Gray Media Group, the parent company of WIFR, to purchase 13 WREX in Rockford

August 8, 2025|By Kevin Haas|In Rockford, Business, Top Stories, Featured, Rock River Current, News, 815 News, Local

Gray Media Group announced Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, that it was purchasing 10 TV stations from Allen Media Group, including 13 WREX in Rockford.

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app

ROCKFORD — Gray Media Group, the parent company of WIFR, has agreed to buy 10 television stations from Allen Media Group, including WREX in Rockford.

The Atlanta-based multimedia company announced the $171 million deal Friday morning in a news release. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year pending regulatory approval, including waivers of Federal Communications Commission local ownership rules, the company said in the release.

It’s not yet clear how the purchase would affect operations at WIFR, the local CBS affiliate, and WREX, an NBC affiliate. Representatives of Gray Media said that it’s premature to talk about those plans.

“In some markets we have a single news team when we have a CBS or an NBC,” said Kevin Latek, executive vice president and chief legal and development officer for Gray Media. “In other markets we have two separate news teams with totally different brands. It depends on the market place. We let our general managers and news directors make decisions that are right for their marketplace. It’s way too early to know what changes we’re going to see over time.”

Rockford is one of seven markets where Gray is purchasing television stations where it already has a presence. The transaction also brings it into three new markets, the company said.

“Gray expects the transaction to strengthen the company’s presence in the seven other markets by creating new duopolies that would allow Gray to preserve and deepen public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming,” the company said in a news release.

“We look forward to getting into the station over the next couple weeks, meeting folks and figuring out what our plans are going to be,” Latek said.

FCC regulations prohibit an entity from owning two stations in the same market, with certain exceptions. Companies can also petition the FCC to show owning multiple stations would serve the public interest despite the prohibition.

Allen Media Group had announced in June that it was looking to sell 28 stations in 21 markets across the country, including 13 WREX. The Los Angeles-based company run by media mogul Byron Allen said at the time its goal was to reduce outstanding debt.

WREX is one of two stations in Illinois to be purchased by Gray. The other is WSIL in southern Illinois.