Last updated: 10:24 p.m., Friday, February 13, 2009
NEW YORK — Young Broadcasting Inc., owner of Capital Region station WTEN-TV and several other stations in the United States, said Friday it has filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York.
The New York-based company said it will continue to operate the stations without interruption.
"Our decision to restructure through a Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to bring its debt in line with current economic realities so that we can emerge a stronger and more financially secure company. It is important to note that we are restructuring our debt, not our operations," says Chairman Vincent Young in a written statement.
Top bidder to get WTEN Local ABC affiliate, others owned by Young Broadcasting will likely be sold as a block as part of Chapter 11 filing
By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer First published in print: Friday, July 3, 2009
ALBANY -- WTEN and other television stations owned by Young Broadcasting Inc. are scheduled to be auctioned later this month as part of the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
The auction is set for July 14, with bids due July 10, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Young sought bankruptcy protection from creditors in February, citing the need "to bring its debt in line with current economic realities." The auction suggests the company, which would use proceeds from the sale to pay off creditors, has struggled to sell the stations for a price it considers acceptable.
Peter Wolfson, the primary bankruptcy attorney for Young, said the 10 stations owned by the company -- including WTEN Ch. 10, the local ABC affiliate -- are likely to be auctioned as a whole, rather than piecemeal. He was unavailable for further comment.
The Chapter 11 filing added Young to a significant list of media companies that have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past year -- including Journal Register Co., owner of The Record in Troy and The Saratogian in Saratoga Springs; Tribune Co., owner of 23 television stations and several major newspapers; and The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC.
It's tempting, then, to lump Young's struggles with the rest of the industry.
But many of Young's problems appear to stem from an ill-advised purchase in 1999 of KRON in San Francisco, an affiliate of News Corp.'s MyNetworkTV.
The price was $823 million -- at the time the most ever paid for a TV station. KRON had been an NBC affiliate, but the network pulled that association after the purchase.
That left Young with a dramatically devalued station, and ongoing financial difficulties from which it never really recovered.
"It's the case of a really bad decision totally dragging down a company," said Dow Smith, who was general manager at WTEN from 1987 to 1990 and now heads the journalism program at Siena College in Loudonville. "They just couldn't overcome the debt."............>>>>............>>>>..........http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=816407&category=BUSINESS
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