Mission Broadcasting has completed the acquisition of two stations in Little Rock, Fox affiliate KLRT and CW affiliate KASN, from Newport Television for $60 million. Nexstar broadcasting will provide services to the two stations through an outsourcing agreement.

“This transaction is consistent with our core strategy to expand our operations and pursue financial and operating synergies to enhance free cash flow,” Nexstar chairman and CEO Perry A. Sook said in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging our knowledge of the Little Rock market, as we provide services to Mission, for the benefit of viewers of KLRT and KASN while creating an even stronger marketing platform for local area businesses.”

WHP‘s Holly Steuart is the latest general manager to exit a newly-owned Sinclair station, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

Sinclair officially took ownership of six stations from Newport Television on Monday. General managers at WKRC in Cincinnati and WOAI in San Antonio both departed on Friday, before the ownership change took place.

“They said they wouldn’t go forward with me, that they were bringing a new person in,” Steuart told B&C. Read more

Sinclair Broadcasting officially takes the reins today at six stations it acquired from Newport Television: WKRC in Cincinnati, WOAI in San Antonio, WHP in Harrisburg-Lancaster, WPMI and WJTC in Mobile and KSAS in Wichita.

Sinclair has already made management changes at at least two of its newly-acquired stations, WKRC in Cincinnati and WOAI in San Antonio. Broadcasting & Cable reports that WOAI general manager Jackie Rutledge worked her last day at the station on Friday, the same day Les Vann announced his WKRC exit.

Sinclair has also announced the acquisition of WHAM, the ABC affiliate in Rochester, from Newport Television for $54 million, bringing the total amount paid at closing to $459.7 million.

B&C reports John Seabers will be the new general manager at WOAI. Seabers is a former general manager of KABB-KMYS, Sinclair’s San Antonio duopoly. In January, he was promoted to group manager at the company.

Lockwood Broadcast Group announced Tuesday that it will acquire WMAK in Knoxville from Daystar Television. When the deal closes, the station will form a duopoly with WBXX, Lockwood’s CW affiliate in Eastern Tennessee.

Lockwood has applied to change the WMAK call letters to WKNX when the deal closes, which is expected to be in the first quarter of 2013 pending FCC approval.

“We’re excited about adding WKNX, ‘The Knox’ to our growing group of stations. This is a terrific opportunity to better serve the community and advertisers in Knoxville and maximize the wonderful resources in place at WBXX,” Lockwood president Dave Hanna said in a statement.

Denali Media Holdings, a subsidiary of General Communication Inc., has announced plans to purchase three Alaska stations: KTVA in Anchorage, KATH in Juneau and KSCT in Sitka.

Denali Media will purchase CBS-affiliated KTVA from Alaska Broadcasting Co./Media News Group and KATH-KSCT from North Star Broadcasting. No purchase price for the stations was announced.

“Our intention is to invest our resources and transform KTVA, KATH and KSCT into a news and entertainment leader unparalleled in Alaska,” General Communications president Ron Duncan said in a statement. “We look at these purchases as the first step toward providing a new statewide platform for news and information, as well as providing unique content and value for GCI’s video subscribers.” Read more

Nexstar Broadcasting has entered into definitive agreements to acquire three California stations from Newport Television and two Vermont stations from Smith Media, LLC.

Nexstar will pay Newport $35.4 million for KGPE, the CBS affiliate in Fresno; KGET, the NBC-CW affiliate in Bakersfield; and KKEY, the low-powered Telemundo affiliate in Bakersfield. In Vermont, Nexstar will join with Mission Broadcasting to acquire WFFF and WVNY, the Fox and ABC affiliates in Burlington, for $17.1 million.

“These transactions are consistent with our criteria for acquisitions that further strategically diversify our operations, create or present opportunities for virtual duopoly markets and which are financially accretive,” Nexstar chairman Perry Sook said in a statement.

LIN Media has completed its acquisition of the 13 television stations it agreed to purchase in May from New Vision Television.  The acquisition brings the number of stations LIN operates or services to 43.

In a statement, LIN’s president and chief executive officer Vincent Sadusky said, “LIN Media has acquired a terrific collection of broadcast properties with employees that share a similar passion for excellence and growth that have driven our company for the past 50 years. The addition of these television stations further advances our strategy to expand our national footprint and digital media business.”

The deal is worth $342 million, including the assumption of $12 million in debt from New Vision Television.

Read more

News-Press & Gazette Co. has agreed to purchase KEYT from Smith Media, the two companies announced yesterday. The sale, pending FCC approval, should close this year. No financial terms were disclosed.

KEYT is the ABC affiliate in Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo. The sale also includes MyRTV, a digital television property of KEYT. Smith Media has owned KEYT, which has about 50 employees, since 1987.

“We look forward to operating a top-flight station serving the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo communities and advancing their interests in this beautiful part of the country,” David Bradley, News-Press & Gazette’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

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Bonten Media and Esteem Broadcasting have announced the acquisition of television stations in two California markets, Chico-Redding and Eureka, from Sainte Partners.

The transaction, which is subject to approval by the FCC, includes KCVU, the Fox-affiliate in Chico, and KBVU, the Fox-affiliate in Eureka, which will both be acquired by Esteem. Bonten will provide services to these stations through shared service agreements, and will also acquire a number of low-powered stations in the two markets.

“We are excited to acquire Sainte’s fine FOX affiliates in these two markets,” Esteem president David Bailey said in a statement. “We are also looking forward to extending the successful SSA/JSA arrangements we have with Bonten Media Group.”

WebMediaBrands, the parent company of Mediabistro and TVSpy, has acquired the popular social TV blog Lost Remote.

Cory Bergman, who founded Lost Remote 13 years ago, will continue to play an active role in the site, as will longtime contributor Natan Edelsburg.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Lost Remote,” Bergman said. “Few people had heard of social TV two years ago, but today it’s driving more innovation in television than we’ve seen in the last decade. WebMediaBrands will leverage its network, resources, and expertise to help take Lost Remote to the next level at an incredible time in the business.”  Read more at Lost Remote