Will history repeat itself? (Network switch)

[JackAttack FM]

Yeah but even in 1986 when 7 was sold it was grossly underperforming the other 4 circle 7’s despite being the 5th largest market... Detroit just isn’t a money maker...

Where does this come from... what's the source.

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Yeah but even in 1986 when 7 was sold it was grossly underperforming the other 4 circle 7’s despite being the 5th largest market... Detroit just isn’t a money maker...

Where does this come from... what's the source.

Let’s modify this a bit... dug for a while and found this article from the LA Times, 7/27/85:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latime ... f_amp=true

Wall Street analysts Friday described the Scripps-Howard sale as one that could benefit both parties.

“There were a lot of guesses on the street about what Detroit would go for, and this is in line,” said Susan Watson, an analyst with the New York brokerage firm of Morgan Stanley. “The price is in line with the recent prices for television stations.”

Estimating that the Detroit station alone sold for about $200 million, ABC would be getting about 13.3 times the station’s 1984 cash flow of $15 million, analysts said.

Detroit station WXYZ-TV is the No. 2-rated station in Detroit as of May, according to figures from Arbitron Ratings, although the spread between Nos. 1 and 3 is narrow.

The operating profit margin at WXYZ-TV is “well below the industry average,” said Peter Appert, an analyst with the New York brokerage firm of C. J. Lawrence.

“There is potential to improve the profitability of the station,” Appert said, which is one reason that Scripps-Howard presumably was prepared to pay a relatively high price for a station in Detroit.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of 7’s financial condition at the time...

[Deleted User 7620]

WXYZ is one of the better ABC affiliates in the country. At least it used to be. I don’t know what it is now.

[MisterT]

WXYZ is a complete joke now compared to what the station used to be.

After losing the Oprah lead-in they greatly benefited from for years they never recovered in my opinion. Management amplified the station's demise by considerably lowering standards and cheapening almost every element of their product during and after the recession. Their set and graphics have been since around 2009.

It really is a shame because it was a top-notch station before. WDIV and WXYZ used to be legitimate competitors and now WJBK and WXYZ are competing for second place in the ratings and WDIV is basically untouchable. It is sad because there are some great new and long-time talent still at WXYZ, but their work is diminished by the overwhelming amount of unwatchable fluff and other nonsense to fill time since management is too cheap to pay for real journalism.

If you watch any clips on Youtube of WXYZ from approx 2001-2009 you will see the last era that the station was a real full-fledged powerhouse station that it used to be regarded as. The difference from then to now is very stark in my opinion.

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WXYZ is a complete joke now compared to what the station used to be.

After losing the Oprah lead-in they greatly benefited from for years they never recovered in my opinion. Management amplified the station's demise by considerably lowering standards and cheapening almost every element of their product during and after the recession. Their set and graphics have been since around 2009.

It really is a shame because it was a top-notch station before. WDIV and WXYZ used to be legitimate competitors and now WJBK and WXYZ are competing for second place in the ratings and WDIV is basically untouchable. It is sad because there are some great new and long-time talent still at WXYZ, but their work is diminished by the overwhelming amount of unwatchable fluff and other nonsense to fill time since management is too cheap to pay for real journalism.

If you watch any clips on Youtube of WXYZ from approx 2001-2009 you will see the last era that the station was a full-force powerhouse station that it used to be regarded as. The difference from then to now is very stark in my opinion.

From 2001-2009 it was a top 5 level ABC station presentation wise...