Local TV LLC

Local TV LLC was a television broadcasting company owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners which operated 20 television stations in the United States.[1][2] The group was formed in 2006 by the acquisition of nine television stations owned by The New York Times Company, and grew further with the acquisition of eight former Fox owned-and-operated stations from Fox Television Stations, and a wide partnership with Tribune Broadcasting to provide management services for the stations (in turn, Local TV also operated several Tribune stations as well).

This article is about the company in the United States. For local television in general, see local programming. For the streaming service for local over-the-air television channels, see LocalBTV.
Local TV LLC
TypePrivate
IndustryBroadcast television
Predecessor
FoundedDecember 2006 (2006-12)
DefunctDecember 27, 2013 (2013-12-27)
FateAcquired by Tribune
Successor
Headquarters
Newport, Kentucky
,
United States
Key people
Bobby Lawrence, CEO
OwnerOak Hill Capital Partners

On July 1, 2013, Tribune announced that it would acquire Local TV LLC for $2.7 billion, a deal which was approved by the FCC on December 20, and was completed on December 27.[3]

History

Local TV was created in December 2006, after Oak Hill Capital entered into an agreement with The New York Times Company to purchase nine local network-affiliated television stations; on May 7, 2007, the sale was completed as one part of a larger sale of the New York Times Company's Broadcast Media Group "for approximately $575 million."[4] At 12:01 a.m., Local TV assumed ownership of the nine television stations, located in "eight mid-sized markets."[2]

On December 21, 2007, Tribune Broadcasting and Local TV agreed to form a "broadcast management company" to provide management services to both Tribune and Local TV's stations.[5] Also as part of the agreement, the websites for Local TV's stations were transitioned to a platform developed and managed by Tribune Interactive.[6] The next day, December 22, 2007, Local TV announced plans to acquire eight Fox owned-and-operated stations from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation including WDAF-TV in Kansas City, WJW-TV in Cleveland, WITI-TV in Milwaukee, KTVI in St. Louis, Missouri, KDVR in Denver, Colorado, KSTU in Salt Lake City, WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama, and WGHP in High Point–Winston-Salem–Greensboro, North Carolina, completing that sale on July 14, 2008.[7] Local TV's partnership with Tribune expanded on September 17, 2008, as the company announced that it would take over Tribune's CW affiliates KWGN-TV and KPLR-TV under local marketing agreements, and consolidate them with KDVR and KTVI respectively.[8]

As part of Tribune's management agreement, the Local TV stations unveiled redesigned websites operated by Tribune Interactive beginning in January 2009, with the Fox affiliates websites being migrated to the new layout from News Corp. Digital Media's website hosting platform; Local TV later migrated its stations' websites to those hosted by WordPress.com beginning in January 2012.

In January 2009, Raycom Media announced that it would acquire one of Local TV's former Fox O&Os, WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, in exchange for its CBS affiliate WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia and $85 million. Raycom was required to divest WTVR as a condition of its purchase of Lincoln Financial Media's stations (which included Richmond's NBC station WWBT), as both stations ranked among 2 of the 4 highest-rated stations in the market. Raycom was previously blocked from selling WTVR to Sinclair Broadcast Group.[9] The swap also benefited Raycom, as it is based in, and already has a strong media presence in the state of Alabama.[10] On June 14, 2010, CBS Corporation announced that it would sell its CW O&O WGNT in Hampton Roads to Local TV, making it a sister station to its existing CBS affiliate WTKR.[11]

In March 2013, Oak Hill Capital began notifying stations that it was planning to sell the Local TV stations. On July 1, 2013, Tribune Broadcasting announced that it would acquire the company outright for $2.7 billion.[12][13] The deal was approved by the FCC on December 20,[14] with the completion of the sale on December 27.[3]

Officers

President and chief executive officer (CEO) was Robert Lawrence, who, Local TV announced on December 20, 2007, would succeed Randy Michaels, former CEO of Clear Channel Communications and Local TV's first CEO, who became chief operating officer (COO) of Tribune Company, on May 7, 2008.[1][15][16]

Chief financial officer (CFO) of Local TV was Pam Taylor.[1]

Former stations

Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.

City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current status
Birmingham, AL WBRC 62008–2009[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television
Huntsville, AL WHNT-TV 192007–2013[lower-alpha 2]CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Fort Smith–Fayetteville, AR KFSM-TV 52007–2013[lower-alpha 2]CBS affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
KXNW 342012–2013MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Denver, CO KDVR 312008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
KWGN-TV 22008-2013[lower-alpha 3]The CW owned-and-operated (O&O)
Fort Collins, CO KFCT[upper-alpha 1] 222008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Des Moines, IA WHO-DT 132007–2013[lower-alpha 2]NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Moline, IL–Davenport, IA WQAD-TV 82007–2013[lower-alpha 2]ABC affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
WBQD-LP 262008–2011[lower-alpha 4] Defunct, ceased operations in 2011
Kansas City, MO WDAF-TV 42008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
St. Louis, MO KTVI 22008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
KPLR-TV 112008–2013[lower-alpha 3]The CW owned-and-operated (O&O)
High Point–Greensboro–Winston-Salem, NC WGHP 82008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Cleveland–Akron, OH WJW 82008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Oklahoma City, OK KFOR-TV 42007–2013[lower-alpha 2]NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
KAUT-TV 432007–2013[lower-alpha 2]The CW owned-and-operated (O&O)
Scranton–Wilkes Barre, PA WNEP-TV 162007–2013[lower-alpha 2]ABC affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
Memphis, TN WREG-TV 32007–2013[lower-alpha 2]CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Salt Lake City, UT KSTU 132008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Norfolk–Portsmouth–Newport News, VA WTKR 32007–2013[lower-alpha 2]CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
WGNT 272010–2013The CW affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Richmond, VA WTVR-TV 62009–2013CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Milwaukee, WI WITI 62008–2013[lower-alpha 1]Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
  1. Satellite of KDVR.
  1. Acquired from Fox Television Stations.
  2. Acquired from The New York Times Company.
  3. Owned by Tribune Broadcasting and operated through local marketing agreements.
  4. Owned by Venture Technologies Group, LLC affiliate Four Seasons Broadcasting, and operated by WQAD-TV through a local marketing agreement.

References
  1. "About Us". localtvllc.com. Local TV LLC. August 2008. Archived from the original (Web) on June 25, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2008. We are currently in the process of acquiring a portfolio of 9 television stations. We intend to expand our media footprint, and are pleased to have the NYT stations as a foundation.
  2. "Press Room" (Press release). Local TV. August 22, 2008. Archived from the original on July 12, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2008. Local TV LLC is a broadcast holding company created in 2007 to acquire nine heritage television stations in eight midsized markets. In 2008, the company acquired eight Fox affiliates previously owned by News Corporation. Local TV is owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, management and a consortium of bankers and high yield lenders....
  3. "Tribune Closes Acquisition of Local TV Holdings" (Press release). Tribune Company. December 27, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  4. "The New York Times Company Reports April Revenues" (Press release). Business Wire. May 7, 2007. Archived from the original (The New York Times Company Financial Report) on July 22, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2008. On May 7, 2007, the Company sold the Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center, for approximately $575 million.
  5. "Tribune and Local TV to Form Broadcast Management Company" (Press release). Tribune Company. December 20, 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
  6. "Tribune Interactive, Schurz in Web Deal". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  7. "Sale of Channel 6, Seven Other TV Stations Closes". The Business Journal of Milwaukee. July 14, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
  8. "Denver, St. Louis To Get Fox-CW Duops". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  9. "Raycom-Local TV Swap Includes $85M". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  10. "Local TV Closes On WTVR". Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  11. Local TV Acquiring CBS Owned WGNT Broadcasting and Cable June 14, 2010
  12. "Exclusive: Local TV Puts Stations on Block". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  13. "Acquisition to make Tribune Co. largest U.S. TV station operator". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  14. "FCC OKs Gannett-Belo And Tribune-Local". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  15. "Local TV Announces Bobby Lawrence as CEO" (Press release). Local TV. December 20, 2007. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
  16. "Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations". FCC. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
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