KRIS-TV will soon have a new owner.
The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is acquiring 15 television stations from Cordillera Communications, including KRIS and KAJA, the Telemundo affiliate, in Corpus Christi. The purchase price is $521 million.
The stations Scripps is acquiring are:
- WLEX, the NBC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky
- KOAA, the NBC affiliate in Colorado Springs, Colorado
- KATC, the ABC affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana
- KSBY, the NBC affiliate in Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, California
- KRIS, the NBC affiliate, and KAJA, a Telemundo affiliate, in Corpus Christi, Texas
- KPAX and KAJJ, a CBS affiliate in Missoula, Montana
- KTVQ, a CBS affiliate in Billings, Montana
- KXLF/KBZK, the CBS affiliate in Butte-Bozeman, Montana
- KRTV, the CBS affiliate, and KTGF, the NBC affiliate, in Great Falls, Montana
- KTVH, the NBC affiliate, and KXLH, the CBS affiliate, in Helena, Montana
The 10 Cordillera markets have about 700 employees. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.
The acquisition grows the Scripps local television station footprint to 51 stations in 36 markets with a reach of nearly 21 percent of U.S. TV households.
Scripps to acquire 15 television stations in 10 markets from Cordillera Communications. Read the press release: https://t.co/LQAp9NoyAL
— The E.W. Scripps Co. (@EWScrippsCo) October 29, 2018
Scripps is one of the nation’s largest independent TV station owners. Scripps runs a collection of national journalism and content businesses, including Newsy, the next-generation national news network; podcast industry leader Stitcher and its advertising network Midroll Media; and fast-growing national broadcast networks Bounce, Grit, Escape and Laff.
Scripps produces original programming including “Pickler & Ben,” runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, “Give light and the people will find their own way.”
