PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – WPLG-TV, Local 10 will join the ranks of about 4,500 employees along with 69 newspapers when the Federal Communications Commission approves Berkshire Hathaway as its new owners. Local 10 will become part of BH Media Group, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, and Warren Buffett's media holdings group.
On Friday, employees at Local 10 met their future CEO, Terry Kroeger, president and CEO of BH Media.
BH Media Group operates newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and New Jersey. WPLG-TV, Local 10 will be its first television station.
BH Media is acquiring Local 10 from Graham Holdings Company, run by Donald Graham, whose mother was Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. The relationship between Buffett and the Grahams has roots; Katharine Graham relied on Buffett for financial advice and he sat on the Washington Post's board of directors.
"Warren Buffett's 40-year association with our company has been extremely good for our shareholders. We thank our longtime colleagues at WPLG for their enormous contributions and congratulate them on the opportunity to join one of the greatest companies in America," said Donald E. Graham in a prepared statement.
Three executives, including Kroeger, took a tour of the television station in Pembroke Park to see firsthand where photographers, reporters, producers and engineers work, and where the television station has continued its legacy of meaningful reporting.
WPLG-TV executives and BH Media Group said those high standards won't change.
"What you've established here has made you a successful business," Kroeger told employees gathered in the station's newsroom. "Other than there might ultimately be a different name somewhere in the broadcast in fine print, I don't think (viewers) will notice anything."
Local 10 will cease being part of Graham Holdings Company's Post-Newsweek Stations when the station and its employees join Berkshire Hathaway, one of the most valuable companies in the world, later this year. The deal is currently in the approval process with the FCC. An update is expected in 90 days, according to Kroeger.
Post-Newsweek Stations will continue to maintain ownership of WDIV-TV, Detroit; KPRC-TV, Houston; WKMG-Orlando, KSAT-TV, San Antonio, and WJXT-TV, Jacksonville.