ATLANTA—Gray Television and Byron Allen’s Allen Media Broadcasting have struck a deal for a group of TV stations at a price tag of $380 million. The stations, owned by Quincy Media and representing seven markets, are being divested by Gray TV as part of its acquisition of Quincy Media.

In February, Gray TV acquired Quincy Media for $925 million. To get regulatory approval for the deal, Gray agreed to sell Quincy-owned stations in markets where Gray TV already operates.

The stations being acquired by Allen Media Broadcasting are KVOA (NBC) in Tucson, Ariz.; WKOW (ABC) in Madison, Wis.; WSIL/KPOB (ABC) in Paducah, Ky.-Harrisburg, Ill.; KWWL (NBC) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; WXOW/WQOW (ABC) in La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wis.; WAOW/WMOW (ABC) in Wausau-Rhinelander, Wis.; and WREX (NBC) in Rockford, Ill.

Gray’s acquisition of Quincy and the sale of the stations to Allen Media Broadcasting will close simultaneously, which Gray expects to happen in the third quarter of 2021.

For Allen Media Broadcasting, this acquisition is part of a larger strategy that has the company planning to invest nearly $10 billion to acquire more ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox TV stations over the next two years, per Byron Allen. He says the goal is to become the largest broadcast television group in America.

These stations, along with all of Allen Media Broadcasting’s media assets, are set to be part of its recently launched streaming service, Local Now. 

ATLANTA—Gray Television has come to terms on a deal to acquire Quincy Media Inc. for $925 million in cash. With the deal, Gray TV will add a total of 11 TV stations, and will own TV stations serving 102 U.S. TV markets reaching 25.4% of U.S. TV households, it said.

QMI is a family-owned media company based in Quincy, Ill. It owns and operates TV stations and digital platforms in 16 markets, primarily in the Midwest. Gray TV will acquiring the following TV stations from QMI:

• WPTA (ABC/NBC) and WISE (CW), Fort Wayne, Ind. 
• WEEK (NBC/ABC/CW), Peoria, Ill. 
• WREX (NBC/CW), Rockford, Ill. 
• KBJR (NBC/CBS) and KDLH (CW), Duluth, Minn. 
• KTIV (NBC/CW), Sioux City, Iowa 
• KTTC (NBC/CW), Rochester-Mason City, Minnesota-Iowa 
• WBNG (CBS/CW), Binghamton, N.Y. 
• WVVA (NBC/CW), Bluefield-Beckley, WVa. 
• WGEM (NBC/Fox/CW), Quincy, Ill. 

To meet to regulatory approvals, Gray will divest QMI stations in these markets: 

• Tucson, Ariz. 
• Madison, Wis. 
• Paducah-Harrisburg, Kentucky-Illinois 
• Cedar Rapids, Iowa 
• La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wis. 
• Wausau-Stevens Point, Wis. 

In addition to these stations, Gray TV will acquire Quincy’s Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV in South Bend, Ind., and WGEM (AM)/-FM in Quincy, Ill. Gray will not acquire QMI’s newspaper operations, which will be divested prior to the deal closing.

“We are honored and humbled to be selected by Quincy’s shareholders to acquire this terrific company,” said Hilton H. Howell Jr., Gray’s executive chairman and CEO. “We are very excited to welcome their dedicated journalists, account executives and technologists to the Gray family. With the addition of these professionals and their stations, Gray will become a stronger company with an even larger platform of high quality television stations to better serve the public interest first.”

“Many of our shareholders, board members and employees are descendants of two families who have been in the company for 95 years and in the media business for over 100 years. The focus has always been on serving our communities with the best in news, public service and community involvement. It is a legacy of which we are very proud,” said Ralph M. Oakley, president/CEO of QMI. “While this is the end of a long and successful chapter, it also represents a wonderful new chapter for the communities we serve and our employees with the acquisition of the stations by Gray. They are great operators and people and our philosophies very much mirror one another.” 

Gray expects the deal to close in the second or third quarter of 2021.

MELVILLE, N.Y. —ChyronHego has been collaborating with Nexstar, Sinclair and Quincy Media to source and aggregate current U.S. statistics on how COVID-19 is spreading at the national, state and local levels. 

This data is being gathered by reporters at call-letter stations across the U.S., organized by ChyronHego and then provided to local broadcasters so they can provide the latest information to viewers.

“We knew that with our technology and the human resources of our broadcast partners, we could help ensure that local news outlets have the tools and information they need to tell this story for their communities,” said Drew Hahn, senior vice president, customer success at ChyronHego.

The key piece of ChyronHego technology being used in this circumstance is the NewsTicker content management platform, which features the data management capabilities of Prime Graphics. Nexstar, Sinclair and Quincy Media have standardized on NewsTicker at the local level.

PLUS: FEMA Effort Provides Masks to Broadcasters

“Our team worked day and night to help make this collaboration a success,” said Hahn. “We’re proud the database we’ve created ultimately will help people and communities across the U.S. to stay informed and stay safe in this very difficult time.”

For more information, visit www.chyronhego.com.  

QUINCY, Ill.—Quincy Media is among the leading local television groups in the United States, with stations nationwide from Arizona to New York, as well as two newspapers, two radio stations and digital media platforms. The TV operation involves 24 transmitters, 15 master control rooms, 19 production control rooms and a growing OTT presence simulcast alongside the main terrestrial broadcasts.

An operation of this scale requires comprehensive compliance monitoring in all senses of the term—technical faults, advertising data collection and complaints resolution. Because of this we chose to install a new logging system based on a suite of Mediaproxy products: LogServer TSoIP (Transport Stream over IP), OTT Logging and Monitoring and TS Monitoring/Analysis.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

The need to replace an older monitoring system was one factor behind the upgrade, but there were many other considerations, both technical and operational. Particularly because the old system did not work if the terrestrial transmission went down due to a power outage or other reasons, we needed something that would continue recording no matter what and have 24-hour record capability.

This last feature was important because we have to be able to produce transmission recordings for reference and confirmation in case of queries or protests. If there are any complaints from viewers or advertisers, we need to be able to verify what actually went out. At certain times of the day some of our stations run unattended so having a comprehensive monitoring-recording system gives us the confidence that everything runs as expected. And if it doesn’t, we can go back and see why.

To find a suitable replacement our technical teams tested and demoed three to four different units. From these sessions the Mediaproxy systems emerged as offering all the necessary features. Mediaproxy seemed the most reliable and had an easy-to-use, intuitive interface. It also has 24-hour recording capability and can keep operating even if the transmission is interrupted.

Quincy Media always monitors off air, rather than from the direct output of the broadcast center. This means the compliance recording will show exactly what viewers see and reflect the actual fault. The Mediaproxy systems also have capacity for monitoring OTT—although this has not been implemented yet, we’re working with our OTT providers to find a place to monitor our streams without the need for us to pay a monthly fee to them. There’s also been some discussion about implementing the specific commercial insertion function for OTT. It’s not up and running yet but it’s not far off.

GETTING RESULTS

Among the technical faults LogServer has been used to detect since the installation began in mid-July are: off-air signal problems, pictures appearing in black for too long, lost audio, issues with closed captions, equipment failure and operator error. We’re also using the system to log news broadcasts to ensure the correct music licensing clearances have been made and monitor competitors’ transmissions to see what advertising is being carried.

Each of Quincy Media’s local TV stations has its own, standalone monitoring setup. These are self-contained but they link together on an IT network so that any employee at any station within the group—whether in sales, engineering, administration or news—can see what is going on.

The feedback we’ve had from all departments has been positive, both about the ease of use and what the system can do. As a manager, I can watch any station from my desktop and I log into one of the systems at least once a day.

Brendan Ford started working in the broadcast industry in 1992 at WGEM TV, a Quincy Media Inc. property. During his career he has taken on roles in production, creative services and as a director/technical director for weekend newscasts. In 2015, Ford joined the QMI Corporate team as director of control room operations. He can be contacted atbford@quincymedia.com.

For more information, visitwww.mediaproxy.comor call 646-951-5051.

MELBOURNE, Australia—Illinois-based TV, radio and newspaper group Quincy Media is updating its monitoring and compliance operations, part of which will include the installation of MediaProxy’s LogServer compliance logging and off-air monitoring platform.

Quincy Media will use the LogServer system at all of its TV stations to log and monitor 138 off-air television services, as well as OTT streams. Qunicy’s specific setup will include the LogServer TSoIP, OTT Logging and Monitoring and TS Monitoring/Analysis systems; they will be deployed and supported by NFB Consulting.

Quincy Media owns television stations across nine states—Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Virginia and Wisconsin.

CINCINNATI –Cordillera Communications has announced the sale of 15 of 16 of its TV stations to the E.W. Scripps Company and the 16th Tucson station to Quincy Media, Inc. The deal marks the exit of the St. Paul, Minn.-based station group–which is owned by Charleston, S.C. company Evening Post Industries–from the broadcasting business. Cordillera had announced in August that it had planned to sell its stations. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 is valued at $521, and subject to federal regulatory approvals.

The acquisitions in 10 markets grows the Scripps local television station footprint to 51 stations in 36 markets with a reach of nearly 21 percent of U.S. TV households. Scripps is not buying Cordillera’s remaining station–NBC affiliate KVOA-TV in Tucson, Ariz.– because Scripps already operates a duopoly in that market. There are no other overlapping markets.

All but one of the acquired stations rank No. 1 in their markets. It also adds depth to its local media footprint through the addition of three duopolies-–in Helena and Great Falls, Montana, and Corpus Christi, Texas, according to Scripps.

The stations also diversify Scripps’ affiliate relationships, adding more NBC and CBS stations to Scripps’ strong ABC roster.

“Through this transaction, Scripps will operate the No. 1-rated TV stations in a third of its markets, enhancing the durability of our portfolio,” said Brian Lawlor, president of the Local Media division of Scripps. “The acquisition also allows us to go deeper in new markets with the addition of three new duopolies, including two with Big Four combinations.”

After the acquisition, Scripps will have the No. 1 Nielsen-rated TV stations in 11 of its 36 markets with 18 ABC stations, 11 NBC stations, seven CBS stations and two Fox stations. Scripps will operate seven duopolies.

The stations Scripps is acquiring are:

• WLEX, the NBC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky
• KOAA, the NBC affiliate in Colorado Springs, Colorado
• KATC, the ABC affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana
• KSBY, the NBC affiliate in Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, California
• KRIS, the NBC affiliate, and KAJA, a Telemundo affiliate, in Corpus Christi, Texas
• KPAX and KAJJ, a CBS affiliate in Missoula, Montana
• KTVQ, a CBS affiliate in Billings, Montana
• KXLF/KBZK, the CBS affiliate in Butte-Bozeman, Montana
• KRTV, the CBS affiliate, and KTGF, the NBC affiliate, in Great Falls, Montana
• KTVH, the NBC affiliate, and KXLH, the CBS affiliate, in Helena, Montana

The 10 Cordillera markets have about 700 employees.

“Our stations are as strong as they’ve been across any point in our 32-year history,” said Terry Hurley, president of Cordillera. “We’ve had a good run, and we’re proud of how our stations have excelled over the years. We’re also heartened to know they’ll continue to be in exceptional hands.”

The company had indicated that it was exiting the broadcast business following the spectrum auctions in 2017, which it said “generated significant interest from established parties throughout the country”

“The two buyers represent the best possible scenario: They are poised to grow the stations and empower them to compete in this changing media landscape, and, more importantly, they will provide a great home and opportunities for the dedicated employees of Cordillera,” Hurley said.

Methuselah Advisors acted as financial advisor. 

BURLINGTON, MA.–Quincy Media has adopted Avid’s MediaCentral platform for its news operations, expanding Avid’s reach across all of Quincy’s stations in 14 U.S. markets. The adoption is part of Quincy’s news production infrastructure upgrade, allowing the station group to optimize news workflow for enterprise-wide collaboration, choosing tools and workflow solutions to create, distribute and optimize news content.

All Quincy stations are connected via a centralized server, giving journalists, editors and producers universal access to all available content on a single newsroom management system to build their stories. Six of Quincy’s stations also pool content on an on-going basis to produce a shared weekly newscast called Wake up Wisconsin. One station produces the newscast and redistributes the content to the other six stations located across Wisconsin.

[Read:Quincy Newspapers Updates Nine Stations With Avid Gear]

Quincy Media has equipped each of its journalists with a laptop, camera, and access to MediaCentral—which provides a common user interface and gives everyone across the station group access to the same creation and management tools. Each laptop includes Avid Media Composer | Cloud Remote, to enable remote video production. Field teams use MediaCentral to upload their videos back to their station with the integrated IBM Aspera FASP high-speed file transfer software.

Quincy Media’s workflow also comprises Avid NEXIS, MediaCentral | Panel for Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid AirSpeed, and MediaCentral | Command. Using the Avid NEXIS software-defined storage platform, Quincy Media has expanded its storage capacity for HD files and enabled multiple stations to access content stored on the system, quickly transfer media, and broadcast programs from multiple control rooms using Avid AirSpeed servers for playout.

RAYMOND, MAINE—Antenna maker Dielectric today announced the first two of nine new antennas for Quincy Media Inc. will be delivered to the broadcast group’s KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa, and WXOW in La Crosse, Wis., in spring 2018.

The stations are part of the first two phases of the Federal Communication Commission’s repack of TV spectrum. Both KTIV (channel 14) and WXOW (channel 28) will take delivery of Dielectric TFU-WB UHF broadband pylon arrays.

The nine QMI station deal includes a mix of UHF and VHF antennas, filters and transmission line customized for each station, according to a Dielectric announcement. The deal also covers primary and interim antennas needed to complete repack work.

“We have all of our primary and interim antenna designs for Phase One and Two ready to go and are now turning our attention to the later phases,” said QMI corporate director of engineering Brady Dreasler.

With KTIV and WXOW in the first two phases, the station group needed a relatively fast turnaround, and the experience of the station group with Dielectric over the years gave it the confidence to award the company the contract, he added.

Brady Dreasler

Using the Dielectric Antenna Systems Planning software program, Dreasler with the assistance of Dielectric global OEM sales manager Cory Edwards, designed the new side- and top-mounted high-power antennas for each station, a press release from the company said.

KTIV is moving from channel 46 to 14, which Dreasler described as “a remarkable difference in RF spectrum.” Achieving the same antenna gain required the new antenna to be longer than the original, which translated into additional weight, he said.

With the assistance of Dielectric, QMI has been able to minimize the work needed for the existing tower by “achieving the right combination of size and weight,” said Dreasler.

Most of the antenna arrays QMI will deploy have been designed with elliptical polarization to improve ATSC 1.0 performance and to prepare the stations for an ATSC 3.0 future.

To make the switch from old to new channel assignments easier, QMI is acquiring compact, high-efficiency band-tunable filters from Dielectric. Doing so, will allow stations to operate on their pre-transition channel assignments and retune to their new repack channel assignments when new antennas are installed, Dielectric said.

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.

CINCINNATI—As Qunicy Media prepares for the spectrum repack, the company has announced a deal with GatesAir that will have the company provide transmitters, installation and commissioning services across Quincy’s TV station group. GatesAir’s ULXTE liquid-cooled UHF and VAXTE air-cooled VHF transmitters will be included as part of the deal; some existing GatesAir transmitters at select stations will be modified to meet new channel assignments.

ULXTE

Quincy uses GatesAir transmitters today across all of its stations. The new transmitters will help to simplify channel relocation and is expected to reduce utility costs and maintenance compared with Qunicy’s previously older RF technology.

GatesAir is also providing assistance in determining if existing transmitters can be channel-changed. Part of this process will include bringing in temporary backup transmitters to Quincy sites.

Brady Dreasler, corporate director of engineering for Quincy Media, believes that GatesAir’s XTE exciter present in the installed transmitters will help with Quincy’s eventual transition to ATSC 3.0.