By JOHN REID BLACKWELL
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER (link to article on InRich.com)

The possible sale of Landmark Communications Inc. leaves uncertain the future ownership of two Richmond-area businesses and of one of the last privately owned cable television channels.

Norfolk-based Landmark announced yesterday that it is considering selling its businesses, which include regional newspapers in the Hampton Roads area and in Roanoke. The family-controlled company also owns The Weather Channel and its Web site, www.weather.com.

In the Richmond area, Landmark owns Style Weekly, an alternative weekly publication focusing on arts, entertainment and news. The free weekly employs 39 people full time and circulates about 42,500 copies, said publisher Lori Collier Waran.

She referred other questions to Landmark's corporate office, as did the publishers of The Roanoke Times and The Virginian-Pilot, which are also owned by Landmark. Corporate spokesman Richard Barry declined to comment about any sale plans.

Landmark's Richmond-area properties also include Net Telcos, a data-hosting firm. The company is an operating division of Continental Broadband, which Landmark owns. Net Telcos has a data center in Glen Allen and employs about 25 people in the Richmond area and 15 in the Hampton Roads area.

George Plattenburg, vice president of Continental Broadband, said he had no comment on the Landmark announcement.

"Continental Broadband is also investigating options for its future, including the possible sale of the company," he said.

He would not comment on possible buyers or mergers. Net Telcos, he said, "would be part of whatever the future of Continental Broadband will be. We are continuing operations, and they are growing very rapidly."

National news coverage of Landmark's announcement centered on the future of The Weather Channel, which could get multiple bidders. The New York Times, citing unidentified sources, reported that the network could draw $5 billion.

"The Weather Channel is the crown jewel," said Edward J. Atorino, a research analyst with The Benchmark Co. in New York. "It's a great franchise, and it is going to be an interesting bidding war." Atorino said he could not speculate on what interest Landmark's other properties might draw.

A sale of the newspapers and network-affiliated TV stations could face some hurdles in the current economic and regulatory climate, said Steve Marascia, a research analyst at Anderson & Strudwick in Richmond. "The credit market contraction has made deals harder and harder to do."

The Federal Communications Commission recently relaxed rules prohibiting cross-ownership of media properties in large markets, but some members of Congress have opposed those changes, and potential congressional action could make buyers wary, Marascia said.

Media General Inc., parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, owns newspaper and television properties in the Southeast.

Ray Kozakewicz, a spokesman for Media General, declined to comment on the Landmark announcement and whether Media General might seek to buy any of the properties. "Our longstanding policy is not to comment on any market rumors and speculation on acquisition activities."

Landmark Communications had more than $2 billion in revenue last year, spokesman Barry said. He said the company employs about 9,000 people, but he did not have employment figures for Virginia.

Officials with the century-old company said it has hired investment banks to assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale. The company did not comment on potential buyers, but The Virginian-Pilot reported on its Web site yesterday that Landmark officials told employees there a sale could occur by summer.

"At this early stage, we cannot speculate on where this process will lead," Landmark Chairman and CEO Frank Batten Jr. said in a statement yesterday. "We will consider various options and, at the end, we will advise employees and customers of our conclusions."

According to the Virginian-Pilot's Web site, Batten declined to say why he wanted to explore a sale or why it's been done now.

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or jblackwell@timesdispatch.com.