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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News-Press & Gazette has announced the launch of a new Fox-affiliated station in St. Joseph, MO, this Spring.

The station, which does not have call letters yet, plans to “invest heavily” in local news, offering more than two hours of news programming each day, newly-appointed general manager Eric Bradley said in a statement.

“For the first time, viewers in the city and in the nearby region will be able to receive a Fox-affiliated station with truly local news programming,” he said.

St. Joseph is currently home to only one station, ABC-affiliated KQTV. News-Press & Gazette will also add Telemundo and CW-affiliates to its lineup in St. Joseph.

The station will work out of studios in the St. Joseph News-Press newsroom, and the two staffs will be “closely integrated,” according to the company’s announcement. Bradley was most recently general manager of KTVZ, News-Press & Gazette’s station in Bend, OR. Several additional people will be hired for news, sales and production positions.

Univision has named Raul Rodriguez vice president and general manager of its San Francisco operations.  In the role, Rodriguez will oversee KDTV as well as Univision’s Bay Area radio stations, KSOL and KBRG.

Before joining Univision, Rodriguez served as VP-GM of Journal Broadcast Group‘s Palm Springs operations, which includes NBC-affiliate KMIR.  Prior to that, he was director of Hispanic sales for News-Press & Gazette‘s six Spanish language stations.

“Raul’s ample experience in broadcast media coupled with his invaluable knowledge of our burgeoning Hispanic community makes him a critical asset to the Univision team in San Francisco,” said Luis Patiño, senior vice president of Univision Television Group, in announcing the move. “It is paramount that we continue to further our stations’ reach and growth, along the growth of Hispanics, and with Raul on board, we will remain on track to success.”