In this week’s issue… Cox, Standard split up TEGNA – FLN buys in Erie – More noncomms granted – GBH leader to retire
By SCOTT FYBUSH
*Two New England TV stations are swapping owners as part of a much larger deal that will change control of one of the nation’s largest TV ownership groups.
Soo Kim’s Standard General investment firm already has broadcast interests in the region. Its Mediaco group owns WBLS (107.5) and WQHT (97.1) in New York, and its Community News Media group owns WLNE (Channel 6) in the Providence, RHODE ISLAND market along with several stations in Nebraska.
But Kim has had his sights set on a much bigger group of stations. He’s been leading a proxy fight to take over Tegna, the former Gannett TV group that owns 64 stations in 51 markets. In NERW-land, that includes MAINE‘s NBC affiliates, WCSH (Channel 6) in Portland and WLBZ (Channel 2) in Bangor; the Fox and CW outlets in CONNECTICUT, WTIC-TV (Channel 61) and WCCT-TV (Channel 20); Buffalo NBC affiliate WGRZ (Channel 2); ABC affiliate WNEP (Channel 16) in Scranton and Fox affiliate WPMT (Channel 43) in York, Pennsylvania.
In a four-phase deal agreed upon last week, Standard General will sell its existing CNM stations, including WLNE, to Cox Media Group. Standard General will then form a new affiliate that will acquire Boston Fox affiliate WFXT (Channel 25) from Cox, then acquire the Tegna stations and take them private. Finally, the new Standard General-owned TV group will spin off a major group of Tegna-owned stations in Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas to Cox.
The deal is valued at $5.4 billion plus acquisition of $3.2 billion in debt, and it requires some significant regulatory approval, since it involves funding from Apollo Global Management on both ends. Apollo owns and runs Cox Media Group, and will have a non-voting interest in the new Standard General-owned group made up of the former Tegna stations – assuming the FCC and Justice Department approve of the arrangement.
So how does it play out for the stations changing hands? Read on…
And if you don’t have your Tower Site Calendar, now’s the time!
If you’ve been waiting for the price to come down, it’s now 30 percent off!
This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.
And did you see? Tower Site of the Week is back, featuring this VOA site as it faces an uncertain future.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).
We still have a few of our own calendars left – as well as a handful of Radio Historian Calendars – and we are still shipping regularly.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the new calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!
In this week’s issue… After NAB, hope and confusion - WZLX, WBEB relaunch morning shows - WJTO, WLAM stay alive for now - MBC takes over Bell stations - Remembering Mimi Griswold, Herb Squire By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME...
In this week’s issue… Fear and Uncertainty in Las Vegas - Memory Stations to sign off - WNED, WBFO rebrand - Najman out at WDEV - Zoomer expands in Ontario By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME - NH - VT...
A visit to many of the sites in Pennsylvania's Poconos, plus Bold Gold's stations in Scranton
In this week’s issue… Remembering Pittsburgh's Quinn - Seven Mountains enters Harrisburg - My launches new brands - Ryan out at B101 - More cuts at Radio Vermont - Another AM deleted
