Journal Communications has just gotten bigger in the Tucson AZ DMA, creating a television duopoly and adding to a TV/radio cross-owned cluster. The group has closed on its acquisition of CW KWBA-TV from Cascade Broadcasting Group. According to Larry and Susan Patrick of brokerage Patrick Communications, the value of the deal is $11.885M. KWBA-TV joins Journal’s market flagship, ABC KGUN-TV, and a quartet of radio stations: KMXZ-FM, KQTH-FM, KGMG-FM & KFFN-AM. Journal honcho Doug Kiel commented, “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of KWBA as we continue to build out cross-platform businesses in growth markets such as Tucson. KWBA allows us to increase our hyper-local news focus. With two television stations and four radio stations in this market, we are in a good position to grow our total audience and serve our viewers in the Tucson area.”
