In May, RBR+TVBR correctly predicted that Allen Media Group would end up purchasing an ABC affiliate that Meredith Local Media had agreed to divest in order for it to complete its $2.825 billion sale to Gray Television.
On Thursday (9/23), the group led by Byron Allen closed on its acquisition of that Meredith property — a move that suggests Gray’s closing on the Meredith properties is on track for a Q4 closing.
Now a part of the “Allen Media Broadcasting” division of AMG is WJRT-12 in Flint, Mich., which Allen paid $70 million to obtain. It joins ABC-affiliated sibling KITV-4 in Honolulu, formerly owned by Lilly Broadcasting of Erie, Pa., as another recent addition to the AMG family — one poised to grow significantly in the coming years.
Allen now owns and operates 32 broadcast TV stations across 20 DMAs. It also owns The Weather Channel, with former parent The Weather Company now owned by IBM and the party that controls all of the data.
“We are delighted and very appreciative to Gray for working with us to add this wonderful local television station, and its great employees, to our fast-growing Allen Media Group family,” said Byron Allen. “Over the past two years, we’ve invested over $1 billion to acquire best-in-class, top-tier, broadcast network affiliates and we plan to invest approximately $10 billion to acquire more ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX television stations with the goal of being the largest broadcast television group in America. All of our media assets will work in concert to amplify our free-streaming services, Local Now and theGrio.”
WJRT covers the Saginaw area as well.
As previously reported, WJRT General Manager Pete Veto has vacated his role. Gray confirmed that he will remain with the company, taking a new position within the company.
For Meredith and Gray, the next step is the scheduling of a shareholder vote by Meredith Corp. that would signal approval of the proposed transaction. This is largely expected to occur. Then, regulatory approvals would be necessary to get the transaction completed by year’s end.
