KTUU in Anchorage to be sold

[artie fufkin 0]

Being reported that KTUU in Anchorage to be sold to Schurz Communications.

[alaskanews 123]

I wasn't going to say anything, but it was in the paper today, so it's already out. I was initially not thrilled about this at all. But from some of the e-mails that I have seen and the people I have talked to it sounds like this could actually be a pretty good thing. This may speed up our transition to HD. There are even rumblings of the possibility of a whole new building/studio somewhere down the road. So who knows, I'm still a little weary, but not as much as I was yesterday.

 

Here is the Anchorage Daily News article:

 

KTUU ownership change in works

INDIANA COMPANY: The FCC will need to give its approval.

 

By WESLEY LOY

[email protected]

 

(12/20/07 01:54:38)

 

The owner of KTUU Channel 2, the NBC affiliate and top-rated television news player in Anchorage, is negotiating a sale of the business to an Indiana media company.

 

In a note to employees Wednesday, general manager Al Bramstedt Jr. said longtime station owner Zaser and Longston Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., had signed a letter of intent to sell KTUU to Schurz Communications Inc. of South Bend, Ind.

 

What remains now, Bramstedt said, is a purchase agreement and approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Both of those steps are "very likely," and the sale could close sometime next summer.

 

According to its Web site, Schurz is a privately owned company that has nine television stations, owns or operates 16 radio stations, has two cable companies and publishes 13 daily and seven weekly newspapers. Its flagship newspaper is in South Bend, where it also owns one TV and two radio stations.

 

Schurz operates in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, Kansas and Virginia.

 

In an interview Wednesday, Bramstedt said the owner made it known that the station was available and Schurz made an offer.

 

Schurz managers came to Anchorage and spent a day at the station in early November, and Bramstedt said the visit left him with a good feeling the Indiana company would maintain the station's strong local news budget.

 

KTUU has about 120 employees, many of them involved in producing newscasts, he said.

 

"Those people are what makes us number one" in the ratings, Bramstedt said. "It's working, so why mess with something that's worked so long?"

 

Zaser and Longston bought KTUU and a sister station in Fairbanks for a reported $4.6 million in 1981 from a company run by Bramstedt's father. The company led Channel 2's move into broadcasting of programs on the same day they were shown in the Lower 48. Previously, most programming was shown in Anchorage a week or two after being aired in the rest of the country. The company also muscled up Channel 2's news operation.

[artie fufkin 0]

I don't think you need to worry too much about the sale. Schurz has a generally good reputation in the business. They invest in their stations. If they believe a new building is needed, they will do that and the HD upgrade simultaneously. Schurz is a big proponent of duopolies, actual or virtual. If KTUU is not doing a prime time news now, it will at some point. I'm pretty sure they will look to partner with KTBY or KYES not only news, but also operations as well. Although KTBY has a news agreement with KTVA, anything is possible.

 

Bottom line: probably not too much change with the current operations, but expansion into new operations.

[alaskanews 123]

KYES is a possibility, although I know we always thank our lucky stars we don't have to do a prime time cast, KTVA's product at 10 sucks and I would blame it partly because they have to crank out a 9 pm show on KTBY.

[5Viewer 1]

Schurz, is an okay company. Though, I personally don't like any aspects of WSBT, besides the website (which is okay), I also think this might be a good think for KTUU.