News Corp to sell 8 U.S. TV stations for $1.1 bln

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will sell eight U.S. television stations to private equity firm Oak Hill Partners for about $1.1 billion.

News Corp said in a statement on Saturday the deal was expected to close in the third calendar quarter of next year.

The sale of the Fox affiliate stations in small markets will leave News Corp with 27 stations in major markets including New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

The media conglomerate, which owns the New York Post, a controlling stake in BSkyB (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) satellite TV service, and 20th Century Fox movie studio, recently closed a $5.6 billion deal to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co Inc as part of a plan to create a global financial news empire.

The TV stations include WJW in Cleveland, Ohio; KDVR in Denver, Colorado; and WGHP in Greensboro, North Carolina; KTVI in St. Louis, Missouri; WDAF in Kansas City, Missouri; WITI in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; KSTU in Salt Lake City, Utah; and WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li, Editing by Sandra Maler)