Granite May Miss Payments Over TV Sale

Granite Broadcasting Corp., a television broadcaster with stations in New York and California, said it may miss interest payments due in the second quarter if it can’t complete the sale of San Francisco affiliate KNTV to General Electric Co.’s NBC unit.

The company agreed to sell KNTV to NBC on Dec. 17 for $230 million to pay debt. KNTV became NBC’s San Francisco affiliate Jan. 1, helping NBC expand in the No. 5 U.S. media market. The station broadcasts on Channel 11 from San Jose.

New York-based Granite expects the sale to close May 2. Paxson Communications Corp. filed a petition to deny the sale with the Federal Communications Commission as a result of a legal dispute with NBC, Granite said.

KNTV carried NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in the Bay Area.

Granite has interest payments of $8 million and $1.6 million due May 15 and June 1, respectively, and won’t be able to make them if the transaction isn’t completed, the company said.