Would WGBH ever sell WGBX/44??

[mdamico25]

Hi Folks,

Here is a question. It has happened in other markets where the primary PBS station has sold off a sister secondary non-commercial station in the same market to a commerical broadcaster to raise cash. (Albany, Buffalo and Pittsburgh come to mind). I recently read that the donor/foundation $$ contributions to WGBH are way down. With that in mind, I wonder if WGBH would ever consider selling WGBX/44 off in a similar fashion. If I recall, the original Channel 44 license was supposed to be for a commerical operation, but before it could get on the air, the owners donated it to WGBH, and it went on the air in 1967 as a satellite of WGBH. What does everyone think? In today's world of multicast HD signals is there really a reason for WGBX? On the other hand, can the Boston market, with an extremely soft economy, support another commercial TV station? (A "real" independent would be nice, but I do not see it happening anytime soon). Despite the donor $$ shortages, something tells me that WGBH has deep pockets and would hang on to WGBX. Love to hear speculation.

-Mike

 

[bostonmediaguy]

I don't know that the market could support a "real" independent, let alone another commercial station. More and more you see duopolies being formed to save on some of the costs.

WGBH has enough revenue. They are still the largest producer of programming for PBS. In addition, I believe they are producing a children's program for the Discovery Networks. So, there's interest from commercial broadcasters in WGBH-produced programming.

There was a time (in the mid-80s, I believe) when WGBH was going to run WSBE/Providence for RI Telcom for a fee. I have no idea how 'SBE is doing financially. It seems to be a joke (I believe they still sign-off at 11:30pm weeknights), especially in comparison with the powerhouse WGBH so close to its broadcast territory.

 

[tripinva]

I doubt it. These days, I imagine two digital frequencies would be preferred, as one can be dedicated to the HD and the other can be used for the SD multicast. Some stations are even trying to get second frequencies; WKNO in Memphis already has, KCTS in Seattle tried and failed (Canadian coordination issues), and I imagine we'll see others in the future. I expect to see WLIW in New York on the Freedom Tower once it's done.

- Trip

 

[pqgeorge]

Hi Folks,

Here is a question. It has happened in other markets where the primary PBS station has sold off a sister secondary non-commercial station in the same market to a commerical broadcaster to raise cash. (Albany, Buffalo and Pittsburgh come to mind). I recently read that the donor/foundation $$ contributions to WGBH are way down. With that in mind, I wonder if WGBH would ever consider selling WGBX/44 off in a similar fashion. If I recall, the original Channel 44 license was supposed to be for a commerical operation, but before it could get on the air, the owners donated it to WGBH, and it went on the air in 1967 as a satellite of WGBH. What does everyone think? In today's world of multicast HD signals is there really a reason for WGBX? On the other hand, can the Boston market, with an extremely soft economy, support another commercial TV station? (A "real" independent would be nice, but I do not see it happening anytime soon). Despite the donor $$ shortages, something tells me that WGBH has deep pockets and would hang on to WGBX. Love to hear speculation.

-Mike

It's unlikely that WGBH would ever get rid of WGBX. Up until the early 1990's, Channel 44 was pretty much a second-tier station compared to WGBH/2. However, as of late, 44 is getting its' own identity with other programs not seen on Channel 2. WGBH, in theory, could operate Channel 44 as a commercial independent station. But, would we really want it?

Look at what another PBS station WQED/13 in Pittsburgh has done with their Channel 16 counterpart, WQEX. They put home-shopping on Channel 16. In the late 1980's, WQEX/16 (the last full-powered TV station to go to color in 1985, after 2 years of silence) was operated as a non-commercial independent station ("QEX/16") providing a unique formatted schedule with special theme nights (sci-fi, comedy, classic tv et.al.). It got rave reviews and actually got ratings! In fact, it many times got better ratings than Channel 13! It had a younger audience compared to WQED/13. But, without warning dumped the format on 16 and simply simulcasted Channel 13 for a few years. (A real waste of bandwidth) They tried to sell it but decided to keep it and convert "QEX/16" to a commercial license and simply used the profit from selling Home Shopping on 16 to operate WQED/13. They still own the license.

I personally would love to see WGBX/44 do "theme nights" with some syndicated programming not seen in years. It would be great to see movies every evening, like 38 and 56 used to do. They've got the signal to do it. Who knows? It could give 'GBX another audience, other than doing Channel 2 repeats.

 

[necrat123]

Wouldn't "All shopping, all the time" WMFP 62, be a better candidate to go as an indy?

 

[tripinva]

But, without warning dumped the format on 16 and simply simulcasted Channel 13 for a few years. (A real waste of bandwidth) They tried to sell it but decided to keep it and convert "QEX/16" to a commercial license and simply used the profit from selling Home Shopping on 16 to operate WQED/13. They still own the license.

Not quite accurate from what I recall. I heard they dumped WQEX because they didn't have the funding to support it. Then, they tried to sell the station to local religious broadcaster WPCB, which would have moved itself to channel 16 and their channel 40 to Pax as WKPX, but the FCC ruled that WPCB was not "educational" programming (tell that to Daystar). That's when WQED started the process of trying to convert WQEX to a commercial license, but WPCB got fed up and backed out after the paperwork had been filed.

The FCC went on to approve WQEX's conversion to a commercial license and, rather than simulcast WQED, they stuck home shopping on it. I believe the station was still technically up for sale for a while, but I'm curious now if they might be keeping it for purposes of digital multicasting, if not now then some time in the future. It would certainly make sense.

- Trip