NEWPORT, KY — In mid-July, the FCC’s Media Bureau signed off on the transaction. As the month came to its conclusion, the deal officially closed —making “ABC 36” a sibling to the NBC affiliate serving Lexington, Ky.
The E.W. Scripps Co. has completed its $15.8 million purchase of WTVQ-TV from Morris Network Inc.
DirecTV attempted to prevent the deal from transpiring on speculative grounds that it would lead to more difficult retransmission fee compensation negotiations, due to fewer TV broadcasting companies, thus giving Scripps greater leverage. The Media Bureau dismissed DirecTV’s petition, on the grounds that it was rooted in speculative claims.
The acquisition of WTVQ creates a “duopoly” in Lexington with Scripps’ WLEX-TV, and the Cincinnati-headquartered Scripps calls the acquisition a part of its “broader strategy to optimize and strengthen its local television portfolio through strategic acquisitions, divestitures and station transactions.”
While WTVQ is acquiring WTVQ, the bigger headlines involving Scripps are tied to divestments, with the sales of WFTX-TV in Fort Myers-Naples, Fla., and WRTV-TV in Indianapolis bringing in $123 million to a company under financial duress over the last several quarters.
WLEX became a Scripps property in 2019, when it acquired 15 of 16 stations from Cordillera Communications in a $521 million transaction.
