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21st Century Fox is in talks with Ion Media Networks for Fox Affiliation deal

I don't see this happening. More likely is that Sinclair re-ups with FOX and some of the spin-offs in the Sinclair/Tribune deal go directly to FOX (and become O&O's).
 
And I think 14 Tribune Fox stations will be divested I don't see Fox17 losing Fox. As I said in the Sinclair and Tribune merger that Fox should only use WZPX as last resort I think Nexstar WOTV or TEGNA WZZM both ABC could flip and become sole Fox station better than ABC split like now. I think Sinclair & Fox re-ups just a threat that may happen or may not happen I'm going with the latter thou.
 
xmtrland said:
Expect and If True!!! Those are Gambling words. Replace the names with NFL teams and you have a Fantasy league. No deals have been closed or executed. I just see alot of people expressing what may happen and how the three media deals might affect each other. It's tough to track which Theory of thought has the most support.

Who gets to broadcast to the biggest national population? What will Fox's participation be? Will Fox and Ion join forces. Who will sit on the broadcast version of the Iron Throne (made up of old analog and digital antennas and towers). When all the dust settles will it be settled?
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Wow the last paragraph sounds like the hype surrounding an action movie trailer.
 
RadioPatrol said:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFOX-TV

Well there's a KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas and its owned by Sinclair. Umm the only situation I see for this Sinclair owned station is for KFOX to go to Ion.
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Yep, and maybe swap call letters and affiliation with KSCE-TV (but I don't know, because they're religious), or (I don't know if this might happen) Fox can affiliate with KTFN-TV on 65.1 and move the KFOX call letters there and UniMas would be on KINT-TV on 26.2 (it's already there, anyways). Otherwise, who knows if KTTV in Los Angeles will get those call letters?
 
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-feud-with-sinclair-boils-over-with-ion-talks

Here is an Update

The three-decade relationship between Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc. and David Smith’s Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. was once so fraught that the companies would only communicate by fax through lawyers, according to a Variety report from 1996.

Now, tensions between the two TV companies are escalating again. Concerned about Sinclair’s control over stations affiliated with Fox, Murdoch, 86, is seeking to outflank the broadcasting partner it relies on so much to reach viewers in much of the U.S.

Sinclair owns 54 Fox affiliates -- stations like Pittsburgh’s WPGH and Oklahoma City’s KOKH that carry local news and weather segments along with Fox shows such as “The Simpsons” and football games. Cable and satellite companies pay Sinclair for the rights to distribute those stations to their customers, and Sinclair splits those fees with Fox.


Sinclair’s $3.9 billion deal to acquire Tribune Media Co., while still awaiting regulatory approval, would give the local broadcaster 14 more Fox stations, strengthening its hand in negotiations over how to split the distributor fees.

That vexes Fox so much that it tried unsuccessfully to outbid Sinclair for Tribune. Now Fox is threatening to yank its affiliation from Sinclair altogether and switch to independent broadcaster Ion Media Networks Inc., as Bloomberg reported this week.

Affiliation changes rarely happen in the industry, given the cost. Fox stations are set to collect $1.8 billion in fees from distributors in 2016, making them significantly more profitable than independent stations, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Click to read an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence on Fox’s Ion talks.

The potential breakup of the partners caused Sinclair shares to fall 8.6 percent Thursday after Bloomberg’s report on Fox’s early-stage talks for a joint venture with Ion. Tribune shares fell 3.6 percent that day.

While Sinclair produces conservative commentary for its stations’ news broadcasts, creating a budding rivalry with Fox News, the companies’ dispute is related to affiliations and not to competition for viewers, people familiar with the matter said.
Click to expand...
 
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-feud-with-sinclair-boils-over-with-ion-talks

Here is an Update

The three-decade relationship between Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc. and David Smith’s Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. was once so fraught that the companies would only communicate by fax through lawyers, according to a Variety report from 1996.

Now, tensions between the two TV companies are escalating again. Concerned about Sinclair’s control over stations affiliated with Fox, Murdoch, 86, is seeking to outflank the broadcasting partner it relies on so much to reach viewers in much of the U.S.

Sinclair owns 54 Fox affiliates -- stations like Pittsburgh’s WPGH and Oklahoma City’s KOKH that carry local news and weather segments along with Fox shows such as “The Simpsons” and football games. Cable and satellite companies pay Sinclair for the rights to distribute those stations to their customers, and Sinclair splits those fees with Fox.


Sinclair’s $3.9 billion deal to acquire Tribune Media Co., while still awaiting regulatory approval, would give the local broadcaster 14 more Fox stations, strengthening its hand in negotiations over how to split the distributor fees.

That vexes Fox so much that it tried unsuccessfully to outbid Sinclair for Tribune. Now Fox is threatening to yank its affiliation from Sinclair altogether and switch to independent broadcaster Ion Media Networks Inc., as Bloomberg reported this week.

Affiliation changes rarely happen in the industry, given the cost. Fox stations are set to collect $1.8 billion in fees from distributors in 2016, making them significantly more profitable than independent stations, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Click to read an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence on Fox’s Ion talks.

The potential breakup of the partners caused Sinclair shares to fall 8.6 percent Thursday after Bloomberg’s report on Fox’s early-stage talks for a joint venture with Ion. Tribune shares fell 3.6 percent that day.

While Sinclair produces conservative commentary for its stations’ news broadcasts, creating a budding rivalry with Fox News, the companies’ dispute is related to affiliations and not to competition for viewers, people familiar with the matter said.
Click to expand...
 
What about Hartford/New Haven?

Tribune owns WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61 of Hartford. They operate WCCT-TV (CW) channel 20 of Waterbury. Our ION affiliate is WHPX-TV channel 26 of New London, a good 50 miles away from Hartford.

What about Portland/Poland Spring?

Sinclair owns WGME-TV (CBS) channel 13 of Portland. They produce the 10 PM news which airs on WPFO-TV (FOX) channel 23 of Waterville. Their market does not have an over-the-air ION affiliate. Oddly, I think channel 23 started out as WMPX-TV, an early PAX affiliate!
 
And another prediction,

if that Ion and Fox deal falls through,
then...

Portland, ME: Since Portland, ME doesn't have an Ion station, Fox might have to move back to WPXT, resulting in that station airing Fox programming for the first time since 2001, and WPFO would most likely get The CW programming.
 
I just don't see it happening. They would have to spend millions in staffing the Ion stations up as they are currently nothing but a cable channel that happens to have a broadcast transmitter. The staff at most Ion stations may only consist of an office manager, to answer the phone, and enough engineers to make sure the station is on the air. They would need to hire a sales department, master control, promotions, production and unless they can outsource the news they would need to hire staff for a news department. In the end, this is just a money grab. Fox will get more retrans money from Sinclair, who will hold up the cable/satellite companies the next time they negotiate a retransmission consent agreement for more money. In turn, the video provider will pass these costs on to the customer. And what would they do in markets with no over the air Ion station? Would Rupert Murdoch be ok with being on a .2 subchannel in a top 50 market?
 
If anything, this is a negotiation ploy by Fox to try to get Sinclair to pay more as an affiliate.
 
Sounds like the opposition is growing by leaps and bounds. This merger is going end in disaster and I don't blame the groups who are opposed to this deal.
 
only1moore said:
Sounds like the opposition is growing by leaps and bounds. This merger is going end in disaster and I don't blame the groups who are opposed to this deal.
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The deal will be approved no matter how many groups are opposed to the deal in early 2018 by FCC & DOJ just my opinion all I want is Fox17 to be divested by Sinclair is all and no sidecars.
 
RadioPatrol said:
http://deadline.com/2017/08/critics...oliticize-local-news-raise-prices-1202143929/

Update the list on the Anti-Sinclair deal side has risen besides Fox, now Dish and T-mobile are included. Also oddly enough other conservative like Newsmax has been named to be on the Anti-Sinclair deal side.

Note how it affects WGN America is yet to be determined.
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That's probably based on fears of competition by Newsmax, and has nothing to do with shared political ideology. Besides, the Fox (entertainment) network has nothing to do with Fox News, in terms of content. If anything, Fox is a bit more daring in its programming choices than the other Big 3.
 
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