Coastal Television Broadcasting Group LLC (also known simply as Coastal Television) is an American television broadcasting, radio broadcasting and digital marketing company based in Cumming, Georgia. It was founded in 2007 by Bill Fielder. The company owns and/or operates television stations in thirteen markets in nine states; from as large as Tupelo, Mississippi, to as small as the fourth-smallest media market, Juneau, Alaska. It also operates stations owned by Vision Alaska and Big Horn Television, both also based in Cumming.
History Beginnings and starting presence in Alaska (2007–2014) Coastal Television Broadcasting Group LLC was founded as in 2007 by Bill Fielder in Cumming, Georgia. On August 29, 2007, Coastal announced that it intended to acquire KTBY in Anchorage, Alaska for $3,242,500. The sale was completed on May 7, 2008.
In 2010, Vision Alaska LLC acquired all three of Alaska's ABC affiliates: KYUR in Anchorage, KATN in Fairbanks, and KJUD in Juneau for $5.75 million. The sale was completed on May 13, 2010 and soon after, Coastal agreed to operate KYUR under a shared services agreement and joint sales agreement, and KATN and KJUD under time brokerage agreements.
In October 2013, however, Coastal was fined $4,200 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for failing to update ownership information about KTBY's antenna structure; which was eventually updated.
Expansion to the Continental U.S. and growth (2014–present) On October 7, 2014, Coastal announced its intent to acquire WLOV-TV in Tupelo, Mississippi for an undisclosed price with hopes for the deal to be approved by the FCC in early 2015. This was concurrent with the sale of WTVA from the Spain Family to Atlanta, Georgia—based Heartland Media. WTVA had been in local marketing agreements with WLOV-TV since 1992. The sales were completed on February 11, 2015 and the local marketing agreement was preserved; allowing Coastal to expand outside of Alaska and into the Continental U.S.. Allen Media Broadcasting later acquired 11 Heartland stations, including WTVA, in 2020; and renewed the LMA with WLOV-TV.
On October 8, 2019, Coastal announced its intent to acquire Casper, Wyoming station KFNB (as well as its satellites in Rawlins and Riverton) in addition to Cheyenne, Wyoming station KLWY from Wyomedia Corporation. This was concurrent with the purchase of KTWO-TV and KKTQ-LD by Vision Wyoming, LLC (a subsidiary of Vision Alaska) from Silverton Broadcasting; and the purchase of KGWC-TV (as well as its satellites in Lander and Rock Springs) by newly-founded Big Horn Television (led by Michael Hogan) from Mark III Media. The sale was completed on June 1, 2020 for an undisclosed price.
Throughout 2020, Coastal began cutting local newscasts and staff from its Alaska and Wyoming stations and replacing them with anchors and content from NewsNet, based in Michigan. Coastal later stated that this was due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2021, Coastal announced that it would acquire nine television stations from Waypoint Media for $48.9 million. Coastal would also acquire six Lafayette, Indiana TV and radio stations from Star City Broadcasting as part of the deal. The sale were completed on January 4, 2022; giving Coastal television stations in eleven markets in seven states; and radio stations in one market in one state.
In addition to the large amount of television and radio stations acquired from Waypoint, Coastal also acquired News Hub (based in Little Rock, Arkansas) and the NuLogic digital marketing agency.
In December 2023, Coastal announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the stations owned by Red River Broadcasting for $18.1 million. This includes KVRR and its satellite stations, and KQDS-TV. The sale was completed on April 5, 2024.
Assets Television stations Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and city of license.
City of license / Market Station Affiliation Anchorage, Alaska KTBY 4 (20) 2008 Fox KYUR 13 (12) 2010 Fairbanks, Alaska KATN 2 (18) 2010 Juneau, Alaska KJUD 8 (11) 2010 Jonesboro, Arkansas KJNB-CD 39 (16) 2022 K22PF-D 42 (22) 2022 Lafayette, Indiana WPBI-CD 16 (17) 2022 WPBY-CD 35 (35) 2022 Duluth, Minnesota KQDS-TV 21 (18) 2024 Fox Thief River Falls, Minnesota (part of the Grand Forks, North Dakota market) KBRR 10 (10) 2024 Meridian, Mississippi WGBC 30 (31) 2022 WMDN 24 (24) 2022 Tupelo, Mississippi WLOV-TV 27 (16) 2015 Elmira, New York WYDC 48 (30) 2022 WJKP-LD 39 (14) 2022 MyNetworkTV WECY-LD 48 (19) 2022 Fargo, North Dakota KVRR 15 (19) 2024 Fox Jamestown, North Dakota KJRR 7 (7) 2024 Pembina, North Dakota (serving the southern Manitoba market including Winnipeg) KNRR 12 (12) 2024 Jackson, Tennessee WNBJ-LD 39 (16) 2022 Casper, Wyoming KFNB 20 (20) 2020 K27PT-D 20 (27) 2020 KTWO-TV 2 (17) 2020 ABC KGWC-TV 14 (14) 2020 Cheyenne, Wyoming KLWY 27 (27) 2020 KKTQ-LD 16 (16) 2020 Lander, Wyoming (part of the Casper, Wyoming market) KGWL-TV 5 (7) 2020 Rawlins, Wyoming (part of the Denver, Colorado market) KFNR 11 (9) 2020 Riverton, Wyoming (part of the Casper, Wyoming market) KFNE 10 (10) 2020 Rock Springs, Wyoming (part of the Salt Lake City, Utah market) KGWR-TV 13 (13) 2020
Radio stations AM Station FM Station
City of license / Market Station Owned since Current format Lafayette, Indiana WSHY 1410 2022 Talk radio WBPE 95.3 2022 Adult hits WYCM 95.7 2022 Country music WAZY-FM 96.5 2022 Contemporary hit radio
Other assets News Hub NuLogic
Notes
License ownership/operational agreements
Mergers and acquisitions
Satellites, semi-satellites, and translators
References
External links