Local TV station powerhouse Gray Media announced that it will purchase 10 television stations from Allen Media Group for $171 million. AMG, which is selling its stations as it looks to reduce its debt load, is owned by media mogul Byron Allen.
With the purchase of the stations, which range from No. 75 to 189 in DMA (designated market area) size, Gray Media will enter three new markets: Columbus-Tupelo, Miss.; Terre Haute, Ind.; and West Lafayette, Ind. The remaining markets will see the creation of duopolies, which Gray Media says will provide deeper “public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming.”
Gray Media owns television stations and digital assets in 113 markets, with 78 of them being top-rated television stations and 99 markets with the first- and/or second-highest-rated television station during 2024, as well as the largest Telemundo affiliate group with 44 markets.
Stations being sold to Gray Media, and their respective DMA sizes, are: No. 75 WAAY (ABC) in Huntsville, Ala.; No. 90 WSIL (ABC) in Paducah, Ky., Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Harrisburg, Ill.; No. 109 WEVV (CBS/Fox) in Evansville, Ind.; No. 110 WFFT (Fox) in Ft. Wayne, Ind.; No. 121 WCOV (Fox) in Montgomery, Ala.; No. 124 KADN (Fox/NBC) in Lafayette, La.; No. 134 WTVA (ABC/NBC) in Columbus-Tupelo, Miss.; No. 137 WREX (NBC) in Rockford, Ill.; No. 159 WTHI (CBS/Fox) in Terre Haute, Ind.; and No. 189 WLFI (CBS) in West Lafayette, Ind.
Meanwhile, AMG in June engaged investment bank Moelis & Co. to help sell its local TV station portfolio, which includes 28 ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliated stations across 21 markets.
Moelis will work as a financial advisor evaluating “various financial and strategic alternatives to position AMG for future success and to maximize the value of its assets.”
AMG has had to undergo cuts over the past year. At one point, it tried hubbing its local weather forecasts through its owned network, The Weather Channel.
Gray Media and AMG expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of this year.