I can see a simple CW 55 branding as well. Could the double nickel logo from the 80's through early 2000's come back?
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WBNX to be acquired by Nexstar & re-affiliate with the CW in Fall 2025 creating a duopoly with FOX affiliate WJW
- Thread starter NYAZSporty
- Start date
No. Just the generic CW affiliate logo, similar to what's seen on WUAB and the vast majority of CW stations.
WBNX was one of the few CW affiliates to utilize a custom logo upon launch. I don't see that happening under Nexstar's ownership.
Pretty much what they did when Nexstar took CW this past Jan calling it CW West Michigan, which Freedom then owners of WWMT put The CW on the subchannel when it launched in Sep of 2006 was called West Michigan CW a few months later went with CW7 which Charter Spectrum had put The CW on and moved WZPX to channel 14. Which CW7 is now ARC-WMI which I still don't like the ARC branding by Sinclair.
It was bound to happen that WBNX would be sold to TEGNA, Scripps, or Nexstar one of these days. I'll miss them always being the first to say what they'll be airing in syndication come the fall as I doubt Nexstar isn't going to carry it on once the sale is final.
The FCC approved Nexstar's purchase of WBNX today.
Well, they still have to file a notification of consummation right after the transaction takes place. That shouldn't be more than a month from now.
The CW moves back to WBNX on September 1st. If Nexstar drops WBNX's existing diginets, which they will most likely do, the soonest will be Movies at the end of March, Buzzr and H&I in December, and Start TV next November. Binge? Don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if that gets dropped as soon as Nexstar takes over.
September 1, 2025, which is when WUAB's contract runs out. WUAB was bundled in a long-term deal with Nexstar for the CW back in 2023.
Doesn't really matter, honestly. If WBNX is used for ATSC 3.0 transmissions (as Cleveland is somehow the largest U.S. market not running that novelty yet) then the 1.0 transmissions of the main channel and subs will be moved to other stations elsewhere in the market.
For starters, they better place Rewind TV on WBNX as a result. WJW clearly doesn't want it, despite both being owned by Nexstar.
It looks like WBNX will have new ownership possibly in time for the station to celebrate 40 years on the air. December 1, 1985 was when 55 first went on the air.
WOIO will also celebrate a 40th on May 19th.
With the independent, to Fox, to CBS transition. Not to mention the fact that they and WUAB-43 seem melded these days. I wonder how much of a mention it will get this spring. WUAB did do a good job in celebrating their 50th when the time came.
I don't understand the point behind purchasing WBNX. This seems like a case of throwing money down the toilet.
If Nexstar wanted CW programming under its wing locally, why not just run it on a multicast channel of WJW-TV?
The technology exists for multiple HDTV transmissions to occur using a single RF channel.
If Nexstar wanted CW programming under its wing locally, why not just run it on a multicast channel of WJW-TV?
The technology exists for multiple HDTV transmissions to occur using a single RF channel.
And I believe WCLQ 61 had dropped Preview around that time period and became a full independent station again, at least for a short period of time.
Preview dropped on the last day of August 1983. I always wondered "What if?" WCLQ wasn't sold to Channel Communications, who seemed to have a knack for making only bad decisions. "What if?" Fox bought them outright as a network affiliate.
With WOIO and WBNX arriving, the independent market was already being beaten up by cable. No room for a high numbered UHF with a slate of bad programs, so they went the HSN route.
I'm almost glad that WBNX has maintained such an "Independent presence" up to now. But who knows where that will take us when Nexstar takes over. (Please don't let it be fifteen more incarnations of Fox 8 News.)
WCLQ was not able to compete with WUAB and WOIO. Once WBNX arrived, it was pretty much over. At one time, 61 was airing reruns of Dallas, but quickly pulled them as the ratings were not good.
19 quickly gained a foothold in the market, while 55 carved a niche with the family audience. 43 was able to launch a newscast that was more successful than the attempt WKBF tried to do in the late 1960s.
WBNX was originally intended for airing Ernest Angley's programing. Airing classic re-runs, locally produced programs and other syndicated content was an added bonus. This all improved in the 90's when WBNX acquired the rights to air Fox Kids (rejected by WJW after the FOX/New World merger in 94), and later The WB when it was originally part of a duo affiliation along with UPN on WUAB. There is practically no need for the Grace Cathedral to continue to own and operate a broadcast television station in the streaming age for their religious programming, as managing a streaming service along with an app for that same content is far cheaper and can reach anybody in the world. Nexstar probably made the best offer to buy the station, which they couldn't refuse. (At 22 million dollars).
Because anything that's carried outside of the main .1 sub is not considered as must-carry for cable/satellite providers. WJW/Nexstar would have to come to agreements with multiple providers, which may decline carriage. The main .1 sub guarantees that it will be carried by all providers within the market.
Even though there are some stations that carry The CW on a secondary subchannel, they are mainly located in markets with limited stations. They may even be a duo affiliate with a diginet like MeTV. And besides, we've seen for many years that WJW is too cheap to update their encoders to be able to add additional subchannels beyond what they currently offer. (They rather use that money to produce unnecessary broadcasts of the news or give it away as prize money for their Coffee Quiz). There's no way they are going to transmit 2 HD subs at the same time with what they currently have.
Yes, if the timing was different, we've could have seen things turn out differently. WBNX or WOIO could have bought WCLQ instead of starting from scratch. We could have seen Fox 61, CBS 61 or 61 Action News
. Perhaps WBNX 61?If, say, WOIO ended up on 61, could WBNX opted for 19? WOIO for 55 if it were the other way around? What if, like you said, WCLQ was sold to a completely different broadcaster, and not Channel Communications? What would have ended up on 61 instead of HSN?
Silver King Broadcasting almost converted WQHS into an independent format in the early 2000s, but decided to sell the station (along with others) instead, and almost sold it to ABC/Disney before being outbid by Univision. If Univision wasn't the highest bidder, the ABC affiliation would have surely moved to WQHS, which wouldn't had made WEWS very happy.
Lots of possible outcomes had things turned out differently.
Hubert Payne was too determined to get WOIO on the air as Channel 19. The sale of WCLQ to Channel Communications was completed a year before WOIO hit the air. WBNX was in another market and I think Ernest Angley was as determined to takeover what another televangelist failed to start.Yes, if the timing was different, we've could have seen things turn out differently. WBNX or WOIO could have bought WCLQ instead of starting from scratch. We could have seen Fox 61, CBS 61 or 61 Action News
I don't know for sure, but had heard Fox was at least interested. In most markets the most solvent independent would've clamored for a Fox affiliation. Not the case with, then WUAB, in an era when I'm sure they knew WOIO was their biggest competition. At that time, I think WOIO was looking for a little boost in gaining interest. And the "Fox 19" mantra was their perfect solution. Channel 43 shifted focus on re-launching a 10 pm newscast in the area.
Silver King never seemed serious about the conversion. They were an arm of USA Broadcasting and could've easily used one's assets to assist the other. Cable really deemed the Independent numbers on an over-the-air dial as antiquated. If I remember right, there was even a strange scenario (When CBS was first looking for a new home after WJW was bought by Fox/News Corporation. Where WAKC was considered a possibility for any realignment, including a CBS affiliation. It ultimately went from Valuevision's goof up purchase in 1993, to being one of PaxTV's original affiliates.) Another strange scenario I heard was CBS to 5/WEWS on the dial, and ABC being low power on WOAC-29/WAX-35. Something, I'm sure ABC wouldn't have been too big on. Too many channels, made for too much speculation.
I do remember when WKBF went off the air. We would have been happy with "Just one more station in the market".
When Angley owned the station, they would blip "hell" and "damn" from any movie and also refused to run any episode of syndicated programming which even remotely discussed sex.
Neither were going to happen. Hubert Payne had the backing of Malrite and Metroplex (Wain and Weiss, who later owned WNCX) and they were dead-set on getting the 19 license. The FCC had repeatedly issued permits for channel 19 dating back to 1953, and was at one point desired by WUAB because it was a lower channel number than 43.Yes, if the timing was different, we've could have seen things turn out differently. WBNX or WOIO could have bought WCLQ instead of starting from scratch. We could have seen Fox 61, CBS 61 or 61 Action News
Ernest Angley simply filed for the same 55 license that Rex Humbard failed to build out despite having a permit for "WCOT 55" as early as 1969.
WQHS would have immediately been sold had Disney bought Silver King. Let alone the sheer expense of building out an ABC O&O from scratch at the upper end of the UHF dial, it would have been very stupid to anger Scripps like that.
Given how badly the "CityVision" format flopped at WAMI Miami, there was never really any serious action to convert WQHS to an indie.