MADISON, Wis., June 26, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- NBC 15/WMTV and WBUW 57, the NBC and WB Network affiliates serving Madison, Wisconsin, announced today that they will join forces this fall to offer viewers in the Madison market another choice for local evening news. Under the terms of the agreement, NBC 15 will produce a 35-minute nightly local newscast, to be aired on WBUW 57 Monday through Friday at 9:00 p.m. NBC 15 will hire additional staff and will produce the news telecast at its studio in Madison, while WBUW 57 will in turn sell the advertising time for the news program.
"It's clear that the viewing habits of Madison television watchers are changing," said Robert Smith, General Manager of NBC 15 and Regional Vice President of Gray MidAmerica Television. "More and more people are interested in seeing local news and information earlier in the evening. If they are making that choice, then we should be the ones to offer it to them."
Doug Gealy, President and COO of ACME Communications, Inc., the owner and operator of WBUW 57, commented, "This partnership will provide WBUW with the opportunity to capitalize on the attractive local news space in the Madison market without having to incur the start-up and operational costs associated with such a venture. Leveraging NBC 15's production staff, outstanding newsgathering ability and state-of-the-art studio facilities with our newest WB affiliate, the newscast will provide both ACME and Gray MidAmerica with an additional revenue stream, while providing viewers with the opportunity to receive quality local news programming at an earlier timeslot."
NBC 15/WMTV is currently celebrating their 50th year as a television broadcaster serving South Central Wisconsin. They are committed to delivering local news and employ some of Madison's favorite newscasters. NBC 15/WMTV puts community involvement high on their priority list. They sponsor many events each year to help raise funds for area not-for-profit organizations. NBC 15/WMTV is the home of popular NBC programs including Friends, ER and Frasier. Gray Television, Inc. purchased NBC 15/WMTV in the fall of 2002.
WBUW 57, formerly WHPN-TV, the former UPN affiliate in Madison, has been managed by ACME since April 2002. In August 2002, ACME switched the station's network affiliation to the WB Network in an effort to capitalize on the WB's young demographic and rapidly growing ratings. ACME completed its purchase of WBUW in December 2002. While the station has only existed for one year as a WB affiliate, it has already achieved a high rate of success, posting strong increases in both ratings and revenue.
About Gray Television, Inc.
Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, whose primary mission is to provide quality news and entertainment services to the local markets in which the Company operates.
Gray Television, Inc. currently operates 15 CBS-affiliated television stations, seven NBC-affiliated television stations, seven ABC-affiliated television stations and four daily newspapers.
About ACME Communications, Inc.
ACME Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACME) owns and operates nine television stations serving markets covering 3.7% of the nation's television households, making the Company the fourth largest affiliate group of The WB Television Network. The Company's stations are: KUWB-TV, Salt Lake City, UT; KWBQ-TV and KASY-TV, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM; WBDT-TV, Dayton, OH; WBXX-TV, Knoxville, TN; WIWB-TV, Green Bay-Appleton, WI; WBUI-TV, Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, IL; WTVK-TV, Ft. Myers-Naples, FL and WBUW-TV, Madison, WI. All of the Company's stations, except KASY-TV, a UPN affiliate, are WB Network affiliates. ACME's shares are traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol: ACME.