In August 2025, RBR+TVBR first shared the details surrounding an agreement signed by Gray Media to acquire a group of television stations across 10 markets from Allen Media Group.
On Monday (3/23), the Video Division Chief within the FCC’s Media Bureau granted the transfer of control request, allowing the deal to proceed toward closing. DirecTV had thrown a potential obstacle at the transaction.
The sale of the stations comes at a price tag of $171 million, and it will soon bring Gray the following properties:
-
WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Ala.
-
WSIL-TV in Paducah, Ky.-Cape Girardeau, Mo.-Harrisburg, Ill.
-
WEVV-TV in Evansville, Ind.
-
WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne, Ind.
-
WCOV-TV in Montgomery, Ala.
-
KADN-TV in Lafayette, La.
-
WTVA-TV in Columbus, Ga.-Tupelo, Ms.
-
WREX-TV in Rockford, Ill.
-
WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Ind.
-
WLFI-TV in West Lafayette, Ind.
The transfer of control of three of those stations — WTHI-TV, WLFI-TV and WTVA-TV — drew the scrutiny of DirecTV. On November 18, 2025, it filed a Petition to Deny the change in ownership of those three stations to Gray. Informal objections then came from cable TV advocacy associations in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee.
DirecTV objected to the transactions to the extent that they propose to create new local concentration, but did not oppose the transfer of control. The cable TV groups did, however.
As Gray would be gaining its first full-power TV station in the DMAs involved, Video Bureau Chief David J. Brown saw no reason not to grant approval of the transaction.
Now, closing, which had been anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2025, can finally transpire as Q1 2026 nears its conclusion.
Moelis & Company LLC acted as exclusive financial adviser to Allen Media Group in this transaction.
