Hubbard Broadcasting is shutting down news operations at KSAX, its ABC-affiliate in Central Minnesota, and 17 employees are being laid off.

“Although this has been a difficult decision for our company, we will be streamlining operations at KSAX-TV beginning today,” Hubbard Broadcasting president Rob Hubbard announced in an email to staff Tuesday morning.

Hubbard plans to maintain KSAX’s studio in Alexandria, MN but the station will no longer produce local news.  Instead, KSAX viewers will receive all of their news from sister station KSTP in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Read more

Hubbard Broadcasting, which last year acquired 17 radio stations from Bonneville International, is interested in purchasing some of Tribune’s radio and TV holdings.

Stanley Hubbard (right), the company’s CEO, recently told Crain’s Chicago that he would consider buying stations from Tribune if the price and location are right.  Though he added that he hasn’t had any discussions with the company, which is reportedly looking to streamline its corporate structure as it emerges from bankruptcy.

Based in St. Paul, MN, Hubbard currently owns a dozen TV stations in New Mexico, New York, and Minnesota, including flagship KSTP in the Twin Cities.  As a result of the Bonneville deal, Hubbard now owns a handful of radio stations in Tribune’s hometown of Chicago.

The Hubbard Broadcasting station group will revamp their text messaging alert system with a platform created by Inergize Digital, the two companies announced today.

The text messaging platform allows stations to reach viewers on mobile devices, enabling alerts and interactive campaigns. The platform can be used for breaking news, weather updates, school closings and traffic delays, as well as text-to-win contests.

“Our viewers depend on receiving breaking news alerts on time, while our sales teams require SMS campaigns they can sell to reach digital revenue budgets,” Cory Kampschroer, digtal media director at KSTP, said in a statement. “We are excited at the possibility of generating more revenue.” Read more

Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns Minneapolis ABC-affiliate KSTP among other stations around the country, has agreed to buy 17 radio stations from Bonneville International.

Hubbard will pay Bonneville $505 million for the stations, which are located in four markets–Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C.

Many of the stations being acquired are among their market’s highest rated.  News and information station WTOP-FM is tops among listeners in D.C. and WUBE-FM ranks second in Cincinnati.

Based in St. Paul, Hubbard Broadcasting currently owns TV stations in New Mexico and New York state, as well stations throughout Minnesota.

The Wall Street Journal notes that the deal “may be a sign of a thaw in the buying and selling of traditional media assets.”