Business

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP) ― Young Broadcasting Inc., the parent company of KRON-TV in San Francisco, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday.

Word of the bankruptcy filing came in a letter to KRON employees from Young Broadcasting's chairman Vincent Young.

Young said the New York-based company had "more than $20 million cash on hand" and expected to continue operating its television stations as usual while undergoing bankruptcy reorganization.

The chairman emphasized that no layoffs were planned.

In explaining the rationale for the bankruptcy filing to employees, Young wrote simply: "Our company generates significant profits, but those profits are not sufficient to support all of our debt."

Young owns and operates 10 television stations across the country, the largest of which is KRON. Most of the others are affiliated with the CBS and ABC television networks and are concentrated in mid-sized markets in the Midwest and in New York state.

"Our decision to restructure through a Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to bring its debt in line with current economic realities so that we can emerge a stronger and more financially secure company. It is important to note that we are restructuring our debt, not our operations," said Young. 

TV broadcasters in the U.S. are under pressure as the economic downturn reduces advertising revenue.

Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service warned recently that broadcasters entered the recession with high debt and were struggling to retain audiences as more customers turn to portable gadgets and the Web for entertainment.

At the same time, broadcasters — and some of their cable counterparts — are facing tough times absent must-see television such as major political campaigns or the Olympics.

On Thursday, the country's fourth-largest cable operator Charter Communications Inc., said it expects to file for bankruptcy by April 1 and get relief from creditors.

The St. Louis-based company has never made a profit since it began trading publicly in 1999.

And last December, Chicago-based Tribune Co., which owns flagship newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The (Baltimore) Sun, The Hartford Courant and other dailies, as well as 23 television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team, sought bankruptcy protection amid a $13 billion debt load and sinking ad revenues.
 
Young has also been struggling in recent months. Their stock has hovered near five cents a share for some time and was recently delisted by NASDAQ.

The company also reported in January that they planned to forego making a $6.125 million dollar interest payment.

Young's bankruptcy filing occured in U.S. bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York.

The filing reported that Young's debts exceed assets by a little over $400 million.

Aside from KRON, the other stations owned by Young are:

_ WKRN-TV in Nashville, Tenn. (ABC)

_ WTEN-TV in Albany, N.Y. (ABC)

_ WRIC-TV in Richmond, Va. (ABC)

_ WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tenn. (ABC)

_ WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wis. (ABC)

_ WLNS-TV in Lansing, Mich. (CBS)

_ KLFY-TV in Lafayette, La. (CBS)

_ KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D. (CBS)

_ KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa (NBC)

In addition to its TV stations, Young Broadcasting owns a national television representation firm, Adam Young Inc.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)