Philly firm buying control of KTVD

Seeking badly needed working capital, the owners of independent television station KTVD, Channel 20, have agreed to sell controlling interest in the station to a Philadelphia company.

The station, known for its broadcasts of out-of-town Denver Nuggets games, will be controlled by Pennsylvania BancShares Inc. The deal is subject to Federal Communications Commission approval.

"It's a stock purchase position - majority of the stock," said Jack Moffitt, vice president and manager of the independent UHF television station.

KTVD, which first started broadcasting in Denver on Dec. 1, 1988, has been losing money, said Moffitt. The cash infusion from the purchase should help KTVD operations, including the resolution of contract disputes that have arisen recently with the Nuggets, he added.

M. Richard Miller, president of Englewood-based Twenver Inc., the holding company that has owned 100 percent of KTVD, confirmed from his offices in New York City that the need "for additional working capital" led to the sale.

"It's not an unexpected thing that we're losing money," said Moffitt, noting that the average independent television station loses money for five years before turning a profit.

Nevertheless, a faster turnaround in the Denver television market had been expected.

"We hired the leading experts in the TV industry," Miller said. Their analyses, performed in 1987 and 1988, all forecasted "significant growth" in Denver, he said, and "that growth did not occur in the TV market."

In late March, Miller started talking with Jack Wolgin and Steve Atlass, principals of Pennsylvania BancShares, a privately held, multifaceted investment company. Atlass said he and Wolgin, who have no experience in broadcasting, decided to invest their money in KTVD because they feel the timing is right for Denver.

"You can tell, the people who have cash are moving very quickly into the (Denver) market," Atlass said.

Miller, too, is upbeat...