Granite Finds Buyer for Stations

GRANITE FINDS BUYER FOR STATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Allison Romano]
After an initial deal to sell its WB affiliates in Detroit and San Francisco collapsed, Granite Broadcasting announced Tuesday it found a four private-equity firms that will pay $150 million in cash for its two stations. But the sale price is $30 million less than AM Media, a unit of Washington-based private-equity firm Acon Investments, agreed to pay in September for WDWB Detroit and KBWB San Francisco. The deal was killed by the announcement in January that The WB and UPN would shut down and merge into The CW. The CW affiliation in both Detroit and San Francisco was immediately awarded to CBS-owned UPN stations. Granite opted to affiliate with Fox’s new MyNetworkTV in Detroit but lost out on that service in San Francisco, where Young Broadcasting’s independent KRON will be the MNT outlet. When AM Media balked at its deal in February, it sent ripples across Granite. The company warned that it was running out of cash to service its debt. It also had to walk away from a deal of its own to buy a station in Binghamton, N.Y., that was to be funded by proceeds from the two WB stations.
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