Owner of Richmond's WTVR will trade station

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: January 08, 2009

-- WTVR is finally changing hands.

Raycom Media Inc. will swap the Richmond CBS affiliate with Local TV LLC, which will give Raycom the Birmingham, Ala., Fox affiliate, WBRC.

The exchange should bring Raycom into compliance with a Federal Communications Commission rule forbidding a television company from owning two stations in the same market.

In April, Raycom, which already owned WTVR, bought Lincoln Financial Group, which owned NBC affiliate WWBT. Required by federal statute to sell one of the local stations, in June Raycom found a potential buyer for WTVR, Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

But the U.S. Department of Justice rejected that $85 million sale, without offering an explanation. In August, the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to compel Raycom to sell one of its Richmond stations within a flexible deadline.

This week, Raycom announced the swap with Local TV, which is based in Fort Wright, Ky., a suburb of Cincinnati. It will not be a straight exchange -- Raycom will give Local TV additional compensation. WBRC is worth more because Birmingham is the 40th largest market in the country, according to Nielsen Media Research. Richmond is the 58th largest.

"I'm thrilled WTVR has been acquired by really first-rate broadcasters who are committed to serving the communities where they are located," said Peter Maroney, the station's vice president and general manager.

"The thing that impresses me the most about them is that they are willing to think out of the box about our business. They are willing to be very innovative technologically at a time when technology is changing the face of our business every day. And they are also willing to look at content, too," Maroney said.

It has been 14 stressful months since Raycom began work on buying Lincoln, necessitating the eventual sale of WTVR, and the deal with Local TV is "a win-win for both companies," Maroney said. The Montgomery, Ala.-based Raycom has long sought to own a station in Birmingham -- it already owns stations in Montgomery and Huntsville. Local TV will now have a station in Richmond to complement its CBS affiliate in Norfolk, WTKR.

Not only will the Richmond market be able to keep abreast of happenings in Norfolk and at the beach, "WTKR just gained a bureau in the capital, right on the brink of what will probably be one of the most important [legislative] sessions in a long, long time," Maroney said.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval, primarily from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

Raycom owns 46 television stations in 18 states. Local TV, which was founded in 2007, owns 17 stations in 14 states.
Contact Daniel Neman at (804) 649-6408 or dneman@timesdispatch.com.