E.W. Scripps Co. Buys Itself Late Christmas Gift: 9 TV Stations

Image via WikipediaMediabistro's TV Spy blog reports that E.W. Scripps. Co. has finalized its purchase of 9 television stations from The McGraw-Hill Co.

The FCC last month signed off on the $212 million acquisition, that involves ABC affiliates KMGH-TV in Denver andWRTV in Indianapolis and several Aztec America affiliates out West, including San Diego and Bakersfield outlets.

The acquisition took three months to complete.

McGraw-Hill Wants Out of the TV Biz

Image via WikipediaMediabistro's TV Spy blog reports today that McGraw-Hill Companies. is looking to unload its broadcasting holdings.

The company's Broadcasting Group boasted an 18 percent increase in revenues in 2010 compared to 2009 figures, generating nearly $100 million, according to TV Spy, which should make the tv properties attractive to suitors.  Among the McGraw-Hill-owned stations are KMGH-TV in Denver, KERO-TV in Bakersfield, California and WRTV-TV in Indianapolis.

McGraw-Hill, which unloaded Business Week to Bloomberg in 2009, is best known for its ownership of Standard & Poor's, J.D. Power and Associates and McGraw-Hill Education publications.

UPDATE: BusinessWeek Joins the Bloomberg Empire

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BusinessWeek, the venerable 80-year-old magazine favored by corporate executives that has suffered declines in circulation and advertising lineage, has been unloaded by textbook publisher McGraw-Hill Cos. to Bloomberg LP. (See "TUOL" post 7/14/2009.)

Terms of the purchase, which is expected to be finalized in December, were not disclosed. Bloomberg's principal content officer, Norman Pearlstine, will become chair of BusinessWeek.  Advertising revenue at the periodical declined by one-third over the first three quarters of 2009, according to Publishers Information Bureau, though the magazine still offers Bloomberg a crack at a high-powered subscription list of more than 900,000 and an international readership of more than 4.7 million, according to the magazine's Web site.

How BusinessWeek will co-exist with Bloomberg Markets magazine has yet to be publicly discussed.

BusinessWeek Blowout:: Wanna Buy a Magazine?

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Attention bargain-hunters--instead of plunking down several dollars at the newstand for the latest issue of BusinessWeek, head over to McGraw-Hill Companies, hand them $1, and they may sell you the 80-year-old magazine outright.

McGraw-Hill, an educational publisher and owner of Standard & Poor's rating agency, confirmed it "is exploring strategic options for BusinessWeek," which is the corporate-speak equivalent of posting a "Fire Sale" sign. According to the Financial Times, McGraw-Hill retained investment bank Evercore to unload BusinessWeek, which according to BusinessWeek's Website, has more than 4.8 million readers worldwide served by 155 editorial employees in its New York headquarters and 31 correspondents at 17 bureaus in the U.S. and throughout the world.

The latest figures from the Publishers Information Bureau hold the key--ad pages for the venerable business journal are down 36.8 percent for the first-half of 2009. The Financial Times reports that McGraw-Hill in April released numbers showing a 76.4 percent decrease in first quarter operating profits from its information and media division, which encompasses Platts, JD Power & Associates, and BusinessWeek.

Identifying a potential buyer is the latest parlor game in the Manhattan publishing scene. The Financial Times, as well as Jon Fine, a blogger BusinessWeek, roll out the usual suspects, from Time, Inc., and Conde Nast, to Bloomberg, LP, Pearson Publishing, and Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto, owner of Fast Company and Inc. magazines.

The Financial Times queried bankers who believe a buyer may emerge from among Mansueto Ventures, Platinum Equity (owner of the San Diego Tribune), or OpenGate Capital, which recently landed TV Guide for $1, a likely purchase price for BusinessWeek. Some analysts note that BusinessWeek generates roughly 2 percent of McGraw-Hill's total revenues while generating a small loss, so that its divestiture from McGraw-Hill's portfolio would have a minor impact.

With readers' changing habits and the recessionary economy's impact on traditional media nationwide, BusinessWeek, like its counterparts, Fortune and Forbes, ironically may find itself reporting on its own imminent demise.