WJAR parent sells last newspaper

By PBN Staff
Twitter: @ProvBusNews

RICHMOND, Va. – Media General Inc., parent company of WJAR-TV NBC 10, sold its last remaining newspaper – The Tampa Tribune – to Tampa Media Group Inc.

The $9.5 million sale of The Tampa Tribune and its associated print and digital products closed Monday.

“It’s a bittersweet day for Media General to complete the sale of its last remaining newspaper group,” Marshall N. Morton, president and CEO of Media General, said in a statement. “The Tampa Tribune was our largest and second-oldest newspaper.”

Media General sold all of its newspapers, besides the Tampa group, to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in May for $142 million. The newspapers included 63 daily and weekly titles in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama – including the corresponding websites, mobile and tablet applications.

“With this transaction, we complete the transformation of Media General’s business model to one focused on broadcast television and digital media” said Morton. “We believe our future prospects are strong, based on operating 18 top-ranked local television stations in growing and important markets, mostly in the Southeast.”