The FCC granted on February 6, 2018 the application to transfer control of the longtime family-owned KFMB Stations to Tegna of McLean, Virginia. The Meyer family, most lately Elisabeth (Meyer) Kimmel, had owned the AM, FM, and TV stations since 1964, an oddity in an industry typically held in large clusters by publicly-traded corporations.

The fate of approximately 200 employees, the most of any San Diego media company and many with long seniority, lies now with the media giant made primarily of the stations from the Gannett, King Broadcasting, and Belo groups that have merged over the past few years.

The change brings up numerous questions:

What will happen to KFMB’s master control? TEGNA currently operates a centralcasting center in Greensboro, NC for CBS and ABC affiliate stations in the group.

What about other departments? Human resources, accounting, graphics, and traffic are typically processed centrally by most media groups.

What will happen to KFMB-AM 760 and KFMB-FM 100.7 Radio? Tegna divested its Gannett radio operations, and it’s not unreasonable to expect Tegna to divest its San Diego radio properties.

Will KFMB remain in its enormous facility built in 1976? Even the most casual observer will conclude the technical facility needs a major rebuild and it’s likely they wouldn’t need half the space if radio operations are spun off and administrative and artistic functions are done elsewhere in the country.