after Ion that is being discussed by Brandon Burgess.

It’s mission accomplished for Brandon Burgess, the CEO of Ion Media. Starting in 2006, Burgess took Paxson Communications, changed the company’s name to Ion Media, built up viewership and last month agreed to sell it to E.W. Scripps Co. for $2.65 billion.

Burgess, 52, won’t be sticking around to help run Scripps’s newly enlarged national media unit and collect an earn-out.

“My role in the company in the deal, if it happens, is very, very clear, at least in my mind,” Burgess said in an interview. “I’m not going to be a part of it. I’m very supportive of everything, but I’ve been doing this a long time. This is a good outcome for everyone and I’m going to work my butt off to make it all happen. And then, I need to go off and fi nd some new things.”

It’s not unlike 15 years ago, Burgess said, when he was with NBC as it completed its acquisition of Universal and its cable channels. “I was on the 52nd floor saying, ‘Well, what do I want to do with my life?’ I said what I really want is to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond and have a lot more skin in the game.”
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tvnewscheck.com

Scripps Completes Acquisition Of Ion Media

The E.W. Scripps Co. and Black Diamond Capital Management LLC have closed Scripps’ acquisition of Ion Media Networks Inc. Scripps is combining Ion with the Katz networks and Newsy to create a full-scale national television networks business. Together, the national networks will reach nearly...
tvnewscheck.com tvnewscheck.com

Here is an update on the EW Scripps/ Ion Deal.
 
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