Sun Broadcasting is moving to further bulk up the size of its Fort Myers-Naples, FL cluster just weeks after announcing it was buying two of Beasley Media Group’s radio stations in the market. The Jim Schwartzel-led Sun has struck a $40 million deal to buy “Fox 4” WFTX-TV from the E.W. Scripps Company.
Sun Broadcasting already has a significant footprint in the market. Its properties include “Fox News 92.5” WFSX, “Fly 98.5” WFFY-FM, “Trump Country 93.7” WHEL-FM, and classic rock “94.5 The Arrow” WARO-FM, as well as the CW affiliate WXCW-TV and three low-power TV stations. However, the company says the deal to add Scripps’ WFTX-TV does not require relief from any of the current rules governing television station ownership.
The absence of any regulatory hurdle is thanks to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which in June struck down the FCC’s long-standing provision known as the Top-Four Prohibition. Under the rule, broadcast station owners had been prohibited from owning more than one of the top four-rated full-power stations in a single market. With that rule off the books, Sun believes it will be able to operate both WFTX-TV and WXCW-TV without any potential issues arising in the deal’s review process…