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By VAN ROSE; Times Leader Staff Writer
Friday, April 18, 1997     Page:

WILKES-BARRE — You could call it the most significant channel change in
the history of local television.
   
Nexstar Broadcasting, which only last year purchased WYOU-TV (Channel 22),
announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement to acquire WBRE-TV
(Channel 28). At the same time, Nexstar announced it is selling WYOU to Bastet
Broadcasting, a communications company based in Columbus, Ohio.
    Sale prices of the transactions were not disclosed. The sale agreements
must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. If FCC approval is
given, there won’t be any significant changes that will affect viewers of
Channel 28, said to Perry A. Sook, president and chief executive officer of
Nexstar.
   
Sook announced that Art Daube, vice president and general manager of WBRE,
has agreed to a long-term contract to run Channel 28 for Nexstar.
   
“Art is a skilled television executive and has done an excellent job at the
helm of WBRE,” Sook said. “I am thrilled that he will be joining the senior
management ranks of our growing television company.”
   
WBRE, an NBC affiliate, is owned by Northeastern Television Investors, a
Greenwich, Conn.-based company. It purchased Channel 28 in 1984 for $20.5
million.
   
Bastet Broadcasting is owned by David Smith, a 20-year broadcast industry
veteran. Bastet also owns television stations in North Carolina and Tennessee.
   
Smith announced Thursday that John Dittmeier, the general sales manager of
WYOU, will become the general manager after the sale is completed.
   
Daube said that Nexstar and Bastet have agreed to a “working relationship”
between WBRE and WYOU that will benefit both stations.
   
“We have determined that there are certain functions that can be shared
that will allow both stations to perform at a higher level,” Daube said. He
cited sharing equipment, such as satellite trucks, as an example.
   
Daube emphasized, however, that there are no financial ties between Nexstar
and Bastet. “Channel 28 and Channel 22 will continue to compete against each
other.”
   
After Nexstar bought CBS affiliate WYOU last year, it made sweeping changes
in the news staff. Several people were fired, including news department
anchors Debbie Dunleavy and Rich Everett.
   
Daube said he doesn’t anticipate any staff changes at WBRE.
   
“WBRE is a very financially stable TV station,” Daube said. “Unlike the
situation when Nexstar bought Channel 22, we are able to stand on our own two
feet without any problem whatsoever.”
   
Frank Andrews, news director at WNEP-TV (Channel 16), questioned the sale.
   
“The two companies (Nexstar and Bastet) appear to be somehow related,”
Andrews said. “This deal is confusing, as far as we’re concerned. At this
point, it’s really kind of bizarre.
   
“I don’t know what the ramifications are.”
   
Daube said he expects it will take about eight months for the FCC to rule
on the proposed sale of WBRE and WYOU.
   
Nexstar, which is based in Scranton, earlier this week closed on the
purchase of WTWO in Terre Haute, Ind., and KQTV in St. Joseph, Mo.