Emmis Announces Sale of Nine Television Stations
August 22 2005 - 9:15AM
PR Newswire (US)
LIN TV, Journal Communications and Gray Television sign agreements
to buy Emmis stations INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Emmis Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:EMMS) today announced
it has signed definitive agreements to sell nine of its 16
television stations in three separate transactions. LIN TV Corp
(NYSE:TVL) has signed an agreement to purchase WALA-TV (Ch. 10, Fox
affiliate) and WBPG-TV (Ch. 55, WB affiliate) in Mobile,
Ala./Pensacola, Fla.; WTHI-TV (Ch. 10, CBS affiliate) in Terre
Haute, Ind.; WLUK-TV (Ch. 11, Fox affiliate) in Green Bay, Wis.;
and KRQE-TV (Ch. 13, CBS affiliate) in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
plus regional satellite stations. The sale price for the five
stations is $260 million. Journal Communications (NYSE:JRN) has
signed an agreement to purchase WFTX-TV (Ch. 4, Fox affiliate) in
Fort Myers, Fla.; KMTV-TV (Ch. 3, CBS affiliate) in Omaha, Neb.;
and KGUN-TV (Ch. 9, ABC affiliate) in Tucson, Ariz. The sale price
for the three stations is $235 million. Gray Television (NYSE: GTN;
GTN.A) has signed an agreement to purchase WSAZ-TV (Ch. 3, NBC
affiliate) in Huntington/Charleston, West Virginia, for $186
million. "We announced in early May that we were exploring
strategic alternatives for our Television Group, so that we could
focus on lowering debt and positioning ourselves for growth," Emmis
Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan said. "We wanted to do what was right
to get the best price for our shareholders, while providing our
employees -- who have consistently been among the best operators in
the industry -- with the best possible new owners. In making
today's announcement, we made substantial progress toward these
goals. We continue to move forward on discussions relating to the
remaining seven stations and will make additional announcements as
appropriate." The stations represented in today's announced
transactions represented 53% of TV station operating income in
fiscal year ended February 28, 2005 and 47% of fiscal year ended
February 29, 2004. Emmis has not made announcements regarding
WKCF-TV (Ch. 18, WB affiliate) in Orlando, Fla.; WVUE-TV (Ch. 8,
Fox affiliate) in New Orleans; KOIN-TV (Ch. 6, CBS affiliate) in
Portland, Ore.; KSNT-TV (Ch. 27, NBC affiliate) in Topeka, Kan.;
KSNW-TV (Ch. 3, NBC affiliate) in Wichita, Kan.; and KHON-TV (Ch.
2, Fox affiliate) and KGMB (Ch. 9, CBS affiliate) in Honolulu. The
Blackstone Group served as a financial adviser to Emmis and Wiley
Rein & Fielding LLP as its legal counsel in the transactions.
Banc of America Securities LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and
J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch have
also assisted the Company with respect to its television business.
Emmis entered the television industry in July of 1998 with the
purchase of 4 Fox affiliates (WLUK-TV, KHON-TV, WVUE-TV and
WALA-TV) from SF Broadcasting and later that year added WTHI-TV and
WFTX-TV from Wabash Valley Broadcasting. In October of 1999, Emmis
purchased Orlando's WKCF from Press Communications. In October of
2000, Emmis purchased 8 network-affiliated stations (KOIN-TV,
KRQE-TV, WSAZ-TV, KSNW-TV, KGMB-TV, KGUN-TV, KMTV-TV, KSNT-TV) from
Lee Enterprises. In March of 2003, Emmis purchased
Mobile/Pensacola's WBPG-TV from Pegasus Communications. The
closings are subject to customary conditions, including approval
from the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory
agencies. Emmis expects to begin closing these transactions before
the end of the year. Emmis Communications -- Great Media, Great
People, Great Service(R) (http://www.emmis.com/) Emmis is an
Indianapolis-based diversified media firm with radio broadcasting,
television broadcasting and magazine publishing operations. Emmis
owns 23 FM and 2 AM domestic radio stations serving the nation's
largest markets of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as
Phoenix, St. Louis, Austin, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, IN. Emmis
has recently announced its intent to seek strategic alternatives
for its 16 television stations, which will result in the sale of
all or a portion of its television assets. In addition, Emmis owns
a radio network, international radio stations, regional and
specialty magazines and ancillary businesses in broadcast sales and
book publishing. LIN TV (http://www.lintv.com/) Prior to the
closing of this transaction, LIN TV Corp. is an owner and operator
of 25 television stations in 14 mid-sized markets in the U.S. and
Puerto Rico. LIN TV owns approximately 20% of KXAS-TV in Dallas,
Texas and KNSD-TV in San Diego, California through a joint venture
with NBC, and is a 50% non-voting investor in Banks Broadcasting,
Inc., which owns KWCV-TV in Wichita, Kansas and KNIN-TV in Boise,
Idaho. LIN TV also is a one-third owner of WAND-TV, the ABC
affiliate in Decatur, Illinois, which it manages pursuant to a
management services agreement. Financial information and overviews
of LIN TV's stations are available on the Company's website at
http://www.lintv.com/. Journal Communications
(http://www.journalcommunications.com/) Journal Communications,
Inc., headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was founded in 1882.
We are a diversified media and communications company with
operations in publishing, radio and television broadcasting,
telecommunications and printing services. We publish the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, which serves as the only major daily newspaper
for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and more than 90 community
newspapers and shoppers in eight states. Prior to the closing of
this transaction, we own and operate 38 radio stations and seven
television stations in 11 states and operate an additional
television station under a local marketing agreement. Through our
telecommunications segment, we own and operate a regional fiber
optic network in the upper Midwest, provide integrated data
communications solutions for small and mid-size businesses and
offer network transmission solutions for other service providers.
We also provide a wide range of commercial printing services --
including printing for publications, professional journals and
documentation material -- as well as electronic publishing, kit
assembly and fulfillment. In addition, we operate a direct
marketing services business. Gray Television, Inc.
(http://www.gray.tv/) Gray Television, Inc. is a communications
company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and prior to the closing
of this transaction, owns 31 television stations serving 27
television markets. The stations include 16 CBS affiliates, eight
NBC affiliates and seven ABC affiliates. Gray Television, Inc. has
23 stations ranked #1 in local news audience and 22 stations ranked
#1 in overall audience within their respective markets based on the
average results of the 2004 Nielsen ratings reports. The TV station
group reaches approximately 5.5% of total U.S. TV households. Gray
also owns five daily newspapers, four in Georgia and one in
Indiana. The information in this news release is being widely
disseminated in accordance with the Securities & Exchange
Commission's Regulation FD. Certain statements included above which
are not statements of historical fact, including financial data for
quarters or other periods that are not yet completed and statements
identified with the words "continues," "expect," "will," or
"would," are intended to be, and are, identified as "forward-
looking statements," as defined in the Securities and Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended, and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Emmis to be materially different
from any future result, performance or achievement expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include,
among others, general economic and business conditions;
fluctuations in the demand for advertising; increased competition
in the broadcasting industry including the implementation of
competing formats in large markets; the attraction and retention of
quality talent and other programming; public and governmental
reaction to Emmis programming decisions; changes in the costs of
programming; changes in interest rates; inability to grow through
suitable acquisitions, including the desired radio; inability or
delay in closing announced acquisitions or dispositions; terrorist
attacks or other large-scale disasters; wars and other events
creating economic uncertainty; and other factors mentioned in
documents filed by Emmis with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Emmis does not undertake any obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new
information, future events or otherwise. DATASOURCE: Emmis
Communications Corporation CONTACT: Walter Berger, EVP & CFO,
or Kate Snedeker, Media & Investor Relations, both of Emmis
Communications, +1-317-266-0100 Web site: http://www.emmis.com/
http://www.lintv.com/ http://www.journalcommunications.com/
http://www.gray.tv/
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