By Stephen Nakrosis
Gray Media on Tuesday said the Federal Communications Commission granted a waiver to local ownership rules, allowing the company to acquire Fox-affiliated KXLT-TV in the Rochester, Minn., television market.
Gray already owns NBC affiliate KTTC-TV, which serves that market.
In its decision, the FCC said it granted the waiver on the grounds that KXLT-TV qualifies as a "failing station," with little chance of an outside buyer wanting to acquire the station.
According to Gray, the waiver represents the first FCC approval of a new combination of two full-power, top-four ranked, same-market television stations in over five years.
The decision comes two months after the parties applied for approval of the transaction, Gray added, and that appears to represent the shortest processing time for a duopoly waiver in FCC history.
Fox and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp share common ownership.
Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 11, 2025 19:01 ET (23:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.