Affiliation won’t move before June 2019

Ed Ansin, whose Sunbeam Television owns WSVN-TV in Miami, said he expects it to remain successful even if Fox moves the affiliation to a station it has agreed to acquire.

Earlier this week, Fox said it would acquire seven stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group for about $910 million. One of the stations is WSFL-TV, the CW affiliate in Miami.

Asked if the Fox affiliation would move to WSFL during 21st Century Fox’s earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said “We're not making any announcements of any affiliate changes today.”

[No Justice Signal Yet on Sinclair-Tribune]

In a statement Ansin said it has been assured that Fox will not terminate its contract with WSVN prior to June 30, 2019.

“If WSVN ceases in 2019 or later to be a Fox affiliate, it will continue to be the news leader in South Florida, functioning as a news intensive independent similar to WHDH, its highly successful sister station in Boston,” Ansin said.

WHDH lost the NBC affiliation in Boston after a contract dispute. NBC –owned stations now serve the market.