Miami ABC Affiliate Buying NBCU's WTVJ
By Robert Marich -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/21/2008
NBC Universal will sell its Miami station, WTVJ-TV, to Post-Newsweek Stations, which already owns WPLG, the ABC affiliate in the same market. Published reports have put the price tag at $350 million, but neither party confirmed that.
The unusual combination of two major-market affiliates is possible because of the unusually large Spanish-speaking population in South Florida. An FCC rule allows a station to buy another station in the same market if "at least one of the stations in the combination is not ranked among the top four stations in terms of audience share," which in most markets, if not all of them, would prohibit a major affiliated station from buying another one. But according to the Miami Herald, WTVJ is now rated sixth in total-day Nielsen ratings, behind Spanish-speaking Univision and Telemundo outlets.
After the sale NBCU will keep Telemundo outlet WSCV.
