EL PASO, TEXAS: Around half of the staff at KDBC-TV have been laid off, the Houston Chronicle reports. Around 50 people were let go under a new joint sales agreement with KTSM-TV, the local NBC affiliate in El Paso. The JSA was announced in October.
KDBC is owned by New World TV, which bought the station out of bankruptcy from Pappas Telecasting. New World took 10 full-power Pappas stations and other assets for $260 million. New World was started by broadcast industry veterans Bert Ellis and Dan Sullivan, who helped develop the concept of local marketing agreements. They were backed by Fortress Credit, Cerberus Capital Management and Angelo Gordon & Co. in the Pappas purchase.
KTSM is owned by a subsidiary of Silver Point Capital, a hedge fund manager in Greenwich, Conn.
