Parent company of KFVS agrees to purchase WSIL

Broadcasting company Gray Media announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement to purchase 10 television stations from Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group for $171 million.

The purchase would include southern Illinois TV station WSIL, channel 3, an ABC-TV affiliate that serves the Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg market.

Gray Media is the parent company of KFVS-12 in Cape Girardeau.

According to a Gray TV press release, the transaction creates duopolies in several of the markets that Gray says would allow them to "preserve and deepen public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming."

Other markets in the deal include Huntsville, Alabama: Montgomery, Alabama; Columbus-Tupelo, Mississippi; Lafayette, Louisiana; Rockford, Illinois; Evansville, Indiana; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Terre Haute, Indiana; and West Lafayette, Indiana.

Gray anticipates that the deal will meet FCC approval and hopes to complete the transaction by the end of the year.


Gray Media, Inc. is a publicly-traded multimedia company headquartered in Atlanta. The company describes itself as the nation’s largest owner of top-rated local television stations and digital assets, serving 113 television markets.

Allen Media Group purchased WSIL in 2021. The company made national headlines last January when it announced plans to replace dozens of local TV weathercasters -- including at WSIL --  with a centralized feed from The Weather Channel. However, following significant viewer backlash, the company reversed its decision. 

In June, Allen retained investment banking firm Moelis & Co. to sell his network-affiliate television stations after spending more than $1 billion to scoop up outlets in smaller markets.