I don't repost many stories on the local TV business, but having seen the trials and tribulations of KRON close up in San Francisco this is noteworthy. I LOL'd at the last paragraph in this excerpt.
If parties in the Young Broadcasting bankruptcy were betting an auction would ignite a bidding war, they'd be better off playing the slots in Vegas.
"My sense is they have very short list of people interested," said a source in the financial community.
According to other industry sources, there are at least three entities possibly interested in obtaining all, or at least a piece, of the bankrupt station group: Local TV LLC, Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Silver Point Capital.
And the same sources speculate that the Young group minus KRON San Francisco could go for between four and seven times cash flow, resetting station values for other troubled station groups.
KRON is the one-time NBC affiliate for which Young paid a staggering $823 million in 2000 in what one industry insider has called "the dumbest deal ever done."
via TVnewsday.com
any idea what happpens to KRON 4 if all the other stations got sold?
djm, as far as I know the auction is for all the assets/stations, I just highlighted KRON because it was interesting to me, and had that great quote.
I work a Young station. Including having my director job cut and forced to get a demontion and a MAJOR paycut. The last year and a half has been hell on my family and myself thanks to the ineptitude by Young. It was that or unemployment.
Whatever happens, we won’t miss their arrogance and them draining our resources to pay for their mistakes.
I work FOR a Young station I should say.
William, I am sorry to hear that, and didn’t mean to make light of the plight of any individuals. That does match my understanding of the situation though. That the rest of Young’s business was basically crushed by the fact that they crazily overpaid for KRON.
I once worked for a Young station…luckily I jumped ship before things got REALLY bad…but it was HORRIBLE while I was there. Cuts across the board, people losing their jobs after 10+ years with Young…just a bad situation all the way around.
TBN Will buys KRON TV
KRON currently uses CNN to carry most of their National News reports so Turner could very well be a possibility. If Young is sold with the exception of KRON I believe the bank holds on to Channel 4 until the economic climate improves or someone comes and buys the station.