Wow. I didn’t think that possible. I really didn’t think that WBT and WBTV could be sold off to different owners given how tightly wound together the stations have been over the years.
I’ll have to do more research on the buyers to have anything else to add, but just let me say that those assuming no changes in either operation might be getting ahead of themselves. This biz runs on results, not assumptions.
Update: After looking at Greater Media Inc.’s holdings and stations I see that there is nothing in its stable quite like WBT. The closest thing is WTKK in Boston. But that only has four local shows a day, not the five that WBT pumps out. WTKK rolls with Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham instead of Rush Limbaugh. Make of that what you will, I know nothing about the cross-market economics — if any — involved.
Update II: What I can immediately say about Raycom buying WBTV is that Charlotte instantly gets an angle for putting the ACC football championship game in Bank of America stadium. Raycom runs Charlotte’s bowl game already and has long handled ACC telecasts for football and basketball. Those telecasts have looked a little ragged in recent years without any HD offerings, except for the ACC hoops tourney. With the Big Ten Network setting the standard with tons of HD programming, Raycom is falling behind. Don’t know if or how WBTV would help address that tech gap.
