Fox Broadcasting is changing formations in the station group lineup with the aim of grabbing as many pigskin dollars as possible.
Fox is set to yank Tribune Media’s Fox affiliation KCPQ-TV (Fox 13) in Seattle, The Post has learned.
Seattle is the home of the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, which translates into big ratings in its hometown market.
Currently, Tribune’s Fox affiliation allows it to capitalize on the big NFL viewership numbers in negotiations with distributors such as cable companies. Tribune then kicks back a portion of those carriage fees to Fox.
Broadcasters, however, have been pressing their affiliates for larger kickbacks; if not, they risk having their lucrative network affiliations yanked, so the network can capture all of the revenue.
Just last month, LIN Media’s WISH-8 lost its CBS affiliation in Indianapolis after bosses there balked at paying an increasing portion of its carriage fees back to the network mother ship.
The loss of the CBS affiliation took down the valuation of the station by as much as $100 million, according to the Indianapolis Star. It also held up LIN Media’s $1.6 billion merger with Media General. Other stations soon fell into line.
Tribune Media, formerly Tribune Co., filed paperwork Monday in preparation to trade on a new stock exchange, as yet unnamed, following the spinoff of its newspaper division.
Tribune Media is run by former Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori, who has been tasked with reviving its WGN superstation since taking over in January 2013.
The change in ownership of the Seattle station needs to be formally approved by the Federal Communications Commission, according to two sources, who confirmed the Seattle station switch.
Tribune won’t be left empty-handed, said one person familiar with conversations. Tribune will receive a MyNetwork affiliation in Chicago in exchange for its Seattle station.
However, one person advised that talks about the swap were continuing and that Tribune hadn’t completely signed off on the transaction. MyNetwork TV is owned by Fox, which in turn is owned by 21st Century Fox, run by Chase Carey.
Tribune also owns a “CW” affiliated station in the Chicago market.
Fox Television Stations, run by Jack Abernethy, houses 28 stations in 18 markets, which, according to Fox’s website, covers 37.28 percent of US TV households. They include six duopolies in the top 10 markets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, DC, and Houston — as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.
Reps for Fox and Tribune Media declined comment.
Fox paid the NFL $1.1 billion per year for rights through 2022 and has been working hard to make up that revenue via advertising and affiliate fees.