Byron Allen Sells 10 TV Stations to Gray Media for $171 Million

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, Inc. has sold 10 local TV stations to Gray Media for $171 million.

The deal, which Gray expects to close in the fourth quarter subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions, will bring Gray into three new local TV markets: Columbus-Tupelo, Mississippi; Terre Haute, Indiana; and West Lafayette, Indiana. Per Gray, the sale is expected to “strengthen the company’s presence in the seven other markets by creating new duopolies that would allow Gray to preserve and deepen public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming.”

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Local TV stations included in the deal are:

75 Huntsville, AL WAAY (ABC)
90 Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg WSIL (ABC)
109 Evansville, IN WEVV (CBS/FOX)
110 Ft. Wayne, IN WFFT (FOX)
121 Montgomery, AL WCOV (FOX)
124 Lafayette, LA KADN (FOX/NBC)
134 Columbus-Tupelo, MS WTVA (ABC/NBC)
137 Rockford, IL WREX (NBC)
159 Terre Haute, IN WTHI (CBS/FOX)
189 West Lafayette, IN WLFI (CBS)

Gray anticipates closing the transaction in the fourth quarter of this year following receipt of regulatory approval, including certain waivers of FCC local ownership rules, and other customary closing conditions.

Following a decade of investing in local TV stations, media mogul Allen hired investment bank Moelis & Co. in June to help him sell the collection of 28 network affiliate stations in medium and small markets across the country. The sale of these 10 stations marks the first big transaction in Allen’s offloading process.

Allen started his company more than 30 years ago with a single talk show that he hosted. Today, he owns numerous lifestyle channels, the Weather Channel and digital outlets including The Grio and HBCU Go.

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