Ion Media "Pulling an NBC"?

[Doug Drown]

I agree with you, Scott.  That said, however, in my opinion it makes as
much sense as the pending CBS-Entercom "merger" in which CBS plans to dump
all the AM O&Os in major cities where they've developed news-and-talk
synergies with their TV counterparts (e.g. WBZ).  The logic of that escapes
me completely.



On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 5:46 PM, Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> wrote:

> No truth to that rumor, from what my sources are telling me.
>
> It makes no sense, really. Disney/ABC hasn't lifted a finger to grow its
> O&O portfolio in more than two decades. Dumping Hearst in Boston would
> imperil one of the closest network/affiliate relationships in the country,
> with ripple effects I'm Hearst ABC markets around the country.
>
> It doesn't make a lick of sense on either end of the "deal."
>
> On May 25, 2017 5:13 PM, "Doug Drown" <ashboy1951@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> James Woods, a fellow-participant in the RadioInsight.com message boards,
>> reported today that anonymous word is going 'round regarding a sale of
>> Ion's WBPX Channel 32 to the ABC Owned Television Stations Group.  One of
>> WBPX's full-power satellites, digital channel 33, is in Concord, NH.  If
>> all this is true, that would almost certainly place WCVB's and WMUR's ABC
>> affiliations in jeopardy.
>>
>> NBC, having firmly established its own station in Boston, won't move over
>> to Channel 5.  One wonders what Hearst would do, especially given that it
>> has cable network joint ownership ties with both NBC and ABC.
>>
>> I have my doubts about this story, but I have to say it's interesting.
>>
>