Young Broadcasting Inc. (NASDAQ: YBTVA) announced it would skip a $6.125 million interest payment to keep from going under. The payment, due Jan. 15 was on the company’s 8.75 percent senior subordinated notes due 2014. The beleaguered broadcaster is holding off until it can restructure its debt. The New York-based pure-play TV station company’s debt stood at $821 million in debt as of the end of last September.
The group paid a record $821 million for KRON-TV in San Francisco nearly 10 years ago when the station was an NBC affiliate. NBC subsequently bought its own O&O in the market, leaving Young to program KRON. The station, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate, has been for sale since last January, to no avail.
Young has been contemplating bankruptcy since last November. It retained UBS Investment Bank and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal to advise it on restructuring. Young, which own 10 stations including KRON, said it had a 30-day grace period on the skipped interest payment.
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