CBS Will Sell Its TV Station in St. Louis : Seeking to Defray Debt Assumed in Turner Fight

CBS, trying to defray part of the nearly $1 billion of debt that it took on while resisting Ted Turner’s hostile takeover attempt earlier this year, said Tuesday that it will sell KMOX-TV in St. Louis, one of five television stations that it owns.

The New York-based company said, however, that it may someday be in the market to buy another television station in a larger area.

“We do not rule out a future station purchase in a bigger market,” said George Schweitzer, a spokesman for CBS Broadcast Group. “We’re not actively looking, but we always have our ears open.”

No Surprise to Industry

He said CBS “does not have an active buyer yet” for KMOX, which CBS bought in 1957 and which has 170 employees. According to A. C. Nielsen, a major ratings company, the station serves the nation’s 18th-largest television market.

CBS’ announcement came as no surprise to the industry, said Howard E. Stark, a leading station broker in New York. “It’s no secret in the trade that they’ve always wanted to replace St. Louis with a larger growth market,” he said in an interview. Schweitzer confirmed this.

CBS’ four other television stations are WCBS in New York, KCBS in Los Angeles, WBBM in Chicago and WCAU in Philadelphia.

New York is the nation’s largest television market, Los Angeles the second, Chicago the third and Philadelphia the fourth.

None of the CBS stations in those cities are for sale, nor are the 17 AM and FM radio stations that CBS owns, including two in St. Louis, Schweitzer said.

May Yield $200 Million

CBS gave no estimate of how much it thought it could earn from the sale of KMOX.

One industry analyst who asked not to be identified said the station might yield from $200 million to $250 million.

The top price to date for a television station is the $510 million that Tribune Co. agreed to pay last May for independent station KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles.

CBS said it had asked the investment banking firm of Morgan Stanley to handle the sale of KMOX.

It said its action is being taken in conjunction with its recent repurchase of 21% of its stock for nearly $1 billion. That was taken to fend off cable entrepreneur Turner, who had attempted to take over the network.

At the time of the repurchase, CBS said it also would sell $300 million of assets to reduce its debt.

As part of its effort to rebound from the cost of fighting Turner’s takeover bid, CBS last month offered a voluntary early retirement program to 2,000 of its 30,000-member work force who are age 55 or older. They have until Nov. 1 to decide whether to take it.

In addition, the company has laid off a number of its employees, although it declines to say how many. It has said that any announcement of layoffs is being left to the heads of each of CBS’ 17 divisions, which include broadcasting, news, records and publishing.