Gray Television has agreed to buy WQCW-WOCW in the Charleston-Huntington (W.Va.) market from Lockwood Broadcasting for $5.5 million. The stations were slated to be acquired by Excalibur Television, which is run by former Gray regional manager Don Ray. Gray, which owns Huntington-based powerhouse WSAZ in the market, had announced a shared services agreement with Excalibur regarding the two stations at the time.
Excalibur’s application for WQCW-WOCW has been withdrawn, according to BIA/Kelsey.
Ray is the former general manager at WSAZ, an NBC affiliate.
Based in Charleston, WQCW is the CW affiliate in DMA No. 65. WOCW is a low-power translator station.
Kevin Latek, Gray TV senior VP of business affairs, said that, upon closer examination of the deal’s aspects, Gray decided to pick up the license itself. “We thought it made more sense for Gray to own the stations outright,” he said.
