Miami owner of WHDH in talks to acquire WLVI
Miami media mogul Ed Ansin , who owns WHDH-TV (Channel 7) in Boston, is in negotiations to buy WLVI-TV (Channel 56), according to an executive involved in the deal.
The station purchase is expected to be disclosed in the coming weeks and will give NBC affiliate WHDH control over two local news broadcasts, which will be consolidated at WHDH's Boston headquarters, the executive said.
Tribune Co., which owns Channel 56, a WB affiliate, would not comment on the deal. But the Chicago company this year disclosed a ``performance improvement plan" that calls for at least $500 million in asset sales -- about $300 million of which have been identified so far. Last month, Tribune completed the sale of Channel 36 in Atlanta for $180 million, and it disclosed the sale of WCWN-TV Albany for $17 million in June.
A spokeswoman for Ansin's company, Sunbeam Television Corp., also would not comment.
Several weeks ago, Ansin and Thomas Leach, Tribune's senior vice president of development, visited Channel 56's headquarters in Dorchester, according to the executive, who requested anonymity because the deal has not been completed. Channel 56 employs about 150 people, including about 50 in the news operation. But the executive said Sunbeam will likely use its existing staff at WHDH to run Channel 56, including its 10 p.m. nightly news broadcast.
The deal comes just weeks before Channel 56 is set to launch the new CW programming -- a network that resulted from this year's merger of struggling youth-oriented networks UPN and WB. The CW will carry many programs now popular on the WB and UPN, including ``America's Next Top Model," ``Gilmore Girls," and ``Everybody Hates Chris." The WB and UPN television networks will both cease independent operations on Sept. 18.
Jim Thistle , director of the broadcast journalism program at Boston University, said that buying Channel 56 would allow Sunbeam to produce more news at a lower cost and grab viewers on two networks without having two fleets of live trucks, two weather labs, and two assignment desks. He estimated Channel 56 could fetch up to $160 million.
``The ratings and viewership for all the stations are a fraction of what they once were 10 or 15 years ago," said Thistle, who formerly served as the news director at Channels 4, 5, and 7. ``But when all is said and done, major market television is still a very profitable business."
Ansin's interest in Channel 56 also could be a pre-emptive move to block NBC from buying a station itself in Boston, as the company has consolidated and focused more on ownership in major markets, Thistle said.
Earlier this year, NBC sold WJAR Channel 10 in Providence and three other stations owned and operated by NBC for $600 million . At the time, NBC said it wanted to sell the stations so the company could focus on six major markets where it owns and operates two stations.
Sunbeam's affiliate license with NBC expires in 10 years.
``We're very happy with the affiliation in Boston," said Liz Fischer , an NBC spokeswoman.
Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com. 
