WVUE New Orleans Owner Buys NBA's Hornets

Tom Benson, owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints and Fox affiliate WVUE New Orleans, has purchased the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, according to the WVUE website and other sources, including NBA.com, which called it a "tentative agreement." The NBA was selling the club for $338 million.

A press conference to announce Benson as the new owner is expected at the conclusion of the NBA Board of Governors meeting Friday in New York, says WVUE.com. Benson has been in New York since April 12, working out the deal.

Benson's Louisiana Media Company owns WVUE and has invested handsomely in the station, including new master control and studio in Benson Tower, as the former Dominion Tower, overlooking the Superdome, is now called.

Benson made his mega millions in car dealerships, banks and financial services. He bought WVUE from Emmis for $41 million in 2008.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.