Fox Swap

In mid-May it was announced that WTVW in Evansville, IN would no longer broadcast FOX programming, as the network would begin airing their programming on WEVV.  WEVV is a CBS affiliate, so they will continue to air CBS programming and move all FOX content over to their second signal, which will now become a FOX-MyNetwork hybrid.
Wait.  What?
Yep, that’s how it’s going to be and it’s certainly not unheard of.  Many stations all around the country operate as sister stations.  For consumers, it’s not really a big deal.  As long as the Gleeks can still find their programming, all is well in the world.
On the planning and buying side of things, it’s a whole different world.  For the advertisers that placed annual buys, this will likely leave them scrambling to makegood the schedules that were placed for inventory that is no longer available.  Will WEVV honor their previous rates or will the rates increase?  Will there be enough inventory on the hybrid station to accommodate both the FOX and MyNetwork schedules?  This is very worrisome going into the summer retail season.
In addition, there are a lot of logistics to be worked out.  Will WEVV account executives be able to sell both stations or will they sell independently?  There are pros and cons for advertisers with both scenarios.  Initially, I was against having just one sales rep for two stations in the market.  However, after buying several markets that operate as the alternative, I actually prefer to have only one.
It’s an interesting time in Evansville.  We’ll see how things shake out and how WEVV handles all of their new offerings.  It should be exciting, just coming off a highly-rated 10^th season of American Idol and going into a fall lineup that includes the highly anticipated X Factor and the return of Glee.