• by David Goetzl , January 11, 2008

Back in August, the head of Young Broadcasting said he was so concerned about the company's San Francisco station that he woke up one morning thinking about making a deal. On Thursday, he put it on the market.

The company said it has hired Moelis & Co. to advise on a sale of the largest station in its portfolio, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in the country's sixth-largest DMA. The goal is a divestiture by April 1.

Despite much uncertainty in the market for station sales, KRON could fetch a high price, due to its strong brand identity in the San Francisco market. Still, its affiliation with the struggling MNTV could deter some buyers.

Young, which acquired the former independent station in 2000, said it has "an important position in the market as the television news source for San Francisco. The station, due to its many hours of local programming, is benefiting from the industry trend towards increased localism."

As advertiser dollars shift to the Internet and national spot dollars continue to decline, some station groups are re-positioning themselves as more community-connected local-market ad vehicles. E.W. Scripps, for example, is creating a separate publicly traded entity focusing on local media offerings with 10 local stations and a newspaper portfolio.

Vincent Young, chairman of Young Broadcasting, said: "Our decision to sell (KRON) is based on the high level of interest in the property that we have received. It is purely a strategic economic decision, allowing us to benefit from the proceeds of the sale to further our future corporate initiatives."

Some investors have felt that KRON has been a drag on Young's performance.

Amid an overall downturn in media stocks, Young was trading Thursday at $.82 a share, down from a 52-week high of nearly $4 more a share. Young operates 10 stations--five affiliated with ABC, including in top-30 market Nashville and mid-size-markets such as Albany and Richmond. Its CBS affiliate, KELO in Sioux Falls, SD, has wide reach throughout the state and surrounding area.