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The Morris Communications Corp. will close on its purchase of a baker's dozen of radio stations Dec. 1.
The 33 million purchase by the Augusta, Ga.-based corporation received Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Justice Department approval in mid-October. It involves the radio station assets of Seattle-based Pioneer Broadcasting Co. Inc. in Washington and Anchorage.
The six Anchorage stations are KFQD-AM, KHAR-AM, KMXS-FM, KBRJ-FM, KEAG-FM and KWHL-FM. In Washington, they are KXRO-AM and KDUX-FM in Aberdeen; KWIQ-AM/FM in Moses Lake; KVYF-FM in Wilson Creek; and KKRT-AM and KKRV-FM in Wenatchee.
Upon closing the purchase, Morris will own and operate a total of 24 radio stations in five states. The transaction marks the first broadcast presence for Morris in the Northwest.
Dennis Bookey, market manager for Pioneer Broadcasting in Alaska, said there are no plans to change station formats. Other Morris holdings in Alaska include the Juneau Empire, Peninsula Clarion, Alaska magazine, The Alaska Journal of Commerce and The Milepost. More information is available at www.morriscomm.com.
Competitor bucks pending sale of Fairbanks TV, radio stations A proposed sale of Northern Television Inc.'s radio and TV stations in Fairbanks has been met with opposition.
The Ackerley Group of Seattle in August proposed purchasing Fairbanks NBC affiliate KTVF, and radio stations KXLR-FM and KCBF-AM, from Northern Television. According to Denis Curley, co-president and chief financial officer for Ackerley, the properties would be owned by subsidiary AK Media Group Inc. The purchase price is $8 million and the transaction is subject to Federal Communications Commission approval.
Fairbanks competitor Borealis Broadcasting Inc. has filed a petition to deny the sale, which is pending before the FCC. Borealis broadcasts KWLF-FM, KKAR-AM and KUWL-FM.
The basis for the petition is the possibility that Denver-based Media News Group, parent company to Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Inc., might one day exercise an option buy the properties from Ackerley.
The Ackerley Group has sold Media News Group that option, Curley said, but could only exercise it if FCC rules for markets the size of Fairbanks change, within three to five years. Current rules prohibit a company from owning both a newspaper and television station in a market the size of Fairbanks.
"The agreement to...