• by David Goetzl , February 11, 2008

The refashioned, broadcast-focused Belo Corp. begins trading today after splitting off the newspaper business that gave the company its start more than a century ago. The new Belo operates 20 local stations in seven of the country's top-25 markets.

The newspaper operations, which include The Dallas Morning News and Providence Journal, now form a separate public company, A.H. Belo, that also starts trading on the NYSE this morning.

The old Belo closed Friday at $16.36, up about 2%, but down from a 52-week high of near $23.

The new Belo, billed as "one of the largest pure-play television companies in the country," has duopolies in six markets, including Phoenix and Seattle. Its estimated $775 million in annual revenue is comprised of about 89% from spots sales; 2% from network compensation that will go to zero around 2011; and 3% from retransmission consent, which could double over the next few years.

Belo also operates six local cable news networks.