Calkins Media has sold its TV stations to Raycom Media.
Calkins owns ABC affiliates WAAY in Huntsville, Ala., WTXL in Tallahassee, Fla., and WWSB in Sarasota, Fla.
Raycom already owns NBC affiliate WAFF in Huntsville. The Burlington County Times reports Mark Contreras CEO of Calkins Media told them WAAY will be sold to Raycom partner American Spirit Media, LLC.
Under the agreements of sale, employees at WAAY, WWSB and WTXL will be offered positions with the new owners, Contreras said.
“This has nothing to do with how our stations were performing,” he stressed. “They’ve won numerous journalism awards. We were very happy with the stations.
“However, the cost to Calkins for additional content produced by other networks, cable and satellite providers makes it “less and less advantageous for the small broadcast company,” Contreras explained. “Long term, it could put us in a position where we weren’t able to serve our communities well.”
TVNewsCheck reports the station group is “exiting the broadcast TV business.”