Gray to Buy Up The Meredith Stations
/
Yesterday (after tapping an alligator in my backyard), FTVLive told you that Gray has agreed to purchase the Meredith stations.
Gray will get these stations:
WGCL (CBS) / WPCH (Independent), Atlanta, Georgia (DMA 7)
KPHO (CBS) / KTVK (Independent), Phoenix, Arizona (DMA 11)
KPTV (FOX) / KPDX (MyNetwork), Portland, Oregon (DMA 21)
KMOV (CBS), St. Louis, Missouri (DMA 23)
WSMV (NBC), Nashville, Tennessee (DMA 29)
WFSB (CBS), Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut (DMA 32)
KCTV (CBS) / KSMO (MyNetwork), Kansas City, Missouri, (DMA 34)
WHNS (FOX), Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina (DMA 35)
KVVU (FOX), Las Vegas, Nevada (DMA 40)
WALA (FOX), Mobile, Alabama (DMA 57)
WNEM (CBS), Flint-Saginaw, Michigan (DMA 73)
WGGB (ABC & FOX) / WSHM-LD (CBS), Springfield, Massachusetts (DMA 116)
Gray currently operates in only one of these television markets, the Flint-Saginaw DMA. To facilitate regulatory approvals for this transaction, Gray will divest its ABC affiliate in the market, WJRT-TV, to an independent third-party no later than the closing of the Meredith acquisition.
In our story yesterday, FTVLive said," “the sale is good news for people working at Meredith TV stations, as they will now move to a company that is more focused on local news and much better financially. Gray has become one of the better TV ownership groups out there.”
A number of people reached out to us to take issue with us calling Gray a good company.
First off, no one took issue with the fact that Gray is a better company than Meredith, but they pointed out that Gray often makes cuts and runs their stations on the lean side.
I am not going to argue this fact.
But, as the broadcasting ownership bar has been lowered, Gray has seemed to rise higher. The company did not lay off employees during the pandemic and did not furlough workers. They put a priority on doing the right thing.
Is gray a perfect company? Of course not, but they have gotten better over the years.
Look at It this way, if you were working at a Meredith and your station was being sold, would you rather it be to Gray, or would you rather it be Sinclair or Tegna.
My point exactly.
