Allen Media Sells Out to Gray Media (So Now KATC and KADN Will Have Same Ownership)

ATLANTA, Ga. — Gray Media has agreed to purchase television stations in ten markets from Byron Allen's Allen Media Group for $171 million.

This information is according to Gray Media Inc. in a public announcement Friday morning.

Gray Media anticipates the transaction to be closed in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval and FCC waivers.

According to the announcement from Gray Media, the acquisition will introduce the company to three new markets, including Columbus-Tupelo, Mississippi; Terre Haute, Indiana; and West Lafayette, Indiana.

In its announcement, Gray Media says it plans to enhance its presence by creating duopolies in the seven other markets aiming to expand local news, weather, and sports programming.

Moelis & Company LLC was acting as the exclusive financial adviser to Allen Media Group for this transaction, according to Gray Media.

The transaction includes the following television stations:

Huntsville, Ala. - WAAY (ABC)
Paducah, Ky.-Cape Girardeau, Mo. -Harrisburg, Ill. - WSIL (ABC)
Evansville, Ind. - WEVV (CBS/FOX)
Ft. Wayne, Ind. - WFFT (FOX)
Montgomery, Ala. - WCOV (FOX)
Lafayette, La. - KADN (FOX/NBC)
Columbus-Tupelo, Miss. - WTVA (ABC/NBC)
Rockford, Ill. - WREX (NBC)
Terre Haute, Ind. - WTHI (CBS/FOX)
West Lafayette, Ind. - WLFI (CBS)

That announcement came a few weeks after Gray announced it was purchasing KATC. That purchase would complete a market sweep of Louisiana with Gray owning a station group in every market in the state.

Anyone sense there is going to be way too much consolidation in Local TV ownership by fewer and fewer mega TV station group owners. The same thing happened with radio and newspapers, and now it is happening in TV.

There are even rumors that Nexstar is going shopping for TEGNA. In New Orleans that would be huge. You will have the perverbial small fish in WGNO now owning WWL, which if you are as old as I am, WWL had a legacy like no other in New Orleans. Now WWL is a shell of its former glory.

quote:

---

creating duopolies in the seven other markets aiming to expand local news, weather, and sports programming

---

Every time I see this I have this question: How do you do this when you are essentially simulcasting the same news program on 2 or 3 stations? I know you merge the news departments, but you will definitely not keep the same level of staff.