It’s very possible that by the end of this year, perhaps as soon as the end of this summer, the city’s largest newspaper and its largest news/talk radio station will be owned by the same man. At the same time, the companies that own St. Louis television stations could consolidate to the point that two corporations effectively control all five of the city’s primary local TV newscasts.
Those changes stem from three separate business deals now playing out in St. Louis media.
Billionaire David Hoffmann, the owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has announced plans to purchase Audacy’s St. Louis stations, which include news powerhouse KMOX (104.1 FM). Nexstar, which owns KTVI (Fox 2) and KPLR (Channel 11), acquired Tegna, the company that owns KSDK (Channel 5), and is hoping to integrate the operations of the two. And ABC has decided to move its St. Louis affiliation from Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned KDNL (Channel 30) to Gray Media, which already operates KMOV (Channel 4)…