WLNY-55 Riverhead Has Been Sold

[Rollo-Smokes]

The Pascucci clan is winding down its ownership. The 11:00 newscast will be gone -- more technically, put on hiatus -- after Thursday 3-29 (why not Friday 3-30?) which, according to Fishbowl NY and the Daily News, is the day CBS officially takes control of the station.

WLNY will same-day repeats of Entertainment Tonight in its place; the CBS-produced newscasts are scheduled to begin in June. They will, in all likelihood, originate from the Broadcast Center. The Melville studios are expected to become the new Long Island bureau. So far, only Richard Rose has been named as one of about 30 current WLNY staffers who will be retained by CBS.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/television/wlny-ch-10-55-suspend-newscasts-march-29-part-merger-deal-wcbs-ch-2-article-1.1039214?localLinksEnabled=false

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/wcbs-deal-for-wlny-set-for-march-29_b55997

 

[ansky212]

I really hope the "TV 10 and 55" moniker goes away.

 

[drchuck]

I really hope the "TV 10 and 55" moniker goes away.

If Cablevision continues to map WLNY to channel 10, it might stick around.

 

[YoYoGo]

Here's the link to the CBS local integrated web site

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/27/wlny-station-information/

Note the new logo which still uses the 10/55 designation (at least for now)

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Here's the link to the CBS local integrated web site

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/27/wlny-station-information/

Note the new logo which still uses the 10/55 designation (at least for now)

I'm sure that very plain logo is only temporary. However the changes don't stop there.

As of Friday (3-30) Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are off the schedule. The double-run of Fraiser reruns will move down an hour to 5:00, with Matlock filling the 4:00 slot. As I predicted, The God Squad and the daily Mass are both gone, replaced with...ready for this...more infomercials. And nowhere on the schedule did I see the pro-life (anti-abortion) documentaries.

 

[BiggieFats]

The logo looks very similar to KCAL 9's version.

 

[ansky212]

As of Friday (3-30) Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are off the schedule.

I never understood how WLNY was allowed to show Jeopardy and Wheel when WABC already has those 2 shows in the NY market.

 

[TimeIsTight]

I never understood how WLNY was allowed to show Jeopardy and Wheel when WABC already has those 2 shows in the NY market.

Didn't King World Productions, which produced the shows, have some kind of ownership stake or other financial involvement with WLNY at some point? Even if it was just a syndication agreement, King World just had to alter its contracts to do it, and the re-runs were no great threat to WABC.

Running those syndicated shows on WLNY at different times, just gave viewers a second chance to see them, and King World another chance to make some money from them. And in the years when that arrangement started, most people in the NY TV market couldn't get WLNY anyway.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

I never understood how WLNY was allowed to show Jeopardy and Wheel when WABC already has those 2 shows in the NY market.

Didn't King World Productions, which produced the shows, have some kind of ownership stake or other financial involvement with WLNY at some point? Even if it was just a syndication agreement, King World just had to alter its contracts to do it, and the re-runs were no great threat to WABC.

Running those syndicated shows on WLNY at different times, just gave viewers a second chance to see them, and King World another chance to make some money from them. And in the years when that arrangement started, most people in the NY TV market couldn't get WLNY anyway.

And in those same early days the extra showings of Jeopardy!, Wheel and The Oprah Winfrey Show only benefited those who could pick-up the station over-the-air. Cable viewers (at least those in the City once WLIG made it there) got replacements because of the "syndex" rules.

In all reality, getting rights to King World's big three shows probably saved the station from going the all-infomercial/paid religion/home-shopping route, like WRNN (another former independent with wasted potential) eventually became.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

It is done. CBS took control at 5:00 this morning.

New logo, new graphics, lots and lots of CBS-related promos (especially for Channel 2 News, WCBS Newsradio and CBSNewYork.com) and a new voice-over person. One station ID read "WLNY-TV New York" instead of "Riverhead." (hmm...) And I supposed the translators, or the last of them, have been severed from the feed and are now doing their own thing.

This station will look a lot different come September.

 

[ansky212]

The WLNY website still has the old logo. I wonder if CBS will bring this channel into HD?

 

[Danfm]

Many Cable systems including Comcast in Central New Jersey and Both Comcast and Cablevision on the Jersey Shore don't carry WLNY. I wonder if CBS will work hard to get WLNY on these systems.

 

[ding12]

Many Cable systems including Comcast in Central New Jersey and Both Comcast and Cablevision on the Jersey Shore don't carry WLNY. I wonder if CBS will work hard to get WLNY on these systems.

I think that it shouldn't be a problem. KFTY got on cable on all Bay Area cable systems. They had to surrender their analog positioning locally in the North Bay for this compromise with Comcast to put it in the 200s on all Bay area systems. KFTY is now KEMO and the Azteca America affiliate for SF. Now, Comcast maybe fully digital so it might not matter. When I visited the area a few years ago and a hotel was using cable, I noticed the local station wasn't even available without a box (and I assume it had to do with this digital switch where it just becomes another digital channel).

CBS is a lot bigger than whoever owned KFTY at that time, so should have the same or more negotiating leverage. I think they'll try to make the push.

 

[drchuck]

The WLNY website still has the old logo. I wonder if CBS will bring this channel into HD?

I can get WLNY via antenna, and they're broadcasting in 1080i, 16:9 aspect ratio.

 

[ansky212]

The WLNY website still has the old logo. I wonder if CBS will bring this channel into HD?

I can get WLNY via antenna, and they're broadcasting in 1080i, 16:9 aspect ratio.

Interesting. I'm not aware of any cable companies carrying WLNY-HD.

 

[drchuck]

The WLNY website still has the old logo. I wonder if CBS will bring this channel into HD?

I can get WLNY via antenna, and they're broadcasting in 1080i, 16:9 aspect ratio.

Interesting. I'm not aware of any cable companies carrying WLNY-HD.

I believe this was a fairly recent change, as I only noticed it last week. It probably took place the day CBS officially took ownership.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

CBS has now announced their plans. First, former WPIX VP/GM Betty Ellen Berlamino has been given the keys drive the bus. An engine change to HD has also taken effect.

And coming later this year, they'll be a two-hour morning news show and a hour-program at 9 PM, both utilizing channel 2 talent. Former WLNY news director/anchor Richard Rose will have a presence as a lead reporter in the Long Island bureau, and will return to host a weekly, LI-focused public affairs show.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowl...th-new-morning-and-primetime-newscasts_b57108 (with a pic of a new WLNY news van)

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...ure-article-1.1054377?localLinksEnabled=false

 

[TVCOOL]

im guessing WLNY will carry Ring of Honor Wrestling and The Closer reruns on the weekends to fill out the schedule.

 

[stationless listener]

And we have the new URL for the station.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/station/wlny/

Well, since CBS is in the process of bringing this station into the XXI Century, I thought I'd give a few suggestions as to what they could air:

- Movie of the Week but something from after 2000
- Make a deal with either YES or MSG to bring overflow sports. That way, folks who can't get cable can watch some games. Since the Nets are moving to Brooklyn, they could start re-connecting with the people in Long Island that they lost when they moved back to New Jersey. The Islanders could get a couple of games on "free" TV as well
- CBS should buy another station in Chicago (if possible) then use that station, along with their other duopolies, to bypass Time Warner and replace the CW with their own mini-network. They have a lot of their stations airing either The CW or MyNetworkTV. Would they not be better off striking on their own?

 

[fybush]

- CBS should buy another station in Chicago (if possible) then use that station, along with their other duopolies, to bypass Time Warner and replace the CW with their own mini-network. They have a lot of their stations airing either The CW or MyNetworkTV. Would they not be better off striking on their own?

They did that. It was called "UPN," and it didn't work so well.

The issue isn't really bypassing Time Warner...it's Tribune. Time Warner didn't own TV stations (except for WTBS/WPCH in Atlanta, which was a special case), and so when it started up The WB, it needed Tribune's big-market stations to provide clearance in New York, Chicago, LA and elsewhere. Tribune took a minority interest in The WB at the time, and when The WB was merged with UPN to form The CW, it apparently gave up that minority interest in exchange for a 10-year affiliation agreement to keep WPIX, WGN, KTLA and the rest of the Tribune group in the CW fold.

That deal is up in 2016, and it will be interesting to see if at that point CBS looks to move CW programming over to KCAL in LA, WLNY in NYC, WSBK in Boston, WPSG in Philadelphia and WBFS in Miami.

As you note, Chicago is probably the biggest bargaining chip that Tribune will likely have in that negotiation. CBS and Time Warner won't want to lose their big clearance in market #3, and there aren't a lot of good options other than WGN.