Denali Media Buying Three Alaska Stations

Denali Media Holdings, a subsidiary of General Communication Inc. has agreed to purchase three Alaska TV stations: CBS affiliate KTVA Anchorage (DMA 145) and NBC affiliates KATH-LD Juneau (DMA 201) and KSCT-LP Sitka (DMA 201).

Denali Media Holdings will purchase KTVA from Alaska Broadcasting Co./Media News Group (Affiliated Media Inc. FCC Trust) of Denver. KATH and KSCT will be purchased from North Star Broadcasting, based in Juneau.  No purchase price was announced. The agreements are subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals from the FCC, with closings anticipated in the first quarter of 2013.

GCI President Ron Duncan says that Denali Media Holdings and the station purchases are part of GCI’s strategy to add value to its media enterprise. “Our intention is to invest our resources and transform KTVA, KATH and KSCT into a news and entertainment leader unparalleled in Alaska,” Duncan says.

“We look at these purchases as the first step toward providing a new statewide platform for news and information, as well as providing unique content and value for GCI’s video subscribers.”

Denali Media Holdings also announced that former KTUU Anchorage, Alaska, News Director John Tracy will be the lead consultant in the rebuilding and rebranding of the news departments. Tracy was news director at KTUU from 1989 to 2008, when he left to become a partner in Bradley Reid & Associates, an Anchorage-based advertising and public relations firm.

Denali Media Holdings is a subsidiary of GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications company. GCI’s cable plant, which provides voice, video, and broadband data services, passes 80% of Alaska households.