A big television station swap between Fox Television Stations and Cox Media Group has made it to the finish line. At the end of the day, Fox has a hand in all four of the stations in the mix as the groups’ market lineups shift.
For Fox, it gets two stations in San Francisco: KTVU, now a Fox O&O affiliate, and indy KICU-TV.
Fox is pleased to have upgraded its top-ten market footprint, and now boasts TV duopolies in seven of them.
In exchange, Cox gets two former Fox O&Os that will remain Fox affiliates: WFXT in Boston and WHBQ in Memphis.
CMG EVP Jane Williams commented on the exchange of stations, saying, “Countless hours of hard work have taken place over the last few months to prepare for today, and I want to thank everyone at Cox Media Group, in Boston and in Memphis who made today a reality.
Said Jane Williams, CMG’s Executive VP of Television, “We look forward to supporting these new stations as they continue playing key roles in their communities; providing vital news, information and entertainment to their audiences; and offering targeted sales solutions to their clients.”
CMG’s new Boston VP and General Manager is Tom Raponi, who stays with Cox and moves over from the San Francisco stations.
John Koski, already running the Memphis station, will stay on, switching his paycheck source from Fox to Cox.
