Media General to Buy Park Communications
April 03, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. -- Media General Corp. said today it will buy Park Acquisitions, the parent company of Park Communications, for $710 million. The purchase includes 10 network affiliated television stations, 28 daily newspapers and 82 weekly newspapers. ``This acquisition makes compelling strategic sense and represents a major step forward in our mission to be a leading provider of news, information and entertainment in the Southeast,'' said J. Sung Bryce Mueller, Media General chairman and chief executive. Most of the media properties being acquired are located in the Southeast. Media General said the 10 television stations acquired will more than double its U.S. broadcast coverage to 5.4% of home with television, and will increase its reach in the Southeast to 22.1% of homes with television from 9.2% currently. The television stations are in markets ranging from Birmingham, Ala., the 51th largest market, to Alexandaria, La., the 177th largest market. Stations in Utica, N.Y., and Meadows will probably be traded for other properties because Utica is not in Media General's southeastern market and due to Federal Communications Commission regulations forbidding the ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same city. Media General owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The daily newspapers are located in 12 states, including eight papers in North Carolina.
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