Big Easy Station: We are NOT For Sale
WVUE in New Orleans says that reports that the station is being sold are "not true."
A number of websites reported that an Alabama TV station group is “closing in on a deal” to purchase WVUE.
“There is no sale pending,” said Greg Bensel, Tom Benson's spokesman “The station is not for sale.”
Benson, who owns the New Orleans Saints, purchased WVUE in 2008 for Louisiana Media Company LLC, which he owns.
The reports were based on a brief item in the October edition of “The Advisor,” a publication of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, which trumpets the “proposed purchase” of WVUE by Raycom Media, described in the item as “one of RSA’s largest investments.” The publication states Raycom “owns and/or provides services for 52 stations in 36 markets.”
"The Advisor" reported the sale price as $55.6 million. Benson bought WVUE from Indiana-based Emmis Communications Corp. in 2008 for $41 million.
Calls for comment to Raycom and David Bronner, RSA’s CEO, were not immediately returned.
“There’s nothing to it,” Bensel said. “Mr. Benson plans to keep Fox locally owned in New Orleans.”