Granite and NBC Complete Definitive Agreements for Bay Area Affiliation and Strategic Partnership
NEW YORK, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Granite Broadcasting Corporation (Nasdaq: GBTVK - news) today announced that it has entered into a series of definitive agreements with NBC covering their previously announced strategic partnership. Highlights of the partnership include a 10-year affiliation agreement for KNTV to serve the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose television market, effective January 1, 2002 as well as a multiple year affiliation extension for Granite's existing NBC-affiliated stations in Fresno (KSEE), Peoria (WEEK) and Duluth (KBJR). The partnership also includes a strategic alliance for the usage of digital spectrum, joint purchases of programming and broadcast technology, a joint sales arrangement with certain PAX TV stations and exploration of a San Francisco cable news service by partnering KNTV's local news presence with NBC's major news franchises, NBC Newschannel, CNBC, and MSNBC.
W. Don Cornwell, Granite's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: ``Since announcing our partnership only three months ago Granite management and our partners at NBC have taken significant steps to prepare KNTV for its switch to the NBC Network and to implement our broader strategic partnership. For instance, KNTV has doubled the power of its broadcast signal and strengthened its news and programming services'. We have also entered into a joint sales agreement with PAX TV for two of our California stations, KNTV, the NBC affiliate to be for the Bay Area, and KSEE, the NBC affiliate serving Fresno. Our progress to date is indicative of NBC's and our commitment to work closely together to prepare for a seamless transition to NBC Network programming in 2002 for the convenience of Bay Area viewers. We are delighted to be working with NBC and remain focused on building the premier Bay Area station.''
Randy Falco, President, NBC TV Network, said: ``NBC remains strongly committed to the Granite partnership which we have been developing and broadening since the day of our announcement months ago. We are excited by the opportunities it provides our viewers and network. We look forward to strengthening our alliance with Granite as it continues to develop and are proud to be working with such an innovative affiliate group.''
About Granite Broadcasting Corporation
Granite Broadcasting Corporation (Nasdaq: GBTVK - news) operates nine television stations in geographically diverse markets reaching almost 7.0% of the nation's television households, including a duopoly in the fifth largest market. Three stations are affiliated with the NBC Television Network (NBC), three with the ABC Television Network (ABC), one with the CBS Television Network (CBS) and two with the Warner Brothers Network (WB). The NBC affiliates are KSEE-TV, Fresno-Visalia, California, WEEK-TV, Peoria- Bloomington, Illinois, and KBJR-TV, Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The ABC affiliates are WKBW-TV, Buffalo, New York, KNTV, San Jose and Monterey-Salinas, California and WPTA-TV, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The CBS affiliate is WTVH-TV, Syracuse, New York. The WB affiliates are KBWB-TV, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California, and WDWB-TV, Detroit, Michigan. On September 1, 1999,Granite announced that KNTV, which is operated in combination with KBWB-TV, will become a news-oriented independent station as of July 1,2000. On February 14, 2000, Granite announced a strategic alliance with NBC, whereby KNTV will become the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California NBC affiliate as of January 1, 2002. Granite is also recognized as an innovator in the development of new media services that combine television broadcasting and Internet platforms.
About NBC
NBC is a global media company with broadly diverse holdings. NBC owns and operates the NBC Television network as well as thirteen television stations. In the United States, NBC owns CNBC, operates MSNBC in partnership with Microsoft, and maintains equity interests in Arts & Rainbow Programming Holdings, a leading media company with a wide array of entertainment and sports cable channels, including the Madison Square Garden network, and ValueVision International. NBC is the leader among traditional media companies in Internet and new media business. NBC owns 47 percent of NBC Internet Inc. (NBCi), serving as the media company's exclusive Internet portal and broad-based e-commerce service. NBC also holds equity stakes in CNET, Talk City, iVillage, Telescan, 24/7 media, TiVo, Wink Communications, Gemstar Intertainer and other new media companies. Also, together with Microsoft and Dow Jones, NBC operates CNBC/Dow Jones Business Video, offering video- and audio-based financial news an information to financial professionals and institutions. Internationally, NBC owns and operates CNBC: A Service of NBC and Dow Jones in partnership with Dow Jones & Company in Europe and Asia. In partnership with National Geographic and Fox/BSkyB, the network owns and operates the National Geographic Channel in Europe and Asia. Members of the media can get more information about NBC and its programming on the NBC Media Village Web site at nbcmv.com. |
