There’s a lot of news surrounding a full-power UHF station serving northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin that’s been on the air since March 1955.
First, the station has been sold, with paperwork signed Wednesday (5/16) filed with the Commission on Tuesday.
Second, the station is no longer available to DISH Network customers in the DMA — thanks to the latest retransmission fee dispute between a broadcast TV station owner and a DBS provider.
In an asset purchase agreement codified May 16 and filed today with the Commission, KBJR Television Inc. is acquiring KDLH-33 in Duluth, Minn.-Superior, Wisc., from SagamoreHill Broadcasting.
The price is $792,577, and effectively gives control of the CW affiliate to Quincy Media, which controls KBJR Television.
The result is a duopoly in Duluth for Quincy, which had been operating KDLH via a Shared Services Agreement in a deal that saw several reworkings. In early 2014, SagamoreHill intended to purchase KDLH from Malara Broadcast Group. Then came Quincy Media acquisition of KBJR-6 from Granite Broadcasting. The plan was for Quincy to continue operating KDLH. But, the sale was scrubbed until July 2015, and CBS programming moved to the DT2 subchannel of KBJR, which took the NBC affiliation. KDLH ended up as the CW affiliate.
Now, with local market subcaps being loosened, Quincy Media wants to own both KDLH and KBJR outright, free of any shared services agreements.
A Multiple Ownership filing with the Form 314 indicates that KDLH is not a Top Four TV station and is indeed fifth based on February 2018 Nielsen ratings data.
SagamoreHill’s legal counsel in this broker-free deal are Jessica Rosenthal and Robert Benton of Wiley Rein LLP.
DISH DUMPS KDLH
While KDLH’s ownership change will certainly attract the attention of locals, the CW affiliate is already being talked about by those in Duluth and Superior who are DISH subscribers.
They can no longer view the station, as of Tuesday morning.
In a statement appearing on the KBJR website, the station reported that “all DISH customers will no longer be able to see the CW.”
KBJR later explained that KDLH’s owner and DISH “worked throughout the day on Monday in order to reach an agreement before the deadline at the end of the business day.”
No retransmission fee agreement was finalized, and by law DISH pulled KDLH from its channel lineup in the Duluth DMA. But, fee hikes apparently aren’t what is holding up a new deal.
SagamoreHill commented on the matter, saying, “Our primary issue with DISH is the language of the contract, not fees. We have not had any meaningful discussions on fees. We are still very much committed to working out an agreement with DISH. This is the last agreement in the three-year cycle for retransmission consent agreements.”
SagamoreHill adds that it has reached retrans agreements with “over 40 other video providers,” including DirecTV and MVPDs Charter Communications, Mediacom, WOW, Suddenlink, Grande, Cable One, COX and Comcast.
“SagamoreHill has not been off the air with any provider in nine years,” it said.
KBJR noted that locals who wish to see the season finale of The Flash, as well as other prime-time programming, can go to The CW website — and via KDLH’s over-the-air signal.
