IBJNews

WRTV sold with eight other TV stations for $212M

Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint

Television station and newspaper owner The E.W. Scripps Co. said Monday that it will pay $212 million in cash for nine TV stations, including WRTV in Indianapolis, owned by The McGraw-Hill Cos.

Four stations included in the deal are ABC network affiliates: WRTV, KMGH in Denver, KGTV in San Diego and KERO in Bakersfield, Calif. The rest of the stations in the deal are low-power affiliates of Spanish-language network Azteca America in California and Colorado.

With the addition, Scripps will own 10 ABC affiliates and a total of 19 TV stations.

Scripps, which is based in Cincinnati, said the stations had $97 million in revenue last year. They employ 460 people.

New York-based McGraw-Hill said in September that it plans to split into two publicly traded companies, one focused on education and the other centered on financial markets and services, including credit ratings and research firm Standard & Poor's.

IBJ reported earlier this year that McGraw-Hill was shopping for a buyer for the nine stations.

WRTV has struggled in the ratings game against local competitors in recent years and hired a new general manager, news director and sales manager earlier this year.

ADVERTISEMENT

  • the price was right
    Four abc affiliates in decent sized markets for $212 million sounds like a good deal. The value of local tv seems to have dropped in the last few years. Wonder if the new owners will put any money in to upgade WRTV.

Post a comment to this story

COMMENTS POLICY
We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
 
You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
 
Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
 
No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
 
We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
 

Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT

facebook - twitter on Facebook & Twitter

Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ on Facebook:
Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ's Tweets on these topics:
 
Subscribe to IBJ
  1. Saw the Indy Men's Chorus "Music of Gilbert & Sullivan" at the Indiana Historical Society on Sunday evening.

  2. Temporary workers are not "tools" they are people and companies that keep large amounts of temp staff are cheating.

  3. I miss having them around. I hope one of their stores is in the general Meridian/86th Street area. I will make good use of it.

  4. The Fringe! Plus, the simple fact that there are so many local faves in such close proximity to each other.

  5. I remenber, watching the toll road, being built, through South Bend, when I was 10 years old. I believe, back then that it was estimated, that the toll road, would be paid for in 20 years and then it would be free. I am now 71, what happened? Since the power is in the people, by that, I mean that, we the people are in total control of everything. I, suggest that no one ever use the toll road again, let it go broke. We the people can control the price of everything, from groceries to gas, if we would just do it. If we don't pay the asking price, the sellers will lower the price and if we wait awhile, they will lower the price to what we accept as reasonable. I would like to know why a highway like interstate 94, is so well maintained, a much better highway, than the toll road, but has no tolls. I would also like to know why, a sitting governor, with a term limit, maximum of eight years, can lease, public property, for 75 years. Even though I have transponders in both of my trucks and will not be affected by the increase, I have been and will contine to avoid using the toll road. I make many trips from northern Indiana to Chicago, every year, and I prefer the better highway, I94!

ADVERTISEMENT