THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502250205
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
In a deal that was greeted with whoops of approval from the station's staff, The New York Times Co. said Friday that it agreed to buy WTKR-TV, Channel 3, the CBS affiliate in Hampton Roads.
Terms weren't disclosed. But TV-station brokers had predicted a sale price in the neighborhood of $100 million. Sources close to the sale process said that The Times outdueled a half-dozen other finalists, including CBS itself, Richmond-based Media General Inc. and a broadcasting company controlled by TV producer Norman Lear.
The seller is Providence, R.I.-based Narragansett Television Inc., which bought WTKR and another station in Providence in 1989 for $150 million. Narragansett has indicated all along that it eventually planned to re-sell both for a higher price. It owns no other broadcast properties.
Reporter Bruce Barry, who has worked for WTKR for 31 years, yelped in glee at a late-afternoon staff meeting at the station's downtown Norfolk studio when the sale was announced.
``Yes, yes. The Times has got the money. They've got the know-how,'' he said. ``For somebody who considers himself a newsman, this is the best it can be.''
Hampton Roads will be the largest TV market for The Times. The flagship for its five-station group is WREG-TV in Memphis, Tenn. It also has stations in Scranton, Pa.; Huntsville, Ala.; Fort Smith, Ark.; and Moline, Ill.
Late last year, Times executives said that they had set aside more than $1 billion to expand the company's station group. Their goal is for electronic media to generate 25 percent of overall revenues within five years. Last year, less than 10 percent of The Times' $2.4 billion in revenues came from something other than its newspaper, magazine and newsprint holdings. In addition to The New York Times, the company's print holdings also include The Boston Globe and Golf and Tennis magazines.
WTKR General Manager Christopher Pike told his staff that The Times' approach to operating TV stations is to heavily stress local programming, particularly news and community affairs. That has been Channel 3's own hallmark throughout its history under several owners, including Landmark Communications Inc., parent of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, which sold the station in 1981.
Pike said that he expects The Times to keep WTKR as a CBS affiliate. There had been rumors that other potential buyers might try to switch the station to another network. In the latest Nielsen ratings, in November, WTKR dropped from first to second in overall ratings in the market. WVEC-TV, the ABC affiliate on Channel 13, took over the top slot.
Pike said that he would like to remain on as general manager, but added that he has been given no promises.
The station sale must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, a process that can take three or four months. A sale price will likely be disclosed within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Narragansett hasn't yet announced a buyer for the Providence station.
Last month, another Hampton Roads station, the Fox Broadcasting affiliate WTVZ-TV, was sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. of Baltimore for $48 million. by CNB