Scottsbluff’s sole remaining TV news station closed quietly last week.
NBC Nebraska, also known as KGWN Scottsbluff and KNEP in Sidney, was closed after Gray Television announced its plans to sell its TV stations in Scottsbluff, Sidney, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Casper, Wyoming, to Marquee Broadcasting Group in exchange for an FCC permit authorizing the construction of a new TV station in Salt Lake City, according to a Gray Television press release on Thursday, Feb. 1.
The deal is not expected to be finalized until the second quarter of this year. While the deal is pending approval from the FCC, changes are already underway. The news station here in Scottsbluff has been closed, Jim Beck, general manager for KGWN Wyoming News Now, confirmed to the Star-Herald Monday.
Beck said Gray Television opted to close the Scottsbluff news station as it was no longer able to maintain a separate news bureau from its Cheyenne station.
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“Given the many challenges facing news media, particularly in small communities, it is no longer possible to continue to underwrite the investments necessary to keep that news bureau open,” Beck said in an email.
Beck said Marquee is not currently making any personnel or operations decisions for Gray and that they are trying to find other positions for the Scottsbluff news staff in Cheyenne or other stations. He said there are four news professionals in the Scottsbluff bureau that are being offered other employment opportunities.
As viewers may have noticed, since the Scottsbluff station was shuttered, the channel has been airing news broadcasts from Wyoming News Now. Beck said in an email the plan is to air those newscasts produced in the Cheyenne newsroom in the eastern part of its market, including Scottsbluff.
“In terms of Scottsbluff, we are proud of the very good work that our Scottsbluff news bureau has provided over the past several years,” he said.
Beck indicated that other employees would be staying and working out of Scottsbluff, though he did not go into specifics. Per the sale agreement, Marquee is required to offer employment to the employees of the stations at the time of closing and maintain similar pay and benefit packages for those employees.
In the agreement, both parties also agreed not to make any public statements or announcements without the consent of the other.
Marquee Broadcasting was founded in 2013 and will own 17 broadcasting stations when the deal with Gray TV is finalized.
In the press release, Marquee Broadcasting CEO Patricia Lane said, “Marquee is excited to acquire Gray’s leading stations in Wyoming and western Nebraska. We are looking forward to building on the legacy there.”
The press release made no mentions of the future plans for the Scottsbluff (KSTF), Sidney (KNEP), Casper (KCWY) or Cheyenne (KGWN) stations that will be acquired once the agreement is finalized.
