FCC approves $75 million sale of WADL-TV
Sale, which likely clears way for CW Network to return to station, had been tied up for nearly a year.
Adam GrahamThe sale of WADL-TV (Ch. 38) to Mission Broadcasting has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission, WADL owner Kevin Adell said Tuesday. The deal, which has been held up for nearly a year awaiting FCC approval, is worth $75 million.
"I haven't been this happy since my Bar Mitzvah," Adell said, adding that the news came as such a surprise "I nearly fell out of my chair."
The Desk was the first to report the news of the deal, which comes with several conditions, including that Texas-based Mission Broadcasting financially separate itself from its corporate parent, Nexstar Media Group Inc.
The sale likely clears the way for the CW Network to return to WADL later this year. It was recently announced that the CW will no longer be housed on WMYD-TV (Ch. 20) come Sept. 1, after seven E.W. Scripps-owned stations nationwide, including WMYD, decided to not renew their agreements to carry the network.
WADL carried the CW for two months in 2023, until Adell took it off his airwaves as the deal with Mission stalled. The CW migrated to WMYD in November.
Nexstar, the largest TV station operator in the United States, runs about 200 stations nationwide, including Lansing's WLAJ-TV (Ch. 53). Nexstar took 75% ownership interest in the CW in October 2022.
Adell, 57, launched WADL in May 1989. "I took it far as I can take it as an individual, and they're going to take it further than I can," said Adell, who also owns Detroit's WFDF-AM (910).
WADL reaches around 2 million households, according to station management.
agraham@detroitnews.com