Owners of Tampa TV station Channel 8 News set to acquire SNN

Derek Gilliam, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Updated ·2 min read

The Suncoast News Network has agreed to be acquired by Nexstar Media Group (Nasdaq: NXST), which also owns two Tampa Bay-area TV networks.

A news release about the transaction did not disclose the financial terms. The deal will also need to be approved by regulators.

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Suncoast News Network, which goes by the broadcast call sign WSNN-LD, is a low-power, independent TV station that reaches "more than 400,000 homes in the region" and "broadcasts more than seven hours of live local news each weekday," according to the news release about the acquisition.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune launched SNN in 1995 becoming one of the first newspapers to embrace video production. The newspaper was at the time owned by The New York Times Co. The Herald-Tribune is currently owned by Gannett, which owns more than 200 U.S. publications.

For years, both broadcast journalists and print journalists worked in the newspaper's building, however, the Herald-Tribune sold the station in 2009 to a group of local investors that included Philip Lombardo, the chief executive officer of Citadel Communications Co. of New York.

Citadel Communications acquired a majority stake in the company in 2014, according to Herald-Tribune archives.

The Suncoast News Network would join Nexstar Media Group stations News Channel 8 (WFLA-TV) and Great 38 (WTTA-TV) expanding the Nexstar Media Group's media coverage into the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metro area.

“WSNN-LD and its Suncoast News Network provide comprehensive local news, weather, and sports coverage across both linear and digital platforms, and offer a variety of advertising opportunities for businesses and marketers throughout Sarasota and the three-county region,” said Mark Higgins, WFLA-TV/WTTA-TV vice president and general manager. “WSNN-LD is the perfect complement to WFLA-TV and WTTA-TV, and positions us extremely well in what will again be a battleground state during the 2024 presidential election cycle.”

Nexstar Media Group owns or partners with 200 stations in 116 media markets in the United States. The company also owns The CW, NewsNation, Antenna TV and Rewind TV.

The transaction is expected to close later this year, according to the news release.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Suncoast News Network to be acquired by owner of Tampa TV station