Apollo Global Management has hired a New York investment firm to help it explore a potential sale of its radio and television stations, according to a report published on Friday.
The report, from Bloomberg, cited unnamed sources who claimed Nexstar Media Group and Gray Media are among the parties who are interested in acquiring some or all of the television assets held by Cox Media Group. It isn’t clear if there is a party interested in Cox Media-owned radio stations.
Apollo Global has held a majority stake in Cox Media since 2019. Cox Media is unaffiliated with broadband provider Cox Communications.
Cox Media owns 12 television stations and nearly 50 radio stations across the country. Its flagship radio station, WSB (750 AM), and television station, ABC affiliate WSB-TV (Channel 2), are based in Atlanta. The company also owns TV stations in Boston, Seattle, Orlando and Jacksonville, while its radio assets are primarily concentrated in the southeastern United States.
Under existing federal rules, television broadcasters are largely prohibited from owning licensed TV stations that reach more than 39 percent of the American viewing audience. Nexstar, one of the two interested parties named by Bloomberg, owns around 160 TV stations that reach capacity under current rules, though it operates around 40 more through so-called “sidecar” businesses that involve those stations being owned by third parties on paper while ceding operational control to Nexstar. Likewise, Gray Media owns or operates around 180 TV stations in more than 110 markets throughout the country, and its size could prove problematic under existing regulations.
That said, local TV broadcasters have been encouraged by current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, who has promised to cut red tape and ease the burden of federal regulations, insomuch as he is able to do so. Earlier this month, Carr issued a public notice through the FCC that sought public comment on the agency’s regulations, with the goal of paring certain ones down based on public feedback. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the commercial broadcasting’s largest lobbying group, has already urged Carr to eliminate the ownership cap, which the FCC sets through Congressional authorization.
