Cordillera Communications has announced the sale of 15 of 16 of its TV stations to the E.W. Scripps Company and the 16th Tucson station to Quincy Media, Inc. The deal marks the exit of the St. Paul, Minn.-based station group–which is owned by Charleston, S.C. company Evening Post Industries–from the broadcasting business. Cordillera had announced in August that it had planned to sell its stations. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 is valued at $521, and subject to federal regulatory approvals.
The acquisitions in 10 markets grows the Scripps local television station footprint to 51 stations in 36 markets with a reach of nearly 21 percent of U.S. TV households. Scripps is not buying Cordillera’s remaining station–NBC affiliate KVOA-TV in Tucson, Ariz.– because Scripps already operates a duopoly in that market. There are no other overlapping markets.
tvtechnology.com
