On April 5, the FCC gave its blessing to Cordillera Communications‘ sale of 15 of its 16 stations to The E.W. Scripps Co. and its NBC affiliate in Tucson to Quincy Media.
May 1 saw one of those deals formally close.
That would be the $521 million sale of the following stations to Scripps:
- WLEX-18, the NBC affiliate in Lexington, Ky. Cordillera-affiliated Evening Post Publishing (its parent company) acquired WLEX in 1999.
- KOAA-5, the NBC affiliate serving Colorado Springs licensed to Pueblo, Co. It has unofficially been connected to Cordillera since 1977, when operations for the Evening Post Publishing Co. were based in Charleston, S.C. Cordillera obtained the station’s license following its 1986 creation.
- KATC-3, the ABC affiliate in Lafayette, La., acquired in 1995
- KSBY-6, the NBC affiliate in Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, Calif., that in August 2018 ignited talk that Cordillera was seeking a buyer for the Central Coast station and perhaps other properties. Cordillera has been the owner of KSBY since 2004.
- KRIS-6, the NBC affiliate, and K47DF-D, a low-power Telemundo affiliate, in Corpus Christi, Tex. Cordillera bought KRIS in 1998.
- KPAX-8 and simulcast partner KAJJ-CD 18, CBS affiliates in Missoula and Kalispell, Mont. It has been a part of Cordillera since 1986.
- KTVQ-2, a CBS affiliate in Billings, Mont., acquired in 1994 by Cordillera.
- KXLF-4 and semi-satellite KBZK-7, the CBS affiliates in Butte and Bozeman, Mont. These stations were acquired in 1986 in the same deal involving KPAX-8.
- KRTV-3, the CBS affiliate, and KTGF-LD 50, the NBC affiliate, in Great Falls, Mont. KRTV also obtained by Cordillera in the 1986 deal involving other Montana properties. KTGF was added in 2015.
- KTVH-12, the NBC affiliate, and KXLH-LD 3, the CBS affiliate, in Helena, Mont.
The sale gives Scripps 52 stations across 36 markets, expanding its national audience reach to “nearly 21%” of U.S. TV households.
“This acquisition furthers Scripps’ strategies to increase the financial durability and operating performance of our broadcast portfolio,” said Scripps Local Media President Brian Lawlor. “We welcome these stations’ employees to the Scripps team and look forward to working together to continue our strong commitment to journalism and serving local communities.”
Cordillera Communications’ now awaits the closing of its sale of KVOA-4 in Tucson to Quincy Media. Once that commences, Cordillera will say goodbye to broadcast TV industry ownership some 33 years after entering it — and right at the cusp of a transition to the next-gen broadcast TV standard that could be cost-prohibitive for some smaller broadcast companies.
Scripps couldn’t purchase KVOA as it already owns KGUN-9 and the CW affiliate in Tucson, KWBA-58.
Meanwhile, Scripps is set to get bigger, pending the closing of its acquisition of eight spinoff stations from Nexstar Media Group’s merger with Tribune Media.
When that transaction is complete, Scripps will operate 60 television stations across 42 markets, making it the nation’s fourth-largest broadcaster and reaching 30% of U.S. TV households.
As RBR+TVBR reported March 26, Scripps in an 8-K filing with the SEC says it intends to meet with and make presentations to prospective lenders in connection with a proposed senior credit facility financing. The proceeds of this financing “are expected to be used” to pay for the pending acquisition of the 15 Cordillera stations, which is expected to close in Q2 2019, Scripps SVP/Controller and Treasurer Douglas Lyons stated in the filing.
Affixed to the filing is a prospector lender meeting slide show. Wells Fargo Securities is the intended lender.
