|
Paxson buys WBIS+
|
 |
May 12, 1997: 9:00 p.m. ET
Dow Jones, ITT to get $257.5M; business-news programming to end
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Paxson Communications announced plans Monday to buy WBIS+ TV-31, the fledgling sports and business station jointly owned by Dow Jones & Co. and ITT Corp., for $257.5 million.
WBIS+ launched business-news and sports programming just four months ago.
However, the station's new owners plan to terminate business news programming as of June 29.
As a result, more than 250 reporters, editors and technicians will likely lose their jobs.
Paxson plans to revamp the station's programming format, while also changing the channel's call letters to WPXN-TV.
Liberty/Fox Sports will continue to provide 21 hours a week of sports programming.
The station will also sell air time to a variety of ethnic, foreign language, religious and informercial programmers, the company said in a statement.
Paxson Chairman Lowell "Bud" Paxson said TV-31 will become his company's "flagship station for a proposed new nationwide broadcast TV network." (118K AIF or 118KWAV)
He said the transaction adds about 4.1 million cable households and nearly 7 million broadcast TV households to Paxson's existing portfolio.
Plans call for Monday's deal to close in the fourth quarter.
Dow Jones and ITT bought the station that became WBIS+ for $207 million in 1995 from the New York City government.
But earlier this year, ITT put its half of the venture on the block in order to drum up capital to fend off a $10.5-billion hostile takeover bid from Hilton Hotels Corp.
|
|
|
|
|
|
S+ Website
ITT
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
