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After spending about 10 years helping others buy and manage TV stations across the country, David Fitz and his partners had a billion-dollar idea of their own.
With newly relaxed federal regulations allowing corporations to own more than 12 TV stations in a group, they hatched an idea to acquire between 20 and 30 midsize stations in markets ranked anywhere from 50th to 150th around the country.
Unlike Lowell "Bud" Paxson's company, Paxson Communications, and the Barry Diller-run HSN Inc., Fitz's group has no plans to link its group of broadcast stations with unified programing.
Instead, it simply wants to run stations more efficiently. By changing management techniques and sharing resources, it thinks it can more than double the amount of cash each station generates.
It has even picked an optimistic name for their St. Petersburg-based venture: Sunrise Television Corp.
On Tuesday, Sunrise announced the purchase of WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pa., for $36-million. A month before, the company spent a total of...