WQED Multimedia has found a buyer for its second Pittsburgh television station WQEX – not the first time that happened – but this time the price is lower, and maybe the deal will stick. Buyer Ion Media grew out of Bud Paxson’s former group, a one-time suitor for the station.
Buyer Ion Media Television, headed by R. Brandon Burgess, Jeffrey J. Quinn and William T. Watson, will pay $3M for the station, adding it to their extensive collection of top 50 market broadcast outlets. It is currently carrying ShopNBC programming.
WQED has tried for some time to sell the station. Paxson had earlier engineered a three-way deal that fell through, and a subsequent buyer also backed out of a plan to acquire the station.
WQED will hang on to WQED-TV and WQED-FM in Pittsburgh, and also owns WQEJ-FM in Johnstown PA.
There is nothing stopping Ion from hanging on to the WQEX call letters if it wishes, as long as it does not use the stylized Q that WQED uses in its logos and promotional materials.
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