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WGN changes

I know it is months later but it does seem familar that he has replaced them again for a second time, if my memory serves me correctly he replaced them in 2009 during their mid morning shift after their show was canceled after a 20 year run, which they were given noticed a few weeks earlier.
 
DavidEduardo said:



... with revenues that have declined 30% in the last 7 years.
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Even though Chicago appears to be one of the last markets where AM stations have somewhat decent numbers, I honestly cannot remember a time when their demos were below age 55, whether that was their target or not. How can they hope to sell this station to anyone?
 
sjs1959 said:
Even though Chicago appears to be one of the last markets where AM stations have somewhat decent numbers, I honestly cannot remember a time when their demos were below age 55, whether that was their target or not. How can they hope to sell this station to anyone?
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That will depend on the outcome of the Sinclair-Tribune merger, mainly if the FCC and/or the Department of Justice requires Sinclair to divest WGN-AM.
 
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TheBigA said:
Why would they make such a requirement? They are under the ownership caps.
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I thought Chicago was an overlapping market, but I guess not. And if Sinclair decides to do away with radio, they'll be happy to sell WGN to someone else as well as their Seattle radio stations they acquired from Fisher.
 
I wouldn't be surprised to see WGN getting sold to someone else when Tribune merges with Sinclair.


It will be interesting to see what will happen
 
miketheradioguy said:
I thought Chicago was an overlapping market, but I guess not.
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Still, why would either the FCC or the DOJ require them to sell?

miketheradioguy said:
And if Sinclair decides to do away with radio, they'll be happy to sell WGN to someone else as well as their Seattle radio stations they acquired from Fisher.
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If it was easy to sell radio stations at a good price, then they'd be happy to do it. But given the market is glutted with stations for sale, particularly in Seattle thanks to Entercom-CBS, I don't foresee them being "happy to sell WGN." Unless there's some unknown buyer out there with lots of money for AM stations.
 
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TheBigA said:
Still, why would either the FCC or the DOJ require them to sell?



If it was easy to sell radio stations at a good price, then they'd be happy to do it. But given the market is glutted with stations for sale, particularly in Seattle thanks to Entercom-CBS, I don't foresee them being "happy to sell WGN." Unless there's some unknown buyer out there with lots of money for AM stations.
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Sinclair and Tribune both own two TV stations each in Seattle, so that means there will likely be divestitures in Seattle and it could include the radio stations Sinclair acquired from Fisher. I'm thinking Hubbard may acquire the radio stations from Sinclair, unless they acquire Entercom's divestitures in Seattle, which in that case Bonneville would acquire those stations. Otherwise, Bonneville will likely acquire Entercom's required divestitures.
 
miketheradioguy said:
Sinclair and Tribune both own two TV stations each in Seattle, so that means there will likely be divestitures in Seattle and it could include the radio stations Sinclair acquired from Fisher.
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The FCC rules do not allow a company to own four TVs in a market. They will need to address that in order to get approval. They're under the limit for radio.
 
TheBigA said:
The FCC rules do not allow a company to own four TVs in a market. They will need to address that in order to get approval. They're under the limit for radio.
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I pointed out correctly that there would be divestitures in Seattle, however it would involve the TV stations but not the radio stations. My other point was that Sinclair exited the radio business a long time ago, and I was thinking that Sinclair may divest their radio stations to strengthen their focus on TV station ownership. Likewise, there's a deal happening right now that involves Saga Communications selling their TV stations to Morgan Murphy Media and acquiring Apex's radio stations in the Charleston and Hilton Head Island markets.
 
staggmovie said:
I wouldn't be surprised to see WGN getting sold to someone else when Tribune merges with Sinclair.


It will be interesting to see what will happen
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Sinclair sold the remainder of their radio stations between 1999 and 2000 to Entercom and Emmis because they wanted to focus more on TV station ownership. Therefore, it would make sense for Sinclair to sell off their Seattle radio stations and WGN.
 
miketheradioguy said:
Therefore, it would make sense for Sinclair to sell off their Seattle radio stations and WGN.
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I did a lot of things in 1999 and 2000 that I wouldn't do now. Maybe Sinclair feels the same way.

No question that the marketplace is different now vs then.
 
TheBigA said:
I did a lot of things in 1999 and 2000 that I wouldn't do now. Maybe Sinclair feels the same way.

No question that the marketplace is different now vs then.
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Sinclair has had a strong focus on TV station ownership since the sale of their radio stations in 1999 and 2000 and they still do today. I expect Sinclair will eventually find a buyer for their radio stations.

The stations Sinclair sold to Entercom are in Buffalo, Greenville, Memphis, New Orleans, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and Kansas City. Due to the FCC ownership limits, Entercom had to spin KCMO, KCMO-FM, and KCFX to Susquehanna; these stations are currently owned by Cumulus.

The St. Louis cluster was later sold to Emmis, who then swapped a couple stations with Bonneville (which are currently owned by Hubbard) for KXOS in Los Angeles.
 
miketheradioguy said:
I expect Sinclair will eventually find a buyer for their radio stations.
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You've said that several times in this thread. There aren't a lot of buyers for radio stations right now. The market is glutted.

Sinclair also has a strong focus on conservative politics. Talk radio might be a great outlet, and WGN could be the centerpiece for them.
 
TheBigA said:
You've said that several times in this thread. There aren't a lot of buyers for radio stations right now. The market is glutted.

Sinclair also has a strong focus on conservative politics. Talk radio might be a great outlet, and WGN could be the centerpiece for them.
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I thought of it as a way for Sinclair to reduce their debt load.
 
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