Newport Television
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Media |
| Fate | Acquired by Nexstar, Sinclair, and Cox |
| Predecessor | Television arm of Clear Channel Communications |
| Successor |
Nexstar Broadcasting Group Sinclair Broadcast Group Cox Media Group |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale |
| Defunct | June 1, 2013 |
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri |
|
Key people
|
Sandy DiPasquale (president, CEO) |
| Services | Television |
| Owner | Providence Equity Partners |
Newport Television, LLC was a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications.
In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6 million. The deal was set be completed in March 2008 but eventually collapsed due to LK's lender refusing to provide the funding; KFTY (now KEMO-TV) and KVOS have since been sold to other companies. As of October 10, 2007, Newport has agreed to sell KION-TV, KMUV-LP, K44DN, KKFX-CA, KCOY-TV to Cowles Publishing Company for $41 million. Newport's purchase of the Clear Channel stations and those being resold were granted conditional Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, subject to divestitures of media properties owned by other affiliates of Providence Equity Partners in several other markets. The entire deal closed on March 14, 2008 after several stations, in addition to those being divested by Newport, were placed into trust companies.
In March 2012, Providence Equity Partners began to explore strategic alternatives for Newport Television, which may lead to a sale of the group. In July 2012, it was officially confirmed that Nexstar Broadcasting Group would acquire twelve of Newport's stations, Sinclair Broadcast Group would acquire six, and Cox Media Group would acquire four. As part of the same deal, Newport's CMS operations, branded as Inergize Digital, would go to Nexstar. This deal was followed eight days later by the announcement that WXXA-TV in Albany, New York would be sold to Shield Media, LLC, who would then enter into joint sales and shared services agreements with Young Broadcasting's WTEN.
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Wikipedia