NBC 24/51 for Sale; Owner Eyes UA

Word on the street is John Griffin is trying to sell his television news station, NBC 24/51 in Fayetteville, to the University of Arkansas.

But Griffin wouldn’t talk about it when we called him at his office in Muskogee, Okla., on Aug. 22.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” he said. “Nothing has changed.”

When the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal contacted the station’s general manager, David Needham, in July, he confirmed that the station was for sale.

Griffin said the sale of the station has “nothing to do” with his divorce from Pauline Griffin, which has been dragging on in court since 2000.

Griffin said the station is for sale because of growth in Northwest Arkansas and deregulation by the FCC that will make it possible for large corporations to own more stations nationwide (a situation that would previously have been viewed as a monopoly).

Rumor is, Griffin wants $20 million for the station.

Griffin told the Business Journal in 2000 that he spent about $5 million to resurrect the station’s newscast after an eight-year hiatus.

The Griffin family also owns Griffin Food Co., which makes jams, jellies and syrups. NBC 24/51 is the only locally owned television station in Northwest Arkansas. Muskogee is 61 miles east of Fayetteville.