Along with his longtime business partners Jerry Perenchio and Bud Yorkin, Lear acquired WNJU-TV, a UHF independent station in the New York City area.
In 1984, WNJU formed an alliance with Weigel Broadcasting's WCIU in Chicago and locally owned KSTS in San Jose to acquire Spanish programming to air on all three stations under a network called NetSpan.
Blair Broadcasting, which had just acquired WSCV in Miami and KVEA in Los Angeles and converted these into full-time Spanish independent outlets, joined the alliance in 1985.
WNJU and KSTS would be sold in 1986 to Reliance Capital Group, which separately acquired Blair Broadcasting;[2] the sale marked Lear and Perenchio's exit from the station business.
This was not the case in the Piedmont Triad, because WNRW's rival station WGGT (now WMYV) was in bankruptcy, but it still ran a comparatively low-budget schedule.
This solidified Act III's strategy of acquiring stations in mid-tier DMAs, with the added spin of affiliating with the fast-growing Fox network which was rapidly emerging as a force in Broadcasting.
WTAT's acquisition included restructuring ownership to gain majority control, but retained the stations limited partners.
[11][12][13] That same year, Act III mounted an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to acquire WDBD in Jackson, Mississippi, and WZDX in Huntsville, Alabama, from Media Central, Inc. formerly under the control of Mort Kent but then in Chapter 11 proceedings.
[16] Act III then restored its Fox affiliation to WUTV, as well as its rights to the Buffalo Sabres games, which WNYB obtained when the deal closed in 1990.
With the deal, the Sabres received a minority stake in the new WUTV[17] McGrath stepped down as chairman of Act III Broadcasting in 1990 when he left to join Time Warner as President of International.
It bought the entire program inventory of WGGT, the other general entertainment station in the market, and merged it onto WNRW's schedule.
It was the approval of the LMA concept that allowed Act III to consolidate ownership and control of programming in small markets, significantly enhancing the value of its stations.
ABRY Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, already owned two Fox network affiliates when the company entered into an agreement to acquire Norman Lear's controlling interest in Act III Broadcasting in early September 1991.
[25] During the 1989-1991 period, virtually no takeover activity was undertaken and asset values in general experienced steep, if temporary, declines.
[35][36] Although majority-controlled by Norman Lear, Act III Broadcasting was financed by a large group of other Wall Street interests and shareholders.
[39][failed verification] The eventual exit at over a 600% return on investment marks one of the most successful broadcast ventures in industry history.
[40] Prior to the sale in 1997/98 the company undertook various buyouts of minority interests which increased the Act III Communications/Lear stake to an undetermined, but higher level.