The Atlanta-based station group has agreed to buy independent KSNB Lincoln-Hastings for $1.3 million with the intention of operating it in tandem with CBS affiliate KOLN. But first it must convince the FCC it deserves a waiver of the duopoly rules.
Gray Television is doubling up in the Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, Neb. (DMA 105), market by buying struggling independent KSNB to go alongside CBS affiliate KOLN — if it gets the blessing of the FCC.
Gray has agreed to pay Colins Broadcasting $1,250,000 for KSNB, according to an FCC filing seeking approval of the deal. Colins is headed by Thomas Mitts, president.
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KSNB has been on the rocks since Pappas Telecasting terminated its time brokerage agreement with the station in December 2009.
Colins’ efforts to operate the stations as a stand-alone have been fruitless. According to the filing, the station had no revenue in 2011 and in the first 10 months of 2012, losing $94,919 and $177,065 in those periods, respectively.
Gray is asking the FCC for a “failing station” waiver of duopoly rules banning ownership of two TV stations in markets with fewer than nine different stations ownership.
Gray said that the deal meets all four criteria for the waiver:
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- KSNB has less than a 4% market share.
- The station has lost money for three straight years.
- The deal would produce tangible public benefits.
- The in-market buyer was the only reasonable that could be found.
In arguing that the deal would have public benefits, Gray is promising to spend “considerable sums” so that the station could broadcast news and other local programming. “In fact … Gray intends to broadcast a live, 30-minute, daily newscast on KSNB-TV in HD format. This newscast will focus in particular on Superior and other communities to the west of Lincoln in the geographically expansive television market.”
Under its management, Gray also said, KSNB would broadcast educational children’s programming on weekdays and “long-form programming such as the broadcast of local college sports games featuring local schools including Doane College, Crete; Concordia College, Seward; Hastings College, Hastings; Nebraska Wesleyan, Lincoln; and, potentially, local high schools.”
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But what excuse to you have for the poor spelling, sentence structure and missing words?
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par·a·graph
NOUN:
A distinct division of written or printed matter that begins on a new, usually indented line, consists of one or more sentences, and typically deals with a single thought or topic or quotes one speaker’s continuous words.
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OK – so the site takes away line returns. My bad.
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If anyone could make that TV station into an operation that was profitable to ownership and also SERVED the public in the immediate geographical area… it would be the crew at 10-11.
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The crew over at NTV aka KHGI/KWNB under Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting ownership with trustee Lee Shubert won’t even survive within 5 years like I feared at all due to the continuing bankruptcy and financial mess and turmoil since May 2008.
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For everyone is wondering about NTV/KHGI who operated KSNB till 2009 I got the facts right here.
NTV had attempts to move to inside Kearney. The story is found at:
http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/ntv-wants-to-sell-its-property-not-its-station-and/article_8fc0b1f4-a478-11e0-9777-001cc4c002e0.html
My own intake on NTV story of moving to inside Kearney:
NTV would’ve consider moving it’s operations from Axtell to Kearney, but I think it likely didn’t panned out at all because of the bankruptcy and financial mess within the Pappas organization despite being able to move the Grand Island new bureau into the popular Conestoga Mall. I heard an TV ad meaning NTV wants to move into it’s start of the art facilities in Kearney. I feel the ad did made me fearful about NTV’s future and it’s very likely confusing to NTV viewers on TV. I feel NTV plans to move into it’s new studios inside Kearney is likely permanently cancelled and called off due to the difficulties in finding the best location for the facilities and finding a buyer for NTV’s current facilities near Axtell.
December 2011, Pappas planned to having his assets with NTV KHGI and KFXL going into a liquidating trust fund under Harry Pappas:
http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/kvvv-heads-to-liquidation-trust/
Unfortunately, Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting failed to make the payment and to reinvest the assets within Harry Pappas under his liquidating trust fund and It does meant that NTV and KFXL is actually under the receivership of trustee Lee Shubert.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lee-shubert/3/9b2/625
http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/kmph%20lost%20to%20recieivers.html
Conclusion:
I don’t think NTV and KFXL will be able to do all local productions in HDTV due to the stations limited ability at their facilities in Axtell, Nebraska
NTV could never be able to compete with 10/11 in the Tri-Cities when it comes to having better news sets. I have to agree that NTV’s news set since 2000 is getting tiring.
I”ll find that NTV/KHGI and KFXL FOX Nebraska is at risk of going off the air, going out of business and being force to suspend all total operations if the economy falters and even 5 years.
December 2011, Pappas planned to having his assets with NTV KHGI and KFXL going into a liquidating trust fund under Harry Pappas:
http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/kvvv-heads-to-liquidation-trust/
Unfortunately, Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting failed to make the payment and to reinvest the assets within Harry Pappas under his liquidating trust fund and It does meant that NTV and KFXL is actually under the receivership of trustee Lee Shubert.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lee-shubert/3/9b2/625
http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/kmph%20lost%20to%20recieivers.html
December 2011, Pappas planned to having his assets with NTV KHGI and KFXL going into a liquidating trust fund under Harry Pappas:
http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/kvvv-heads-to-liquidation-trust/
Unfortunately, Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting failed to make the payment and to reinvest the assets within Harry Pappas under his liquidating trust fund and It does meant that NTV and KFXL is actually under the receivership of trustee Lee Shubert.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lee-shubert/3/9b2/625
http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/kmph%20lost%20to%20recieivers.html
Maybe Journal ought to buy NTV’s KHGI and KWNB ABC channels and KFXL FOX Nebraska plus the idea of putting KSNB back on the air with CW Plus programming maybe with RTV or the new The Nashville Network to fill the stations digital space. Also buy Milwaukee’s WIWN to create a duopoly with WTMJ plus swaps RF frequency with the FamilyNet station over there in Milwaukee and WIWN would change from airing WeatherNation programming to Univision and Telefutura programming on different subchannels plus change calls completely. Journal would not have the difficulties and problems with buying the stations at all and must be sold due to Harry Pappas and Pappas Telecasting bankruptcy and financial mess and turmoil since May 2008. Hearst could buy KCWI to create duopoly with KCCI and Sinclair buys KDMI programming assets with MYNET and ThisTV progamming to get aired on KDSM DT2 channel with KDMI RF channel getting reassigned to another station in another market in the future as well.
KLKN would also have been perfect for wanting to get KSNB back on the air as well as getting the transmitter in the Superior area from Pappas. KLKN owner and parent could make KSNB a real true satellite of KLKN and bring ABC service back to all the areas in Kansas and Nebraska in which viewers could not watch ABC over the air after KLKN sign on from Lincoln and KSNB went from a satellite of KHGI to satellite of KTVG and later KFXL.
Maybe Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting with trustee Lee Shubert ought to swap KFXL with permit to move to RF 15 with transmitting from it’s tower inside Lincoln or transmit from KOLN 10 tower and get new callsign to Gray for KSNB with transmitting on RF 4 from a tower near York and gets KSNB callsign and use KSNB with RF 4 to transmit KFXL FOX Nebraska programming faster while Gray used KFXL with permit to move to RF 15 to air as an independent station or be affiliated with CW Plus or with any diginet network.