Community News Media is buying Rincon Broadcasting, which owns several stations in the Upper Midwest, just a month after Rincon closed on a deal to buy several of the stations from CNM.
A dozen applications for transfer of control, filed with the FCC on March 24, indicate Community News Media LLC will buy Rincon for $116.5 million. The transfers include 15 full-power TV stations in 12 markets, along with numerous low-power TV and translator stations.
The Upper Midwest stations being sold include ABC affiliate KLKN/8 (Lincoln), CW affiliate WVTV/18 (Milwaukee), ABC/CBS affiliate KTVO/3 (Kirksville-Ottumwa), and CBS/ABC affiliate KHQA/7 (Hannibal-Quincy). Other markets are listed on Rincon’s website.
Soohyung Kim holds 100% of the votes in Community News Media while Deborah McDermott serves as CEO.
If the transaction sounds familiar, it’s because Community News Media previously sold several stations, including KLKN, to Rincon. A notification of consummation filed with the FCC indicates that sale closed on Feb. 27.
Community News Media has previously done business as one of its subsidiary names, Standard Media Group.
Rincon, headed by Todd Parker, was formed last year with purchases of stations from Sinclair, Imagicomm, and Community News Media.
After closing on the sales to Rincon in February, Community News Media LLC does not currently own any other broadcast stations. Kim and McDermott hold attributable interests in MediaCo Holding Inc., which indirectly owns several full-power TV stations and more than a dozen radio stations outside the Upper Midwest.
Disclosure: Jon Ellis is an employee of Gray Media Group. The statements and views expressed in this posting are his own and do not reflect those of Gray Media Group.
