A new media company is coming to town.
Media General, of Richmond, Va., plans to buy WJAR Channel 10, Rhode Island's most-watched TV station, the company announced earlier this year.
Media General agreed to pay $600 million in cash for WJAR and three other NBC-owned-and-operated stations.
Local management of Channel 10 said the sale would be invisible to viewers, and no staff changes were planned. The purchase is expected to close within the next four months.
The deal, announced in April, marks the biggest shift in the media companies included in the Impact 50, a list of 50 publicly traded companies based in Rhode Island or Southeastern Massachusetts or that operate in the region.
The change in ownership will also mark a shift in the type of media companies in the Rhode Island market: three of the largest will have interests in both newspapers and TV stations.
Media companies frequently own both print and broadcast assets because each has its benefits. Television stations are generally more profitable, but their revenues are more cyclical because much advertising revenue is tied to big events, such as the Olympics, elections or the Super Bowl. Newspapers, on the other hand, have historically provided a more steady stream of revenue.
Media General owns three metropolitan newspapers -- The Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal, 122 daily and weekly community newspapers, and 26 network-affiliated TV stations. Most of its properties are concentrated in the Southeast.
WLNE Channel 6 is owned by Freedom Communications, a privately held company based in Irvine, Calif. Freedom publishes 28 daily and 37 weekly newspapers, with a combined daily circulation of more than 1.2 million subscribers. The company's flagship newspaper is the Orange County Register in Southern California.
And Belo, the owner of The Providence Journal, publishes three other daily newspapers and owns 19 television stations in Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest and the Mid-Atlantic.
The other large media company in Providence is Lin TV, which owns WPRI Channel 12 and operates WNAC Channel 64. That company, which is based in Providence, is one of the largest "pure-play" television companies in the country.
The company is not interested in expanding into newspapers, said Gary R. Chapman, president and CEO of LIN TV.
"If we had 100 years of experience in the newspaper business, I'd say yes," Chapman said. "Quite frankly, we don't have the expertise."
He said his company and many others are focused on growing their Internet businesses.
"The reason is quite simple," he said. Television revenue is up about 6 percent from last year, while Internet revenue is experiencing "double-digit" growth.
LIN expanded its portfolio last year with the purchase of seven stations. It paid $85 million for two UPN stations -- one in Indianapolis and the other in Columbus -- in March. And it bought five stations from Emmis Communications for $260 million in November. LIN said last week it has put up for sale two television stations in Puerto Rico, and a Spanish-language cable channel in the United States.
The other major newspaper company in the state is Journal Register, of Trenton, N.J. That company owns 27 daily newspapers and about 362 non-daily publications, according to the company's Web site.
The Journal Register newspapers are primarily in New England, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Among its local holdings are The Call, in Woonsocket, The Times, in Pawtucket, The Herald News, in Fall River, and The Taunton Daily Gazette.
The company's flagship paper is the New Haven Register, with Sunday circulation of nearly 90,000. Combined circulation of the Journal Register daily newspapers is 650,000.
On the radio side, Clear Channel Communications, based in San Antonio, Texas, is the largest owner of radio stations. The company has four in Rhode Island: WHJJ-AM, WHJY-FM, WSNE-FM and WWBB-FM, all in Providence.
tbarmann@projo.com / (401) 277-7369
ARTICLE TOOLS: 
