Station Deals Pick Up Amid Slow-Moving Ad Market

In a weakening national TV spot advertising market, now two major broadcasting groups have been sold in a week.

Liberty Corp., which has 15 middle- and small-market stations, mostly in the South, was sold to Raycom Media, the country's 17th-largest broadcast station group. On Monday, Emmis Commuications announced that it had agreements to sell nine of its 16 stations for $681 million to LIN TV, Gray Television, and Journal Broadcast Group.

Raycom is taking somewhat of a risk. The combined company would overlap in four markets--Wilmington, N.C., Columbia, S.C., Toledo, Ohio, and Albany, GA. Raycom currently has 38 stations covering 10.2 percent of the U.S. television households.

Raycom will ask the FCC for a waiver to operate the stations. The commission is considering a proposal that would rewrite FCC rules governing who can own how many stations, and in what markets. The Emmis sale had one similar station issue.

A slow-moving station sales market has been blamed on the weakening local TV advertising sales marketplace.

Part of the Liberty deal includes CableVantage, a cable advertising sales unit. Seven of Liberty's 15 stations are NBC affiliates. Raycom affiliates include 13 NBC, nine Fox, seven CBS, six UPN, two ABC, and one WB.

advertisement

advertisement

Next story loading loading..