The sale--which includes stations in Cleveland, Birmingham, and Kansas City--will leave News Corp. with 27 owned-and-operated stations.

"News Corp. is selling the assets to focus on its largest and most lucrative markets following the $5.2 billion takeover of Dow Jones & Co. this year," reported Bloomberg.com. "The purchase will help Oak Hill, the buyout firm founded by Texas oil billionaire Robert Bass, create a broader U.S. network after it paid $575 million to acquire stations from New York Times Co. in May."

"It is part of News Corp.'s strategic decision to shed low-growth, non-core assets,'' Richard Dorfman, managing director of New York-based investment firm Richard Alan Inc., who doesn't own any shares, told Bloomberg.