Station Buy Give CBS Duopoly In NY Market

CBS Television Stations stated today it has inked an offer to get independent NY station WLNY-TV, giving CBS two stations within the nation’s biggest media market. Once the deal qualifies, it'll mark the tenth duopoly in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas for CBS, joining La, Philadelphia, Dallas, Bay Area, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Sacramento and Pittsburgh. The combined talents of CBS 2 and WLNY-TV can give us a good platform for serving the whole NY area,” CBS Tv Producers leader Peter Dunn stated within the release announcing the offer. “Our plans for that station include adding people and assets to fuel a substantial growth of local news programming well past the nightly half-hour that presently airs.” WLNY is shipped within the NY-Nj-Connecticut tri-condition area as well as on New York, where an broadened news bureau is anticipated. The station produced $3.8M in revenue this past year, a small amount within the huge market, based on research firm BIA/Kelsey. But Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker calls the agreement “a wise, tuck-in acquisition which should provide some significant upside possibilities” for CBS.Duopolies typically generate more profit than stand-alone stations, she states, and WLNY provides extensive room to develop — particularly if CBS causes it to be a person in local news.