WBRC neon sign. Photo credit: André Natta

In a follow-up to a story that we first posted about in June, News Corporation announced on Saturday that eight of those stations, including Birmingham’s own WBRC-TV, will be sold to Oak Hill Capital Partners, a private equity company with offices in Menlo Park, CA, New York, NY and Stamford, CT. The reported amount paid for the eight stations is $1.1 billion – and its completion is of course subject to regulatory approval.

The only station not included from the original nine is WHBQ in Memphis (only because Local TV LLC, the company Oak Hill established to manage stations purchased from The New York Times Company earlier this year, already owns the CBS affiliate up there).

The story got even more interesting later in the day when the Chicago Tribune filed this story on its website announcing the details about the sale as a follow up to report about a management deal between Local TV and the Tribune Company, which recently returned to private ownership.

The folks over at The International Herald Tribune offer their take on the whole situation and what it means.