NEW YORK: The assets of Young Broadcasting will be put on auction July 14 in New York, according to the Tennessean. Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, the law firm representing Young, told the media outlet there was a “healthy amount of interest” in the auction. Young owns 10 TV stations, including WKRN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Nashville, Tenn.

The rest of the stations are mostly smaller and mid-market, except for KRON-TV in San Francisco, for which Young paid $823 million for in 1999, a record price for a TV station. KRON’s NBC affiliation was subsequently pulled when the network bought an O&O in the market, and KRON’s fortune’s tumbled, taking Young with it.

Young filed for Chapter 11 in February, listing total assets of more than $575.6 million, versus total debt exceeding $980.4 million. Young was delisted from the NASDAQ in May and now trades on the pink sheets for around 2 cents a share.
-- Deborah D. McAdams