Fisher has closed on its purchase of Univision affiliate KPOU from Equity Broadcasting nearly a year after it submitted the deal for FCC approval. KPOU will pair up with Fisher's ABC affiliate in the market, KATU. The price for the station and a low-power companion: $19.3 million.
DMA 23
FISHER HAS PORTLAND, OR, DUOPOLY—FINALLY
Fisher Communications announced last Friday the overdue completion of the purchase of two Univision affiliates from Equity Broadcasting Corp. for $19.3 million in the Portland, Ore., market (DMA 23). The stations: KPOU La Grande and KPOU-LP Portland.
“This acquisition creates a duopoly in Portland for Fisher and allows us to better serve the market’s fast-growing Hispanic population,” said Fisher CEO Colleen Brown. Fisher also owns KATU, the ABC affiliate in Portland.
KATU’s general manager, John Tamerlano, will manage the duopoly.
The transaction was structured as a like-kind exchange involving the previously announced sale of 18 of Fisher’s radio stations in Eastern Washington and Montana.
Fisher agreed to purchase the stations about a year ago, submitting an application for FCC approval in December 2005. Fisher offered no explanation for the delay in completing the deal.
Fisher Communications is a Seattle-based, publicly traded company that owns or manages 12 full-power and seven low-power television stations and nine radio stations in the Pacific Northwest. The company also owns and operates Fisher Pathways, a satellite and fiber transmission provider, and Fisher Plaza, a media, telecommunications and data center facility located near downtown Seattle.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Comments (0)