So, Fox's parent company is buying the company that owns KTVX-Ch. 4. What will that mean to local viewers?
Well, in terms of what we see on Ch. 4 and Fox-owned KSTU-Ch. 13, probably not much. But, oddly enough, it could mean some big changes at KJZZ-Ch. 14 and smaller changes at KUTV-Ch. 2.
Big TV deals are so convoluted.
Ch. 4 is part of the 10-station Chris-Craft group that will go to News Corp. (Fox's parent company) should the $5.35 billion acquisition be approved by various governmental entities — and that's not necessarily a sure thing, according to early rumblings from the Federal Communications Commission. But, while the FCC allows ownership of two stations in the same market under some circumstances, its regulations prohibit such cross-ownership of these two stations. (You can't own two of the top four stations in a market.)
The mega-deal will also put Fox in violation of the rule that allows one company to own stations that reach no more than 35 percent of the nation's viewers. (It would put Fox at 40.5 percent.) While there's some hope that rule may be changed or waived — Viacom, which owns CBS, is currently in violation of it as well — there's little or no chance that a waiver would allow cross-ownership of Ch. 4 and Ch. 13 in Salt Lake City.
It's theoretically possible that Fox could shift its affiliation from Ch. 13 to Ch. 4 and then sell Ch. 13, but that's highly unlikely. Affiliation switches almost invariably hurt the ratings of the stations making the changes, and Fox has spent a lot of time building Ch. 13 into its Utah outlet. And there are plenty of buyers out there who would love to get their hands on an ABC affiliate like KTVX. (And Fox could also use the station in some sort of trade for a station or stations in other parts of the country.)
In other words, when all this is over, Ch. 13 will probably still be the local Fox station and Ch. 4 will probably still be the local ABC station. And programming won't be much affected.
But there's more to this than just what happens to Ch. 4 and Ch. 13:
KJZZ-Ch. 14 could find itself without a network affiliation — Fox's acquisition of Chris-Craft could mean the end of UPN, which was supposed to become the Paramount Network in January.
United/Chris-Craft was originally a 50-50 partner with Viacom in UPN, but Viacom forced Chris-Craft to sell it its half (for $5 million) of the money-losing network (more than $800 million in red ink since 1995) in a business maneuver earlier this year. But eight of the 10 Chris-Craft stations are UPN affiliates, including the stations in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
If Fox has no interest in keeping its new Chris-Craft stations affiliated with a network belonging to its rival, Viacom could well pull the plug on UPN — leaving Ch. 14 suddenly scrambling to replace the 10 hours of prime-time programming (Monday-Friday) and the afternoon kids block the network provides.
(There is one wild rumor that Fox might demand a half-interest in UPN to keep it afloat, which would make it a partner with rival Viacom in the network. That, however, seems unlikely.)
KUTV-Ch. 2 could suddenly find itself as the home of "WWF Smackdown." Viacom just signed a big deal with World Wrestling Federation that kept "Smackdown" on UPN and moved the various high-rated cable wrestling shows to Viacom-owned TNN.
If Viacom pulls the plug on UPN, it would have to turn to the only other network it owns — CBS — in order to continue providing a broadcast outlet for the WWF.
So much for the so-called "Tiffany Network."
As to how this would affect the staff at Ch. 4, well, there's both bad news and good news there.
On the one hand, uncertainty is never a good thing. And this is like waiting for the other shoe to drop while waiting to find out who, ultimately, ends up owning the station and signing the paychecks.
On the other hand, News Corp. is paying a huge premium for Chris-Craft. (Too much, according to many Wall Street analysts and Viacom, which dropped out of the bidding last week because the price was too high.)
Many KTVX employees own Chris-Craft stock, which has been part of their financial package for years. News Corp. has offered $85 a share for Chris-Craft — a whopping 37 percent more than the stock was worth at the end of trading last week. So Ch. 4 staffers stand to make some big bucks. (And the stock rose 26 percent on Monday after the deal was announced.)
In the end, this may be good news for the folks at KUWB-Ch. 30, KUPX-Ch. 16 and, more specifically, their owners. The demise of UPN would leave the WB as the undisputed No. 5 network in a marketplace where there was still some question as to whether six networks could survive.
(Ch. 30 is owned by ACME, which is controlled by the WB's chieftain, Jamie Kellner.)
If there is room for a sixth network, Pax would be it. Ch. 16 is owned by Paxson Communications, which owns the Pax Network. (Although Paxson sold a third of the company to NBC earlier this year.)
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com