TYSONS, Va.—Tegna has announced that Valerie Guyton has been appointed president and general manager at KWES, the NBC affiliate in Midland-Odessa, and KIDY and KXVA, the Fox affiliates serving Abilene and San Angelo.

Guyton will assume the new post on July 31, 2023. She will be responsible for overseeing the stations’ operations across platforms, as well as leading community service efforts and driving results for advertisers.

A native Texan, Guyton has nearly 30 years of experience in television news, most recently as assistant news director at KXAS/NBC 5 in Dallas. While at NBC 5, Guyton developed the “Conversations: Call for Change” franchise, which highlights social justice changemakers throughout the North Texas community. She also served on NBCUniversal’s Diversity Council championing local stations’ Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts. Valerie volunteers with the NBCU Academy, which is a collaborative learning initiative that builds a pipeline from classrooms to newsrooms and other media industries.   

Previously, Guyton was executive producer at Tegna stations WXIA/11Alive in Atlanta and assistant news director at KENS 5 in San Antonio. Earlier in her career, Guyton was executive producer at CNN/HLN and spent time developing programming and show teams at The Weather Channel. One of her first jobs was producing the morning show at Tegna station KHOU in Houston.

“Valerie is a dynamic leader with an impressive background in local and national news,” said Kristie Gonzales, vice president, media operations, Tegna. “Valerie’s superpower is connecting with people, and she has a long track record of innovation and collaborative team building. We are proud to have her back at Tegna to help us tell diverse stories, serve clients and support our neighbors across the entire West Texas community.”

Guyton grew up in Dallas and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a second B.A. in Radio/TV/Film studies from the University of Houston.

MCLEAN, Va., and CINCINNATI — TEGNA this week announced it will acquire Gray Television stations in Toledo, Ohio, and Odessa-Midland, Texas, for $105 million in cash, and E.W. Scripps said it would buy stations in Waco, Texas, and Tallahassee, Fla., from Raycom Media for $55 million.

In June Gray and Raycom announced they were combining their broadcast groups and that as part of the deal Gray would sell WTOL, the CBS affiliate in Toledo, and KWES, the NBC affiliate in Odessa-Midland. TEGNA’s acquisition of the stations is contingent on the close of the Gray-Raycom merger, TEGNA said.

[Read: Gray, Raycom To Combine, Creating Third Biggest Station Group]

E.W. Scripps is buying Raycom’s KXXV/KRHD in Waco and WTXL in Tallahassee, which also are being divested as part of the merger. The stations are ABC affiliates.

“Scripps’ acquisition of these two stations is in line with the strategic vision we set out early this year: to strengthen our portfolio of local television stations while delivering value to shareholders,” said Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson.

TEGNA President and CEO Dave Lougee said WTOL and KWEX are “an excellent strategic and financial fit with our portfolio.”

“WTOL and KWES are strong, leading local media brands, with deep roots in their community,” said Lougee.

The acquisition of WTOL and KWES is structured as an asset purchase being paid for through the use of available cash and borrowing under TEGNA’s existing credit facility.

The acquisition has a purchase price multiple of 5 times expected average 2017/2018 EBITDA, including run rate synergies and net present value tax savings in the high-teen millions (or 5.9 times, prior to tax savings), the station group said.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to EPS in less than a year after close and immediately accretive to free cash flow, it added.

The acquisitions by Scripps will increase its holdings to 35 TV stations in 26 markets. The group’s reach will grow to 18.5% of U.S. TV households.

“Scripps’ acquisition of these two stations is in line with the strategic vision we set out early this year: to strengthen our portfolio of local television stations while delivering value to shareholders,” said Symson.

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