Media General to Relocate KRON-TV

RICHMOND, VA. & SAN FRANCISCO—Broadcast station group Media General has reached an agreement with Disney-owned KGO-TV to allow KRON-TV, Media General’s MyNetworkTV affiliate in San Francisco to sublease space in KGO’s building for its broadcast operations. KGO-TV is the ABC affiliate for San Francisco.

The company said KRON will remain an independent station with its own staff and separate broadcast facilities and that no staffing changes are expected as a result of the move, which is expected to be completed in the next six to nine months. Media General plans to list for sale KRON's current building, located at 1001 Van Ness Avenue.

“When Media General learned of the available space in the building occupied by KGO, we determined that subleasing the space was an ideal solution to our need to make better use of the significant excess capacity in KRON’s existing building,” said George L. Mahoney, president and CEO of Media General. “We see this move as an excellent opportunity to invest in KRON’s future and its ability to even better serve the San Francisco market with outstanding local news. The new space will provide a separate studio for our use that is a significant upgrade from our current studio, and we will configure other space to meet our specific needs. The new space will enable our employees to collaborate more effectively as well as enhance their ability to serve our viewers and advertisers.”

Media General bought KRON and 11 other TV stations from Young last June. Young had become “New Young” in mid-2010 when it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Tom Butts

Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.