Byron Allen inks $171 million sale of ten TV stations to Gray Media

The sale from Allen Media Group will put Gray Media in three new markets.

Byron Allen has inked a deal that will sell ten television stations to Gray Media for $171 million.

Gray Media announced the sale on August 8. The Atlanta-headquartered television broadcasting company is expanding its reach to three new markets through the acquisition with Allen Media Group: Columbus-Tupelo, Mississippi; Terre Haute, Indiana; and West Lafayette, Indiana. Almost half of the local stations in the deal are in Indiana.

According to the announcement from Gray Media, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, following regulatory approval, including certain waivers of FCC local ownership rules, and other customary closing conditions.

The company statement said that it expects this deal “to strengthen the company’s presence in the seven other markets by creating new duopolies that would allow Gray to preserve and deepen public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming.”

This June, Allen also put 28 local TV stations up for sale, hiring the bank Moelis & Company to market the portfolio. At the time, he said Allen Media Group had “received numerous inquiries and written offers” for the stations and that it was the right time to explore them.

“We are going to use this opportunity to take a serious look at the offers, and the sale proceeds will be used to significantly reduce our debt,” Allen said.

Below is the full list of stations included in the sale:

• 75 Huntsville, AL WAAY (ABC)
• 90 Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg WSIL (ABC)
• 109 Evansville, IN WEVV (CBS/FOX)
• 110 Ft. Wayne, IN WFFT (FOX)
• 121 Montgomery, AL WCOV (FOX)
• 124 Lafayette, LA KADN (FOX/NBC)
• 134 Columbus-Tupelo, MS WTVA (ABC/NBC)
• 137 Rockford, IL WREX (NBC)
• 159 Terre Haute, IN WTHI (CBS/FOX)
• 189 West Lafayette, IN WLFI (CBS)