Viacom May Purchase KCAL for $600 Million

Media giant Viacom Inc. is purchasing KCAL Channel 9--the last independent major broadcast station in the Los Angeles market--for a rumored price of $600 million, insiders said Monday.

Executives for Viacom declined to comment, and representatives for KCAL and Young Broadcasting Inc., the station’s owner, could not be reached.

Under the proposed agreement, Viacom, which owns CBS and its Los Angeles outlet KCBS-TV Channel 2, would operate both local stations, under what is known as a duopoly.

KCAL’s centerpiece is a three-hour prime-time news block, largely because the station has lacked the resources to bid aggressively for programming against other local broadcasters, which are affiliated with networks. The station is the only independent VHF outlet (stations positioned from Channels 2 through 13) in the nation’s second-largest television market.

Insiders speculated that since Viacom owns CBS and the fledgling UPN network, the company would eventually seek to switch KCAL to UPN. KCOP Channel 13, the current UPN affiliate, was acquired last year by News Corp., the parent of the Fox television network, which also owns KTTV Channel 11.

KTLA Channel 5, which is affiliated with the WB network, is owned by Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times.

Relaxation of Federal Communications Commission regulations has cleared the way for a series of TV station sales, including elimination of a rule that prevented duopolies--that is, a single entity owning two television stations in a single market.

Operating two stations is attractive because it allows station owners to combine and streamline operating costs, while providing them more leverage in negotiating for program rights and the sale of advertising time. In addition to KTTV and KCOP, General Electric Co., owner of NBC and KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, recently agreed to acquire the Spanish-language Telemundo network and its Los Angeles outlet, KVEA.

KCAL was bought by Young Broadcasting from Walt Disney Co. in 1996. Disney was forced to sell KCAL when the studio acquired Capital Cities ABC, which owned KABC-TV Channel 7 locally, to comply with the duopoly restriction that existed at the time.

Management for KCAL and Young has touted its commitment to news, sports (including local broadcast rights to the L.A. Lakers) and community programming. The station recently added a 4 p.m. newscast to its lineup.