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Monday, August 12, 2013

Meet the new boss; same as the old boss

Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Thursday it had closed on its previously announced acquisition of Fisher Communications, but KIDK and KXPI, the Idaho Falls-Pocatello stations, apparently won't be part of the $373.3 million sale.

Shortly before the deal, it was announced that KIDK (a CBS/Fox affiliate) and KXPI (a Fox affiliate) were to be sold to VistaWest Media, LLC, a company based in St. Joseph, Mo. The sale is pending, but it means that if the Federal Communications Commission approves the stations will most likely remain operated by News Press & Gazette Co., also based in St. Joseph.

NPG was the company that bought KIFI Local News 8 from the Post Company in 2005. In December 2010, Fisher Communications announced it had entered into a shared services arrangement with NPG, which moved KIDK's operations out of its longtime home on 17th Street and into KIFI's shop on North Yellowstone and also brought about the layoff of more than two-dozen KIDK staffers. That arrangement was finalized Jan. 1, 2011.