Scripps completes deal for nine McGraw-Hill stations

The E.W. Scripps Company announced Dec. 30, 2011, that it completed its acquisition of nine television stations from McGraw-Hill Broadcasting. The company first said it intended to acquire the stations in early October.

The purchase includes ABC-affiliated stations KMGH-TV in Denver; WRTV Indianapolis; KGTV in San Diego; and KERO in Bakersfield, CA, and five stations affiliated with the Spanish-language Azteca America network in Colorado and southern California.

Scripps paid $212 million in cash for the stations in an acquisition that was approved by the Federal Communications Commission earlier in December.

McGraw-Hill announced on Sept. 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two public companies: McGraw-Hill Financial and McGraw-Hill Education. The company's divestiture of its broadcasting group was done to pursue growth of these new companies and create greater shareholder value, it said.

With the acquisition, the Scripps TV station group grows to 19 stations in 16 markets. The acquisition takes the total of Scripps-owned ABC affiliates to 10, making the company the largest independent operator of ABC-affiliated stations.

In early October 2011, when Scripps announced its intention to buy the stations, Rich Boehne, Scripps president and CEO, called the deal "a terrific opportunity to enter some of America's most dynamic media markets and tap into the growing Spanish-language marketplace at a very attractive price."

The acquisition gives the company the chance "to extend our local news strategies into markets with big appetites for community-changing journalism," he added.