Newport Television
| Company type | Private limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | Providence Equity Partners, Sandy DiPasquale |
| Fate | Assets sold to Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Cox Media Group, and others |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Sandy DiPasquale (co-founder) |
| Products | Television stations |
Newport Television, LLC was established in 2007 as a holding company for television stations, created by Providence Equity Partners along with Sandy DiPasquale to purchase television properties from Clear Channel Communications.
History
In September 2007, Newport reached an agreement to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6 million; however, the transaction fell through due to financing complications. These stations were eventually sold to different buyers. By October 2007, Newport negotiated the sale of KION-TV, KMUV-LP, K44DN, KKFX-CA, and KCOY-TV to Cowles Publishing Company for $41 million. The Federal Communications Commission granted conditional approval for the acquisition of Clear Channel's stations and related divestitures, with the entire deal finalizing on March 14, 2008.
In March 2012, Providence Equity Partners began considering strategic options for Newport Television. This led to a July 2012 agreement where Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired twelve stations, Sinclair Broadcast Group obtained six, and Cox Media Group purchased four. Newport’s content management services, operating under the name Inergize Digital, were part of the Nexstar acquisition. Soon after, WXXA-TV in Albany was sold to Shield Media, which entered into operational agreements with Young Broadcasting's WTEN.
Following July 2012, four Newport stations remained unsold; subsequently, Nexstar acquired two California stations (KGET-TV and KGPE) in November. Meanwhile, KMTR was sold to Fisher Communications; due to ownership conflicts, Fisher assigned its FCC license rights to Roberts Media and established service agreements with KVAL-TV.
The FCC approved the sales of Jacksonville and Tulsa stations to Cox and Albany’s WXXA-TV to Shield Media in October 2012. Additional approvals followed for Nexstar’s acquisitions (except for Little Rock stations sold to Mission Broadcasting) and Sinclair’s remaining stations. On December 3, 2012, nineteen station sales were completed; Sinclair acquired non-license assets of WHAM-TV while transferring its license to Deerfield Media. Further FCC approvals for remaining station sales occurred through January and April 2013.
Prior to final regulatory approvals, Fisher Communications announced its sale to Sinclair for $373 million. The KMTR transaction closed on June 1, 2013, marking the conclusion of Newport Television’s operations.
Former stations
- Stations are organized alphabetically by state and city of license.
| Media market | State | Station | Acquisition Year | Divestiture Year | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile | Alabama | WPMI-TV | 2008 | 2012 | |
| WJTC | 2008 | 2012 | |||
| Fairbanks | Alaska | KTVF | 2008 | 2012 | |
| Little Rock | Arkansas | KLRT-TV | 2008 | 2013 | |
| KASN | 2008 | 2013 | |||
| Bakersfield | California | KGET-TV | 2008 | 2013 | |
| KKEY-LP | 2008 | 2013 | |||
| Fresno | KGPE | 2008 | 2013 | ||
| Monterey–Salinas | KION-TV | 2008 | 2008 | [lower-alpha 1] | |
| KCBA | 2008 | 2008 | [lower-alpha 1] | ||
| KMUV-LP | 2008 | 2008 | [lower-alpha 1] | ||
| San Francisco | KFTY | 2008 | 2011 | ||
| Santa Maria | KCOY-TV | 2008 | 2008 | [lower-alpha 1] | |
| KKFX-CA | 2008 | 2008 | [lower-alpha 1] | ||
| Jacksonville | Florida | WAWS | 2008 | 2012 | |
| WTEV-TV | 2008 | 2012 | |||
| Hoisington | Kansas | KOCW | 2008 | 2012 | Satellite station of KSAS-TV. |
| Salina | KAAS | 2008 | 2012 | Satellite station of KSAS-TV. | |
| Wichita | KSAS-TV | 2008 | 2012 | ||
| KMTW | 2008 | 2012 | Operated by Newport but owned by a separate entity. | ||
| Albany–Schenectady | New York | WXXA-TV | 2008 | 2012 | |
| Binghamton | WBGH-CA | 2008 | 2012 | ||
| WIVT | 2008 | 2012 | |||
| Elmira | WETM-TV | 2008 | 2012 | ||
| Rochester | WHAM-TV | 2008 | 2013 | ||
| Syracuse | WSYR-TV
|
Variety Television Network
Variety Television Network (VTV) functioned as a digital subchannel managed by Newport Television across multiple US digital television stations, among which were six stations owned by Clear Channel. The network discontinued its services in early January 2009.
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