WNEW-TV Report: Rupert Murdoch Buys Metromedia (1985)

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A segment from WNEW's Ten O'Clock News on the purchase of then-station owner Metromedia by Rupert Murdoch. The Metromedia stations would form the basis for the Fox television network.
Posted for educational and historical purposes only. All material is under the copyright of their original holders. No copyright infringement is intended.

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19 май 2017

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Комментарии : 59

@NewGirlNY_FL 6 лет назад

One of the worst days in American Broadcast history.

@errolthomas9426 5 лет назад

I agree

@joerubi6249 Год назад

At that point, the once beloved Channel 5 died when Murdoch acquired it!

@jjinnyc75 Год назад

Wow how historic!!! Didn't John Kluge become the richest man in America after this transaction? Crazy. I miss Metromedia. The logo is still on the doors over by 205 East 67th St to this day. 215 I mean

@treadman28 7 лет назад

Kluge wound up bailing out Orion Pictures in 1986 when they started having financial problems castigated in the wake of the 1983 breakup with Warner Bros. and for a time, the studio prospered. Then came the slate of box office bombs in 1989 that sank Orion, never to fully recover..

@raymondgallardo576 6 лет назад

Jozar Solis You said it, fellow pop culture enthusiast!

@christopherdonaldson7484 4 года назад

Despite this, Orion had four Best Picture Oscars: "Amadeus," "Platoon," "Dances With Wolves" and yes, the last film to win the "Big Five," "The Silence of the Lambs"

@umarbentley4953 3 года назад

@@christopherdonaldson7484 They definitely wasn't a b grade run of the mill studio and film company, they were a major conglomerate who made tons of box office smashes.

@wmbrown6 7 лет назад

This may explain why, between then and the total handover to Fox (and change in calls to WNYW) in 1986, 'Metromedia' disappeared from station ID's, which in that time space simply indicated 'WNEW-TV New York'.

@DisneyStudioNetwork 6 лет назад

This is how Murdoch moved to America to buy the 20th Century Fox studio and later started the Fox Network through the Metromedia purchase

@gidzmobug2323 4 года назад

20th Century Fox is now owned by Disney. Murdoch still owns the TV stations. Wonder why he offloaded the Boston station, though?

@RolloSmokes Год назад

@@gidzmobug2323When Metromedia bought WCVB in 1982, they had to sell a station they owned in Kansas City in order to stay within FCC limits on the number of TV stations they could own (5 VHF stations). The KC station was sold to Hearst. Metromedia promised Hearst that if WCVB went on the block, Hearst would be given first crack at it (right of first refusal).

@jesselockhart1230 7 лет назад

There was a time when Kluge wanted to make his own national network and had the local markets to do so. That venture would eventually be left to Fox

@Attmay 2 года назад

And some of those long-standing stations had been Dumont network affiliates in the first place.

@rockvilleraven Год назад

@@Attmay Som😢people think Fox is just DuMont rising from the ashes, but with deeper pockets this time.

@dquinn8344 Год назад

This was a sad day in NYC Legacy Entertainment...The sale of Metromedia 5 WNEW changed NYC forever...

@JimmySand9 7 лет назад

I must wonder why Murdoch didn't keep WCVB. Dumping ABC and turning it into one of the initial Fox O&Os would have made a huge statement out of the gate. Maybe he wanted to avoid the drama.

@johnnysama 7 лет назад

Had Murdoch kept WCVB, that would've meant then-WXNE would have ended up with the ABC affiliation.

@JimmySand9 7 лет назад

Or WLVI, as they already had a news operation going and their owner also owned one of ABC's strongest affiliates (in Denver). According to Wikipedia, WCVB was technically purchased by Murdoch along with the rest of Metromedia; Hearst only had right of first refusal if Murdoch wanted to sell WCVB (or, presumably, any of the other MM stations). Fortunately for Hearst, he did want to sell.

@JimmySand9 7 лет назад

I doubt Murdoch gave two cares about ABC losing a strong affiliate. There was some other reason; perhaps selling WCVB to Hearst was to only way he could afford the rest of Metromedia.

@TimothyMischka 7 лет назад

The whole thing was linked to when Metromedia sold Hearst KMBC in Kansas City in 1983- Hearst jumped on getting WCVB, and Murdoch didn't really see any reason not to sell; it also prevented him from going over the FCC's them-limit of five VHF stations (if he kept WCVB, he would've been over that cap).

@RustyMuck 4 года назад

It helped that WXNE 25 was on the block at the same time. Easier to sell off WCVB for a fortune and to build an O&O from the ground up, even with stiff competition from WLVI and WSBK.

@johnnysama 7 лет назад

This must be from early May 1985; around this time, the small Capital Cities Communications group announced its intent to buy the ABC network; that move came as major surprise to the industry as Capital Cities was only 1/4th the size of ABC then (the sale was consummated at the start of 1986).

@johnnysama 7 лет назад

Also: By the end of 1985, NBC's then-parent company, RCA, was bought by General Electric.

@SkeeterSanders 6 лет назад

It was weird for GE to buy RCA, for way back in the 1920s, RCA owned GE!

@johnfenner5550 3 года назад

Prior to the Cap Cities/ABC deal, I would never have pictured WPVI as an ABC O&O station, just as an affiliate. Now, I can't picture WPVI as not being owned by the network.

@gidzmobug2323 3 месяца назад

As I remember, Capacities eventually went bankrupt and was purchased by Cumulus Media.

@americangiant1003 7 лет назад

Wow. a much younger Rupert Murdoch. Who would know this landmark would change US (and for that matter TV around the world)forever. By 1987 this deal would launch and create America's first new major network since Dumont folded in the 1950's. $2 Billion (still alot of money today) but actually probably cheaper in 1985 dollars to build a new network from the start. Then than to buy one of The O and O stations of either ABC, NBC or CBS.

@gidzmobug2323 6 лет назад

AmericanGiant100 Why did Murdoch not keep the Boston station?

@christopherdonaldson7484 4 года назад

DuMont in its early days of television had "Cavalcade of Stars" and "Captain Video" as its programs. Then comes John Kluge, and then Rupert Murdoch.

@krisstarring 5 месяцев назад

ABC would have had a fit if WCVB 5 was pulled the affiliation. So instead, Channel 5 Boston was sold and Fox bought WXNE 25 (later WFXT for Fox Television) from the Christian Broadcasting Network to secure an O&O in the Boston market. Fox was an upstart network and was in no place to try to demand one of the top Big 3 affiliates to flip at that point. @@gidzmobug2323

@AdmiralBonetoPick 4 года назад

Wow, back when TV newsmen provided actual information in an accurate, detailed and calm way. Compare that to the hysterical chatter we get for a few seconds between commercial breaks these days.

@michaeldemenchuk6988 2 года назад

Murdoch had a lot to do with why that changed, ironically.

@rockoorbe2002 2 года назад

"celular radio" We've come a long way

@davidfraher1292 7 лет назад

now stations like wpix wgn and ktla is going though the same thing with sincliar buys tribune

@davidrileynyc5702 3 года назад

RIP the He-man and the Masters of the Universe animated series

@ScoopNemeth 6 лет назад

When Rupert Murdoch bought Metromedia, and made its stations FOX-owned stations, their stations were originally 5 stations. But that all changed in 1994, when FOX bought New World stations, which were affiliated with other networks (ABC, CBS and NBC). The stations switch from NBC to FOX: WDAF and WALA. From ABC to FOX: WBRC and KTVI. From CBS to FOX: KSAZ, KDFW, WTVT and WJW. The FOX O&O stations expanded in 1994-96. That is, after former New World CBS, ABC and NBC affiliates became FOX O&Os.

@30tvlocal 7 лет назад

This video is from May 4, 1985. Here's an article published on The New York Times: www.nytimes.com/1985/05/05/nyregion/metromedia-sells-1-station-and-talks-to-murdoch.html

@Attmay 3 года назад

Whoever would have thought Murdoch would turn out to be the lesser of two evils between him and Disney?

@victoruribe2465 Год назад

Metromedia/Kluge + 20th Century Fox/Murdoch = Fox Broadcasting Company.

@Kevin-xv9pm 3 года назад

This is really the best news story I've ever witnessed. This "not only" did help launched the Fox TV Network, but organize the "Fox Television Stations" group as a whole.

@ScoopNemeth 2 года назад

KMBC in Kansas City is ALSO an ABC affiliate that was ALSO owned by Metromedia; now owned by Hearst. WCVB Boston isn't the only one.

@christopherdonaldson7484 4 года назад

This is how Fox transformed how people watch the NFL and sports at large. Here is the article commemorating when Fox bought the NFC package from CBS in an article from 2018, 25 years after the major deal in television history. www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/12/13/18137938/nfl-fox-deal-rupert-murdoch-1993-john-madden-terry-bradshaw-howie-long-jimmy-johnson-cbs-nbc

@ScoopNemeth 2 года назад

Along with that came Murdoch buying New World Stations that consisted of now-former affiliates of ABC, CBS, and NBC. The FOX O&Os grew BIGGER from there.

@JMFabiano 7 лет назад

Wait! Is the newscaster the one who read off the WNYW version of the signoff?

@johnfenner5550 3 года назад

Nope, that was announcer Edd Ladd who read that signoff as well as the sing on.

@stevekay1925 2 года назад

Believe me it’ll never last!

@BGregory220 3 года назад

Early beginnings of the FOX Network right there folks

@justju0rd 5 месяцев назад

Ahhh the birth of FOX, by the fox news guy

@ajg2558 5 лет назад

Dont like monopolies in broadcasting, never did

@thesailormercury2 3 года назад

year later a mouse now own it lol

@liamsandal6360 Год назад

Wrong. Disney bought 20th Century Fox over thirty years later.

@RaymondGarzaYT 2 года назад

KRLD now KDAF Now a CW Affiliate owned by Nexstar KTTV now a Fox O&O WFLD now a Fox O&O WTTG Now a Fox O&O KRIV Now a Fox O&O WNEW now WNYW Now a Fox O&O and WCVB now a ABC Affiliate owned by Hearst Television

@christopherdonaldson7484 4 года назад

The rise of Rupert Murdoch and the fall of John Kluge