Now that KRON-TV has dropped in ratings from sign-on to sign-off -- from a
contender for the Bay Area DMA's No. 1 station to No. 5 -- owner Young
Broadcasting Inc. touted it Wednesday during a conference on its financial
performance as one of the nation's top candidates for duopoly, along with its
Los Angeles station, KCAL.
Station groups are prohibited from owning two stations among the top four in
a market.
With one analyst suggesting that it was a case of 'bad news being good news,'
Young chairman Vincent Young commented, 'As smart as we are, we never thought we
would be out of the top four stations.'
Young outbid NBC for KRON-TV in 1999, and it was in talks with NBC about a
sale late last year before NBC agreed to buy KNTV, which replaced KRON-TV as an
NBC affiliate after Young and NBC could not reach a deal on reverse
compensation.
Young predicted that KRON-TV would be valued at more than the $700
million-plus it paid.
Young said its debt made it unable to purchase much, but it was in a position
to trade or sell assets.
Late last year, Young hired Credit Suisse First Boston as a financial adviser
-- a move usually signaling to would-be buyers that one or more of its stations
are for sale.
