Gray Television to sell two stations as part of antitrust deal

WASHINGTON - Atlanta-based Gray Television Inc. has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Schurz Communications, Inc. on condition that it sells two television stations, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The stations to be sold are WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, and KAKE-TV in Wichita, Kansas, the department said.

'Combining these stations under common ownership would have made it more costly for advertisers to communicate with consumers. The antitrust laws render those transactions unlawful,” Assistant Attorney Bill Baer of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said in a statement.

Gray announced in September that it would buy Schurz for $442.5 million. The proposed transaction must also receive approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

The company said on Tuesday that it expected to close the deal in the first quarter of 2016.

Gray purchased KCRG-TV9 from The Gazette Co. earlier this year.