CBS will sell seven of it O&O TV stations, including three in Florida, to Cerberus Capital Management. The deal is valued at $185 million.
Headquartered in New York City, Cerberus Capital Management is a private investment firm with approximately $22 billion under management in funds and accounts.
The sale includes full-power stations WTVX-TV and WTCN-TV, as well as low-power licensee WWHB-TV, all in West Palm Beach, FL; along with WWLC-TV (The CW) in Providence, RI; KUTV-TV (CBS) in Salt Lake City and its satellite station, KUSG-TV in St. George, UT; and KEYE-TV (CBS) in Austin, TX.
WTVX was purchased by CBS in 1997 and until last year was part of the UPN Network. It is now affiliated with the CW Network, which is jointly owned by CBS and Warner Brothers. TCN and WWHB are both low-power stations seen mostly on cable systems.
WTVX-TV, WTCN-TV, and WWHB-TV are operated from the CBS south Florida broadcast center in Doral, along with WFOR-CBS4 and WBFS-33, an affiliate of My Network TV. The latter stations will remain part of CBS.
The CBS group currently oversees 21 CBS stations, 11 The CW stations, three My Network TV stations and four stations not affiliated with major networks. Last year, CBS sold some smaller market broadcast properties in Oklahoma, New Orleans, Columbus, OH, and Indianapolis.