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TV stations group owners for sale

E

e-dawg

We know besides the Owned and Operated stations, several group owners have been swallowed up by these big competitors:
  • Nexstar (Mission Broadcasting/Vaughan Media/White Knight Broadcasting)
  • Tegna
  • Gray
  • Sinclair Broadcasting Group (Deerfield Media/Cunningham Broadcasting)
  • EW Scripps
  • Entravision (mostly Spanish language tv stations)
  • Hearst Television
Also we know some tv groups are for sale such as:
  • Quincy Media
  • Meredith
What about these tv stations group, are they endanger of being gobble up by big conglomerates group?
  • Cox Media
  • Graham Media
  • Hubbard Broadcasting
  • News-Press Gazette (VistaWest Media, LLC)
  • Allen Media Broadcasting
  • Block Communications
  • Cowles Company
  • Morgan Murphy Media
  • Lockwood Broadcast Group
  • Bahakel Communications
Or the small mom/pop stations group?
  • Sunbeam Television
  • California-Oregon Broadcasting
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company
  • Sarkes Tarzian Inc.
  • Red River Broadcasting
  • Morris Media
  • Rockfleet Broadcasting
  • Marquee Broadcasting
  • Heartland Media
What's the future on these other tv stations group owners?
 
Well
TheBigA said:
Maybe you missed this story about Cox in 2019?

variety.com

Apollo Global Management Buys Majority Stake in Cox TV Stations

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management has cut a deal with Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises to buy a majority stake in Cox’s 13 TV stations as well as three newspapers and a handful of ra…
variety.com variety.com
Click to expand...
I already know that, Apollo Global Management buys COX TV stations instead of changing their name they keep the Cox name, but different management, just like AT&T when SBC brought out the original AT&T and keep the AT&T name instead of renaming to SBC.
 
The ownership cap will prevent Sinclair and Nexstar from growing meaningfully. They might be able to buy a one-off station or two, but probably not even something as small as Allen Media. Many of the Allen Media stations were in fact spun off to meet regulatory requirements from Nexstar's Media General or Tribune mergers.

It would be possible for Scripps, Tegna, Gray and the rest to do some acquisitions.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, an activist shareholder of Tegna was trying to get them to sell themselves. There were rumored bids for Tegna from Apollo/Cox, Allen Media Group, and Gray, but none ended up happening due to the pandemic and related recession.

Other than Nexstar and Sinclair, there is no broadcaster which is immune from merger and acquisition rumors. For example, Sunbeam's second-generation owner died in 2020. It wouldn't surprise me at all if their stations were sold off.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
The ownership cap will prevent Sinclair and Nexstar from growing meaningfully. They might be able to buy a one-off station or two, but probably not even something as small as Allen Media. Many of the Allen Media stations were in fact spun off to meet regulatory requirements from Nexstar's Media General or Tribune mergers.

It would be possible for Scripps, Tegna, Gray and the rest to do some acquisitions.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, an activist shareholder of Tegna was trying to get them to sell themselves. There were rumored bids for Tegna from Apollo/Cox, Allen Media Group, and Gray, but none ended up happening due to the pandemic and related recession.

Other than Nexstar and Sinclair, there is no broadcaster which is immune from merger and acquisition rumors. For example, Sunbeam's second-generation owner died in 2020. It wouldn't surprise me at all if their stations were sold off.
Click to expand...
EW Scripps just merged with Ion Television I don't think they can do anymore acquisitions for now. All these stations mention here. Maybe with Standard Media included in the mix.

  • Quincy Media
  • Meredith
  • Graham Media
  • Hubbard Broadcasting
  • News-Press Gazette (VistaWest Media, LLC)
  • Allen Media Broadcasting
  • Block Communications
  • Cowles Company
  • Morgan Murphy Media
  • Lockwood Broadcast Group
  • Bahakel Communications
  • Sunbeam Television
  • California-Oregon Broadcasting
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company
  • Sarkes Tarzian Inc.
  • Red River Broadcasting
  • Morris Media
  • Rockfleet Broadcasting
  • Marquee Broadcasting
  • Heartland Media
 
I think that Meredith will sell their TV stations maybe not whole by pieces if they do would be Allen Media, Gray, TEGNA maybe.
 
Megatron said:
I think that Meredith will sell their TV stations maybe not whole by pieces if they do would be Allen Media, Gray, TEGNA maybe.
Click to expand...
Gray is off the list to get the Meredith stations due to a pending deal with Quincy Media.

A split between Byron Allen and other smaller players that are interested in buying more stations maybe?
 
If Gray Television merges with Quincy Media. I know that they have to spun off tv stations in Tucson, Arizona (DMA 75) Madison, Wisconsin (DMA 80) Paducah-Harrisburg, Kentucky-Illinois (DMA 91) Cedar Rapids, Iowa (DMA 92) La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wisconsin (DMA 123) Wausau-Stevens Point, Wisconsin (DMA 134).

My concerned if Gray is going to be sneaky and move the affiliates that they have to spun off to their subchannels and/or low power tv stations? For example, will Gray move KVOA NBC 4 to KOLD CBS 13 subchannel or move to low power/Class A tv stations or will FCC/DOJ stop this from happening?
 
It used to be that large groups got larger by buying-up groups consisting of small to medium market stations. That model changed after 2008. Now larger groups aren't interested in groups with sables of small or medium stations. There's not enough consistent Broadcast Cash Flow or ways to streamline operations to justify taking on extra debt or adding shares for these types of stations. Larger groups merge or eat groups equal-to, or larger than they are.
 
To follow up on Kelly, consider what Nexstar was 15 years ago. They had around 35 stations, mostly in small markets like Champaign, St. Joseph, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Their largest market might have been Little Rock.

It would have been unexpected for Nexstar to buy LIN, and unfathomable to buy Tribune back then. Nexstar is, now the leading TV broadcaster in the country.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
To follow up on Kelly, consider what Nexstar was 15 years ago. They had around 35 stations, mostly in small markets like Champaign, St. Joseph, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Their largest market might have been Little Rock.

It would have been unexpected for Nexstar to buy LIN, and unfathomable to buy Tribune back then. Nexstar is, now the leading TV broadcaster in the country.
Click to expand...
I remember Sinclair was the same too around this same timeframe. Now Nexstar, Sinclair, E.W. Scripps , Tegna, Hearst and Gray have been named as the largest local TV station owners in the nationwide.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
Other than Nexstar and Sinclair, there is no broadcaster which is immune from merger and acquisition rumors. For example, Sunbeam's second-generation owner died in 2020. It wouldn't surprise me at all if their stations were sold off.
Click to expand...
Sunbeam only owns 3 stations (WHDH 7 & WLVI 56 in Boston & WSVN 7 in Miami) & Scripps would make the PERFECT owner for them
 
Heartland Media became Allen Media. Considering the fact it's GROWING, there's almost no chance it's being sold to anyone
 
JeeperOne said:
Except in St. Louis & Phoenix (Especially the latter)
Click to expand...
Phoenix is an interesting market...maybe CBS can take on the Meredith duopoly (KTVK-KPHO), and maybe even extend its presence in Atlanta with acquiring WGCL to go with WUPA. Yeah, also there's the issue of WPCH, but there's the option of either selling off its license and live as a subchannel of WGCL, or be sold to a third-party (even becoming WSB or WAGA's duopoly partner).

As far as KMOV, it wouldn't surprise me if they're paired with KCTV/KSMO in Kansas City as part of any package deal...for a start-up broadcaster like Allen Media, that would be almost a "blockbuster" acquisition, especially when you compare them to the other stations Allen acquired in the last few years, all of them in smaller markets.
 
Last edited:
ShawnHill1 said:
Phoenix is an interesting market...maybe CBS can take on the Meredith duopoly (KTVK-KPHO), and maybe even extend its presence in Atlanta with acquiring WGCL to go with WUPA. Yeah, also there's the issue of WPCH, but there's the option of either selling off its license and live as a subchannel of WGCL, or be sold to a third-party (even becoming WSB or WAGA's duopoly partner).

As far as KMOV, it wouldn't surprise me if they're paired with KCTV/KSMO in Kansas City as part of any package deal...for a start-up broadcaster like Allen Media, that would be almost a "blockbuster" acquisition, especially when you compare them to the other stations Allen acquired in the last few years, all of them in smaller markets.
Click to expand...
Interesting to see CBS taking over KPHO and KTVK if this were to be even considered or Atlanta where CBS owns the CW affiliate in the area and WGCL is owned by Meredith. This scenario with if CBS were to take over WGCL sounds like when CBS owned (UPN now CW affiliate) KMAX and then took over KOVR CBS 13 from Sinclair in 2005 around the time CBS was splitting from Viacom at the time.
 
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