KPSP Sold To KESQ's Parent Company

Jim Houston has sold the Thousand Palms-based KPSP Local 2 to Gulf-California, the parent company of KESQ-TV, it was announced today.

The merger, which takes effect immediately, transfers the Coachella Valley's CBS affiliate to Gulf-California, which is owned by the Bradley family, according to KESQ.com.

Several employees at KPSP Local 2 have been laid off in the merger, sources told Patch.

KPSP's morning show anchor Stella Inger wrote on her Twitter page that she and co-anchor Todd Piro kept their jobs.

"You will continue to get your morning news by both of us! See you tomorrow," she wrote.

KPSP Local 2's owner Jim Houston said in the annoncement posted on KESQ that the station was a "labor of love" for him and his wife Jackie Lee Houston, who .

"Selling to the Bradleys will save many of the jobs of our fine employees as well as preserve the award winning news programming of Local 2 News and the station’s popular franchise 'Eye on the Desert.' We have assurance from the Bradley family that they will continue KPSP’s support of community activities,” Houston said in an article on KESQ's website.

David Bradley, CEO of Gulf-California, said his company is keeping as many KPSP employees as possible.

"Our company will be very familiar to the Local 2 News staff, as we too are family-owned,'' he said. "We feel very fortunate to be able to acquire such a strong station with a huge commitment to local news coverage,'' Bradley said.

"This arrangement allows us to combine the two best news-gathering organizations in the Coachella Valley with each station continuing to maintain their own unique news brands.''

-City News Service contributed to this report.