Sale of KHGI-KWNB-KFXL in Ne.

[dlharm]

Has anyone heard any news on the auction / sale of KHGI (ABC Ch. 13), licensed in Kearney, Ne. or KWNB (ABC Ch. 6) which covers western Nebraska.
I believe they needed to be sold as they were part of Pappas Broadcasting and Pappas went bankrupt a few years ago and this was part of the deal.
I believe the Fox affiliate (KFXL Ch. 51) is part of the package. It is the 02 on the OTA of KHGI (13.1).
I thought I heard October 27th was the sale/auction date but hadn't heard anything yet. any news would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Mr Tony]

Hadn't heard anything about it
Don't see any news articles either

27th was supposedly the auction date but it may have changed

 

[Mr Tony]

Has anyone heard any news on the auction / sale of KHGI (ABC Ch. 13), licensed in Kearney, Ne. or KWNB (ABC Ch. 6) which covers western Nebraska.
I believe they needed to be sold as they were part of Pappas Broadcasting and Pappas went bankrupt a few years ago and this was part of the deal.
I believe the Fox affiliate (KFXL Ch. 51) is part of the package. It is the 02 on the OTA of KHGI (13.1).
I thought I heard October 27th was the sale/auction date but hadn't heard anything yet. any news would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Sinclair was the winner
31 1/2 million dollars for 3 stations

http://sbgi.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Q3-15-draft.pdf

In October, the Company entered into a definitive a greement to acquire KFXL (FOX) and KHGI, KHGI-LD, KWNB and KWNB-LD (ABC), in Lincoln, Nebraska for $31.25 million. The transaction, subject tobankruptcy court and FCC approval and subject to standard closing conditions, is expected to close at the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016. The Company expects to fund the purchase price at closing, through cash on hand.

 

[dlharm]

Thanks! Iceberg-- our local paper hasn't had anything about the sale yet--and I couldn't find a mention of the sale itself anywhere I looked.
I appreciate the information.
And the sale price was more than I expected.

 

[Mr Tony]

I stumbled upon it by looking for something else and just happened to see the 3Q press release for Sinclair

 

[Mr Tony]

one note about the sale the whole duopoly thing came up because of the fact the market is so huge (Lincoln/Grand Island/ Kearney/Hastings) there are 2 stations in the DMA with same ownership (and as we all know the FCC frowns upon that).

Even though the market does not have enough ownership voices for a duopoly, Sinclair argues it should be allowed to own both KFXL-TV and KHGI-TV because the stations' coverage areas do not overlap.

 

[Mr Tony]

and they dont overlap

KHGI
http://rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=2001345&map=Y

KFXL
rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=2000686&map=Y

 

[Mr Tony]

Approved by the FCC

 

[Mr Tony]

snippet from northpine

The FCC has granted Sinclair Broadcast Group's purchase of Pappas Liquidating Trust's TV stations in Nebraska, allowing it to own both the ABC and FOX affiliates serving the Tri-Cities area. The $31.25 million deal includes FOX affiliate KFXL-TV/51.1 (Lincoln) and the "Nebraska TV" ABC affiliates including KHGI-TV/13.1 (Kearney), satellite KWNB-TV/6.1 (Hayes Center), and KHGI-CD (North Platte). KFXL's FOX programming is also relayed on KHGI/KWNB subchannels. (KFXL is not mentioned in the FCC letter but its license transfer shows up as granted in the FCC database.) Even though Kearney and Lincoln are in the same market, and the market does not have enough ownership voices for a duopoly, Sinclair argued it should be allowed to own both KFXL-TV and KHGI-TV because the stations' coverage areas do not overlap

 

[dlharm]

Thanks! for the up-date!