Local 10 ‘breaks up’ with ABC, CEO says. What does it mean for South Florida viewers?
WPLG-TV, known to millions in South Florida as Local 10 News, has decided to split from the ABC television network after a partnership that’s lasted nearly 70 years, the station’s CEO said.
After months of negotiations, Local 10 announced Thursday that ABC and WPLG, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, could not agree to extend an affiliation agreement.
E.R. Bert Medina, WPLG CEO and president, noted in a statement, “We made a generous offer to ABC, but it became clear the two sides were not going to agree to a new deal.”
He cited an agreement would have forced Local 10 to lay off employees.
“Broadcast television stations across the country have announced massive layoffs in recent years,” he said. “WPLG is proud we’ve not had layoffs, but it became clear that if we accepted the deal ABC was proposing, we too would have been forced to lay off employees in order to pay the hefty price the network was demanding.”
ABC programming will be pulled from WPLG on Aug. 4.
“Our job is to serve this community with news and local programming, that’s why we have an FCC license. If we agreed to the ABC terms, that mission would have suffered,” he said. “We are Local 10. Local is in our name. A majority of our staff grew up here. We are excited for the future of Local 10. Just watch us.”
WSVN-7, shortly after the Local 10 announcement, said it will be the new ABC affiliate under a new, multi-year agreement made between Disney Entertainment, which owns ABC, and Sunbeam Television Corporation, which owns WSVN.
Soon-to-be dubbed “ABC Miami” will broadcast on channel 7.2 beginning on Aug. 4.
“When the opportunity to affiliate with ABC became available, we knew that our combined resources would allow us to develop an extremely strong partnership,” said Paul Magnes, co-President of Sunbeam Television Corporation.
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 4:29 PM.
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