I think Scripps is the most likely suitor for WJRT. Too bad. On-air product quality will definitely decline if that materializes. Pray that Nexstar acquires WJRT instead! Hell, even Tegna would be better than Scripps.Would Scripps be interested in 12? Would seem like a good fit to add the Flint / Saginaw / Bay City market to the stations they own in Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids.
Gray overpaid for WJRT and WTVG. By dumping WJRT, they can likely recognize a loss on sale that will reduce the company's income tax liability.
There may also be strategic considerations in play. Meredith owns the CBS affiliate in Atlanta. That station will now be landing in Gray Television's hands. Gray might be looking to maximize the number of CBS affiliations it has. They already have 60 stations affiliated with CBS.
Nearly all of Gray's stations are located in small or medium size markets, so they fact they are picking up WGCL-TV in Atlanta, which just happens to be home to Gray's corporate HQ, is quite interesting.