LIN spins Toledo TV to Raycom partner

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American Spirit Media is getting its fifth television station in a deal with LIN TV Corporation, but there’s another company that is involved in the deal as well. That would be Paul McTear’s Raycom Media, which is already in shared service agreements with American Spirit in all of its other four markets.


The station in the immediate deal is WUPW, the Fox affiliate in Ohio’s northwest corner market of Toledo.
The buyer is headed by Thomas B. Henson. American Spirit will pay $22,112,000 cash for the station.

It already has a shared services arrangement with Raycom under contract as of 12/21/11. Raycom is in Toledo with CBS WTOL-TV. Ironically, it acquired WUPW in a group deal way back in 1999 but was forced to spin it since it already had a station in the market at the time.

The SSA calls for a $110,833.62 monthly payment to American Spirit, a figure that will be revisited on the anniversary of American Spirit’s official acquisition date.

The other markets featuring an American Spirit/Raycom duo include:
* Richmond VA, where ASM owns CW WUPV and Raycom owns NBC WWBT
* Columbus GA, where ASM owns Fox/MNT WXTX and Raycom owns ABC WTVM
* Wilmington NC, where ASM owns Fox WSFX and Raycom owns NBC WECT
* Ottumwa IA-Kirksville MO, where ASM owns Fox KYOU and Raycom owns ABC KTVO