The sale of the San Luis Obispo-based KSBY-TV station and 14 others to The E.W. Scripps Company has been finalized nearly six months after it was announced.
Scripps representatives said Wednesday the firm has closed its $521-million purchase of 15 television stations in 10 markets from Cordillera Communications.
“This acquisition furthers Scripps’ strategies to increase the financial durability and operating performance of our broadcast portfolio,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Local Media divison. “We welcome these stations’ employees to the Scripps team and look forward to working together to continue our strong commitment to journalism and serving local communities.”
The acquisition grows the Scripps local television station footprint to 52 stations in 36 markets with a reach of nearly 21 percent of U.S. television households, Scripps representatives said.
KSBY, which is in Cordillera’s only California market, will become part of Scripps’ other Golden State stations, including KERO-TV in Bakersfield and KGTV in San Diego.
In addition to NBC affiliate KSBY, Scripps acquired Cordillera’s other stations in Montana, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas.
The stations Scripps added in 10 markets have approximately 700 employees.
The pending purchase was announced in October, months after Cordillera, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota, revealed it planned to sell the TV stations.
Federal regulators had to sign off on the acquisition before it could be finalized.
Scripps also recently announced the acquisition of eight TV stations in seven markets from the Nexstar-Tribune merger divestitures.
When that transaction is complete, Scripps will operate 60 television stations in 42 markets, making it the nation’s fourth-largest broadcaster and reaching 30 percent of U.S. TV households.
Scripps, which has its headquarters in Cincinnati, touts itself as one of the nation’s largest independent TV station owners. The company runs a collection of national journalism and content businesses, including Newsy, the next-generation national news network.
The firm also runs an investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
E.W. Scripps formerly owned the Ventura County Star before the firm eliminated its newspaper ownership a few years ago.
Cordillera is the broadcasting arm of Evening Post Industries, a family controlled business based in Charleston, South Carolina.
While it shed the television stations, EPI owns a wide range of media assets, including newspapers, marketing services, and digital companies, and non-media assets including commercial real estate, forestry, hospice care, and pharmaceutical sales.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.