The owners of Austin’s KAAL-TV Channel 6 have agreed to sell the station to a company that has become a broadcast powerhouse in Minnesota.

Wednesday, October 04, 2000

The owners of Austin’s KAAL-TV Channel 6 have agreed to sell the station to a company that has become a broadcast powerhouse in Minnesota.

Once the Federal Communications Commission approves the purchase, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. of St. Paul will own every ABC affiliate in the Gopher State. Hubbard’s broadcast group includes flagship KSTP in the Twin Cities, as well as stations in Alexandria, Redwood Falls, Duluth and Hibbing.

In addition, Hubbard purchased Shoreview station KVBM, a UHF station that carries shop-at-home programming, in 1999 for $45 million. Hubbard has been upgrading KVBM’s facilities since taking over operations in April, has moved its operations to St. Paul and will gradually introduce new programming on the station.

The purchase price for KAAL was not disclosed by the parties on Tuesday. The sale agreement was reached Monday, according to a news release issued by Hubbard’s offices, and the exchange is expected to occur in early 2001.

"We’re excited to expand our service to more of Minnesota," Rob Hubbard, Hubbard vice president, said in a prepared statement. "We’re Minnesotans and this is another way of furthering our commitment to this state and its communities."

Hubbard is purchasing Channel 6 from GOCOM Broadcasting of Austin LLC. The station has changed hands over the past few years in a series of transactions. In 1997, Grapevine Communications Inc. bought the station from Eastern Broadcasting Corp. in a sale also involving stations in Joplin, Mo., and Casper, Wyo., for $40 million. Then in 1998, the station was involved in a transaction including the other stations as well as one in Anchorage, Alaska, for $48.5 million.

Last year, KAAL transferred hands from Wendell S. Reilly’s Atlanta, Ga.,-based Grapevine Communications to Richard L. Gorman’s GOCOM Communications. Gorman, president and chief executive office of GOCOM, is selling KAAL to Hubbard.

"For both the staff and management of KAAL, and most importantly, the viewers … there could not possibly be a better licensee," Gorman said of Hubbard. "The legacy of Hubbard Broadcasting is one of excellence in service to the community and unparalleled broadcasting professionalism. The entire marketplace will greatly benefit from their ownership of KAAL-TV. GOCOM is proud to leave KAAL in the hands of Minnesota’s premier broadcaster."

About Hubbard

– St. Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. owns TV stations in Minnesota, Rochester, N.Y.; Albany, N.Y.; and Albuquerque, N.M.

– Hubbard also owns KSTP-AM and FM (KS95) in the Twin Cities.

– Hubbard owns Conus Communications, a satellite news gathering operation, as well as two TV production companies: Diamond P. Sports and F&F Productions.

– The company sold its 51 percent stake in United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB) to Hughes Electronics in 1999 for $1.25 billion.

– The company’s late founder, Stanley Hubbard, started his broadcasting empire when he set up radio station WAMD in Minneapolis in 1923.