This article has been updated with new information.
EVANSVILLE – One Evansville news station is trying to buy another.
Gray Media, the parent company behind WFIE-NBC14, announced Friday it had reached a deal to purchase 10 television stations owned by Allen Media Group. One of those is WEVV in Evansville, the CBS and FOX affiliate that currently airs on channel 44.
And it appears Gray intends to keep both stations running, at least for now.
The news release said the purchases would allow the company to reach three new markets and expand its offerings in seven others. Evansville is among the latter. The move would “strengthen the company’s presence” by “creating new duopolies that would allow Gray to preserve and deepen public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming,” the release states.
In a phone call to the Courier & Press Friday afternoon, Kevin Latek – executive vice president and chief legal and development officer for Gray – said his company “bought the station because we like what (it’s) doing and think it can add to what WFIE is doing.”
“We have never, ever bought a TV station and shut it down,” he said.
The total sale is valued at $171 million. It still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission before going through. Gray expects the sale to close sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025.
WEVV first launched its news operation in 1992 as a FOX affiliate. After years of low ratings, it pulled the plug in 2001, replacing its broadcasts with reruns of “M*A*SH” and “Home Improvement.” They made a comeback in 2015 in their Downtown studios on Carpenter Street.
If the sale goes through, Gray will be the station’s fourth owner in the last 11 years. Nexstar Media Group, owner of Evansville’s Eyewitness News on WEHT/WTVW, sold the station to Bayou City Broadcasting in 2014. Allen took over in 2019.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Owner of 14 News reaches a deal to buy another Evansville station
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
