Indianapolis…Emmis Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: EMMS) has signed a definitive agreement with Pegasus Communications Corporation to purchase WBPG-TV, the WB affiliate in Mobile/Pensacola, giving Emmis a second station in the nation’s #63 market.
“The addition of a second station in Mobile/Pensacola will allow us to leverage all the advantages of a duopoly, from providing competitive programming to area viewers, to enhancing sales efforts, to getting discounts through economies of scale,” Randall Bongarten, President of Emmis Television, said.
Emmis currently owns WALA-TV in Mobile/Pensacola, one of the strongest Fox news stations in the region.
The purchase price is $11.5 million, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of March 2003, subject to receipt of various regulatory, network and other approvals.
After the closing, Emmis Television will consist of 16 stations: WKCF-TV, WB 18 in Orlando, FL; KOIN-TV, CBS 6 in Portland, OR; WVUE-TV, FOX 8 in New Orleans; KRQE-TV, CBS 13 in Albuquerque, NM; WSAZ-TV, NBC 3 in Huntington/Charleston, WV; WALA-TV FOX 10 and WBPG-TV WB 55 in Mobile, AL/Pensacola, FL; KSNW-TV, NBC 3 in Wichita, KS; WLUK-TV, FOX 11 in Green Bay, WI; KGUN-TV, ABC 9 in Tucson, AZ; KGMB-TV, CBS 9 and KHON-TV, FOX 2 in Honolulu; KMTV-TV, CBS 3 in Omaha, NE; WFTX-TV, FOX 4 in Ft. Myers, FL; KSNT-TV, NBC 27 in Topeka, KS; and WTHI-TV, CBS 10 in Terre Haute, IN.