• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 10, 2007

With the economy losing steam, mid-size station group LIN TV indicated that it will not continue to pursue a potential sale. Instead, it plans to focus on building its business organically in the near term.

While the company hinted late last week that it's essentially off the market, it said it reserves the right to look at strategic alternatives if they arise. CEO Vincent Sadusky said in a statement that the company has "confidence in our employees, high quality assets and operating plan."

"The strength of our core business and new digital initiatives position us well for future growth," he added.

LIN operates triopolies in markets such as Austin and Indianapolis and duopolies in Albuquerque, Buffalo and Providence.

JP Morgan analyst John Blackledge wrote that LIN could "potentially revisit a sale ... if market conditions improve in the future." Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller expressed similar thoughts about reconsideration of a sale down the line, while offering a bullish take on the company in a note: "(LIN) is still our pure-play local TV favorite."

In November, LIN became the second station group to establish a series of YouTube channels featuring clips from its stations.

Station groups continue to trumpet opportunities in the digital arena --via initiatives on Web sites, like YouTube, on their own sites and even on mobile devices. But while revenues are growing rapidly, they still represent a small percentage of the overall business.

LIN said its digital revenues for the third quarter--which include retransmission consent fees, arguably a step removed from digital operations--were $4.3 million, up 134% compared to a year ago, but only 5% of the total take.

LIN said it has 29 recently redesigned Web sites and has plans to launch many more, with a "hyper-local" focus on topics like high school sports and politics.

While LIN is apparently holding back on a sale, other station groups have indicated they will push ahead, ranging from the Fox owned-and-operated group in large markets to the smaller Acme group.

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