Scripps Completes Ion Media Deal, Inyo Divestiture After FCC Approval Dec. 15

E.W. Scripps completed its $2.65 billion deal to buy Ion Media from Black Diamond Capital Management, divesting 23 stations to the newly formed Inyo Broadcasting as part of the transaction, it said in a news release Thursday. The FCC approved the deal Dec. 15, with no public notice of the approval issued after no petitions to deny were filed, a broadcast industry official told us. Scripps is holding on to 48 of the stations and plans to combine Ion’s content with its Katz networks and Newsy for a “full-scale national television networks business,” the release said. “Bringing our networks together with ION will create a formidable national television business focused on connecting with audiences and advertisers in the rapidly evolving media landscape,” said Scripps CEO Adam Symson in the release.

Inyo is headed by interim CEO John Chachas and Chief Operating Officer Louis Zachary, the managing principals of Methuselah Advisors, a media broker that worked with Scripps in the past and on this deal. Scripps didn't comment further, and the FCC didn’t comment.