News-Press & Gazette Gets $12M For KJCT

Excalibur is buying Grand Junction, Colo., ABC affil for $3 million plus $9 million from Gray Television, which will operate it.

By Staff | August 2, 2013 | 2:34 p.m. ET.

News-Press & Gazette Co. (NPGCo) today announced the sale of its ABC affiliate KJCT Grand Junction, Colo. (DMA 185), and associated low-power television stations broadcasting ABC, CW and Telemundo to Excalibur Broadcasting LLC for $3 million.

After the sale is complete, Gray Television will provide back-office, engineering and sales support services to Excalibur. Excalibur is a newly formed company and this will be its first television station. Excalibur is owned and operated by Don Ray, who recently retired as Regional VP of Gray and GM of WSAZ Charleston-Huntington, W.Va. WSAZ-TV is owned and operated by Gray.

In a separate transaction that is also subject to the sale of the licensed assets of the station to Excalibur, NPGCo will sell certain other assets of these television stations to Gray for $9 million.

NPGCo said the transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Joanne McDonald says:

August 2, 2013 at 4:31 pm

I rather be happy with NPG liking my idea to buy NTV and KFXL from Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting to keep them afloat than seeing those stations at the risk of going dark at the end of May 2014 due to the bankruptcy and turmoil of the Pappas broadcasting organization. Raycom may be great as a successor for the whole entire Gray Television chain.

Joanne McDonald says:

August 2, 2013 at 5:09 pm

If Gray wants to stay in business I’d be happy. Gray’s Excalibur would be a great fit for KHAS in Hastings to form a tripoly within the Lincoln Grand Island Hastings Kearney TV DMA with 10/11 and KSNB(can carry KHAS NBC HDTV on DT3 and THIS TV SDTV on DT4 while KHAS carry 10/11 Central Nebraska HDTV on DT3) and KNOP in North Platte to form a duopoly with low power station 10/11 North Platte(can carry it’s station in SDTV 16:9 widescreen on DT3).