Springfield’s main television station, NewsChannel 20 WICS, will soon be under new ownership for the second time in a little more than a year if the Federal Communications Commission approves a sale from Rincon Broadcasting to Community News Media LLC.
In March of last year, Rincon Broadcasting bought WICS as part of a $29.5 million purchase from Sinclair Broadcasting Group, a dominant player nationwide in regional TV stations. But, according to an application for sale to the FCC filed March 24, Rincon plans to sell WICS, along with a number of other stations it owns throughout the country, to Community News Media as part of a $116.5 million deal. The filing to the FCC was made by Rincon Broadcasting Group president Todd Parkin.
The world of the local television station business, once a lucrative enterprise that rarely changed hands, has been turbulent in recent years. A proposed $6.2 billion merger between regional broadcast entities Tegna and NextStar remains in limbo, a transaction that, if approved, could have wide-ranging implications in industry consolidation.
The pending transaction, according to an FCC document, would also include the sale of a satellite station affiliated with WICS – WICD of Champaign-Decatur.