The Deal is Done....

KFSM/Channel 5/Fort Smith-Fayetteville officially has a new owner.  Tribune Company has been approved to purchase Local TV Holdings, LLC.  “This is a historic day for Tribune and Local TV,” said Peter Liguori, Tribune’s President and Chief Executive Officer.  “Combining these two great media companies will deliver tremendous benefits for our viewers, advertisers, and most important, the communities we serve.  This is a transformational acquisition for Tribune, providing us with significant scale to drive our business objectives and create substantial shareholder value.”

According to the press release Tribune now owns 39 television stations across the country...including KFSM.

One Shreveport Station Hires a New Morning Anchor....

This from the tip box:

Carly Flynn Morgan has been hired as the new morning anchor at KTBS, replacing Chrissie Coile.  Morgan was anchor/producer of the 10pm news at FOX61 in Chattanooga, TN.  

Morgan confirms the tip on her face book page.

 

Former Shreveport Weekend Anchor Hired in Monroe

I am a little late on this one but...former KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport weekend anchor Judy Wagoner is on the air full-time at KTVE-10 in Monroe, LA.  Wagoner was recently hired as the co-anchor of the station's 5pm, 6pm and 10pm newscasts.  In 2011 Wagoner was hired as the weekend anchor at KTBS. 

Shreveport Station Repaints the Screen

KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport is now using a new graphics package.  Below is a screenshot:

Anchors Away in Shreveport

KTAL/Channel 6/Shreveport morning anchor Leslie Draffin is leaving the station.   Here's what she posted on facebook:

 
UPDATE: Her future plans are now official:

Goodbye Time in Northwest Arkansas

This from the tip box:

What's up with Derek Burleson?  Apparently, today (12/12) was his last day at 40-29 and he's staying in the area.  But, there was a cake and a tribute video, so he must not be moving to a competitor

Shreveport Anchor Calls It Quits

KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport Morning anchor Chrissi Coile is calling it quits:

Sinclair/Allbritton Deal Under Scrutiny

Seems the FCC is really looking at the Sinclair buyout of Allbritton really carefully.  At issue are the stations in the Charleston, S.C., Birmingham, Ala., and Harrisburg, Pa.markets and agency owner rules.  TV NewsCheck reports:

"Under the deals at issue, Sinclair is proposing to take over the Allbritton ABC affiliates in those markets, spin off one of its existing stations in the markets to sidecar companies, in transactions that would give Sinclair some control over at least some operations of multiple TV stations in each market.

In a letter Friday to Sinclair, however, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman said the way the deals were structured, Sinclair would lose grandfathered protections that it previously had that allow it to operate more than one TV station in each market through local marketing agreements. LMAs, which essentially allowed broadcasters to operate multiple stations in a market completely, are no longer legal.

“In three of the markets — Charleston, Birmingham and Harrisburg — the proposed transactions would result in the elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules,” Kreisman said in her letter.

Sinclair is in the process of purchasing all the Allbritton broadcasting stations, including KATV in Little Rock.

NWA GM Headed to Iowa

TV Spy reports Hearst owned KHBS/KHOG General Manager Brian Sather is being moved to head Hearst's CBS affiliate,KCCI/Des Moines, Iowa.  Sather has been with with KHBS/KHOG since 2010.