New owners for local TV station, if approved, could be one of the largest in the U.S.

Local news station WMBF could soon be a part of one of the largest media companies in the United States, once an acquisition is approved by federal regulators. The NBC affiliate’s current owner, Raycom, will combine with Atlanta-based Gray Television in a $3.6 billion acquisition, according to a Monday press release.

Raycom currently owns 65 stations. Gray currently owns 101 stations. Once the acquisition is approved by the Federal Communications Commission, Gray Television will have 142 stations in 92 media markets, reaching more than 20 percent of households in the United States.

Gray does not own any television stations in South Carolina. But with the new deal, Gray will own three stations in the state, in Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach. The deal includes four other stations across state borders in Wilmington and Charlotte, North Carolina, and in Augusta and Savannah, Georgia.

The press release said the company, as a whole with Raycom, is committed to maintaining the local values of its new companies.

"Indeed, this is a transaction in which there can be no doubt that local community standards will be honored and embraced," Gray CEO Hilton Howell said in the press release.

Gray Television Executive Vice-President Kevin Latek said the company allows for local stations to make their own content decisions with no corporate interference.

"That's why we have number one television stations," he said in an interview with The Sun News.

While not affecting WMBF, Raycom and Gray will be consolidating stations where both companies currently have a station, like in Augusta, Georgia.

The press release said to expect the transaction to be finalized by the end of the year.

WMBF is not the only Myrtle Beach based news outlet to have a non-local parent company. The Sun News is owned by Sacramento-based McClatchy, which owns 30 newspapers nation-wide. WBTW is owner by Nextstar Media Group from Texas. WPDE is owned by Maryland-based Sinclar, a company that made headlines earlier in the year for requiring local stations to adopt partisan rhetoric.

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 4:48 PM with the headline "New owners for local TV station, if approved, could be one of the largest in the U.S.."