TV deal could bump shows to new channel

With Fox Broadcasting preparing to buy CW affiliate WSFL-Ch. 39 along with six other television stations nationwide, popular Fox shows such as “Empire” and “Star” might find a new home next year in your channel guide.

Could popular Fox TV shows such as “Empire” and “Star’’ find a new home next year in South Florida?

Officials at WSVN-Ch. 7, the longtime Fox affiliate in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market, don’t know, as Fox Broadcasting Co. prepares to purchase The CW affiliate WSFL-Ch. 39 along with six other stations nationwide from Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The Maryland-based Sinclair, which is seeking government approval to acquire Tribune Media and its 42 stations, announced Wednesday that it has agreed to sell seven stations to Fox TV’s group. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter or early third quarter and be reviewed by regulators.

Fox hasn’t announced its plans for WSFL, which is based in Fort Lauderdale and broadcasts syndicated shows and popular CW programs such as “The Flash” and “Arrow.” A Fox spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

After the sale, WSFL could then become a Fox-owned and -operated affiliate, said Ed Ansin, owner of Sunbeam Television Corp., which owns WSVN.

Ansin said that Fox has assured him that it would not ter- minate its affiliation agreement with WSVN before June 30, 2019, when it expires.

“But beyond that, they haven’t told us a thing,” Ansin said Friday in his North Bay Village office. “I feel that it is very strange. It doesn’t bode well. What in the world are they doing anyway, without consultation, without informing us? It’s hard to make any sense out

of it.”

For South Florida viewers, there’s no immediate impact. In addition to its newscasts, WSVN will continue to broadcast Fox’s network shows for now. The same goes for WSFL with The CW programs.

But Ansin said if Fox were to drop its affiliation with WSVN in mid-2019, he would then make WSVN an independent news station. He would plan to add a 9 p.m. newscast to replace the loss of Fox programming, as well as pick up a syndicated show for 8 p.m. Fox programs currently air from 8 to 10 p.m weekdays on the station.

“We’ll become an independent and run more news, essentially,” Ansin said.

It’s a playbook the media mogul knows well. Last year, after WSVN’s Boston sister station WHDH-Ch. 7 lost its NBC affiliation, the station became independent, beefed up on news and hired 34 staffers, he said.

In 1988, Ansin executed a similar move when WSVN lost its affiliation with NBC after the network bought WTVJ (then Ch. 4, now Ch. 6) and moved programming there.

WSVN then introduced its brand of flashy graphics and focus on spot news. A year later, WSVN became a Fox affiliate.

“We are veterans of the network wars, so to speak,” Ansin said. “Each time, we have been innovative and successful. If we’re not Fox, we will continue to be the news leader.”

“We are veterans of the network wars, so to speak.”

Ed Ansin, Sunbeam Television Corp