Minority-led group eyes Viacom stations Deal for four of five TVs would be worth about $400 million

By Julie A. Zier and Steve McClellan be Bert Ellis of Ellis Communica- tions, Atlanta. Ellis's stated goal is to iacom is considering an offer to VIACOM acquire stations in the mid-South and sell four of its five TV stations to STATIONS IN PLAY mid-Atlantic. Va partnership composed of a Viacom spokesman Carl Folta con- minority, a broadcaster and a buyout WVIT(TV) New Britain, Conn. firms that the company is negotiating fund. KMOV(TV) St. Louis, Mo. for the sale of its TV group, but he According to sources familiar with would not comment further. Smith the deal, the buyers are an unnamed WHEC-TV Rochester, N.Y. and Ellis could not be reached, and Hispanic figure; Santa Barbara, WNYT(TV] Albany, N.Y. Jupiter Partners did not return tele- Calif.-based Bob N. Smith of Smith phone calls. Broadcasting; and Jupiter Partners "Those stations are Company observers say it's no sur- Inc., the second-largest buyout fund traditional network affiliates prise that Viacom is selling its station behind Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & group. "Those stations are traditional Co. One source says a letter of intent and really don't fít with network affiliates and really don't fit estimated at slightly less than $400 the Paramount stations with the Paramount stations or the million was signed last week. or the rollout of the rollout of the United/Paramount Net- Because the licensee is a minority, United/Paramount Network," work," one analyst says. Viacom and Viacom will be able to defer capita! Paramount merged in February. gains on the sale. The stations in- It also has been widely assumed volved are WVIT(TV) New Britain, Viacom's KSLA-TV Shreveport, La., that Viacom will sell off nonessential Conn.; KMOV(TV) St. Louis, and is being carved out of the deal to be assets to reduce its debt load, which WHEC-TV Rochester and WNYT(TV) sold to a different buyer, sources say. climbed to more than $10 billion with Albany, both New York. The leading candidate is rumored to the Paramount acquisition. The com- pany continues to talk with Tele-Com- munications Inc. about the sale of its Full court press on kids TV cable system division. Children's TV advocates will lobby the FCC in full force this week. Speculation also has surfaced that It's all part of a major campaign to insure that the commission enacts the company wants to pare debt as it tougher kids TV rules, Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for explores a possible bid for CBS- Media Education, told BROADCASTING & CABLE last week. Company executives refused com- "The broadcasters are flooding the FCC with all this disinformation; now ment on reports that the company has the commission is going to hear from us," he said. Chester is bringing a del- conferred with Chris Craft about a egation of more than a dozen children's TV activists representing, among possible joini bid for the network. others, the National PTA, National Education Association and American Viacom Paramount also is said to Academy of Pediatrics, to meet with FCC Chairman Reed Hundt on be negotiating for the acquisition of Wednesday and with Commissioner Andrew Barrett on Tuesday. Meetings WSBK(TV) Boston, owned by New with commissioners Rachelle Chong, Susan Ness and Jim Quello also are World Communications. The pur- expected to take place. chase would lock up an affiliate of the CME and others have asked the agency to adopt guidelines that would new network in the sixth-largest TV require TV stations to air seven hours per week of 30-mlnute educational market, where Tribune bought a sta- programs. tion last year in the name of the Warn- Hundt has told broadcasters that the agency will consider a notice of pro- er Bros, network. Viacom Paramount posed rulemaking (NPRM) on children's TV early next year. Chester pre- recently bought Combined Broadcast- dicted that an NPRM might emerge as early as Jan. 12. ing's stations in Philadelphia and The FCC's Mass Media Bureau is working on the Issue, but it's unclear Miami for $120 million, securing what the rulemaking will include. In 1993 the commission asked for com- affiliates in two more valuable mar- ments on how it might clarify the rules it adopted In Implementing the Chil- kets. dren's Television Act of 1990. Under the act, TV stations are required to air Smith Broadcasting owns WETM-TV educational and informational programing as a condition of license renew- Elmira and WKTV(TV) Utica, both New al. However, the FCC rules give broadcasters wide latitude in determining York; KEYT(TV) Santa Barbara; KWCH- what is educational programing and how much is enough. TV Wichita, Kan.; and WWCP(TV) "This [will] be an electronic litmus test for the Clinton FCC," said Chester. Johnstown and WATM(TV) Altoona, "Are they for kids, or are they for just insuring broadcaster profits?" —KM both Pennsylvania. Media Venture Partners is the broker. •