Schurz Communications, the owner of the South Bend Tribune and WSBT, has agreed to sell its TV and radio stations to Gray Television, the owner of WNDU ? a move that acknowledges the realities of the broadcast industry while also promising to alter the local media landscape.

Atlanta-based Gray reached a deal to buy the Schurz properties ? two dozen TV and radio stations combined ? for $442.5 million. Schurz will retain the South Bend Tribune and its other newspapers, as well as the four cable companies it now owns.

The eventual landing spot for WSBT-TV, however, remains a question mark. Because Gray already owns WNDU in the South Bend market, and to speed up regulatory approval of the deal, it plans to look for another company to acquire WSBT.

Gray will use the opposite strategy in Wichita, Kan. It already operates the ABC affiliate, KAKE-TV, but it will look to sell off that station and retain the Schurz-owned and top-ranked KWCH-TV, the CBS affiliate.

The move by family-owned Schurz to sell its broadcast arm is one that could resonate for years, especially in Michiana, where the company has its headquarters. While the Schurz company began more than 140 years ago with the South Bend Tribune, it launched a local radio station in 1922 and WSBT-TV in 1951, cementing its standing as a media powerhouse in the area.

In addition to WSBT, Schurz in the area currently operates WSBT 960 AM/96.1 FM, Sunny 101.5, New Country 99.9, and Z94.

"The television and radio industries have been experiencing rapid consolidation," Todd Schurz, the company's CEO and president, said in an interview. "We have great stations, we are the market leaders in six of our seven TV markets and all our radio markets. But at the end of the day, we reach 2 percent of the nation. With what’s going on in the ecosystem right now, it becomes increasingly difficult to gain scale, to gain leverage."

For Schurz Communications, he said, “It would be very expensive, very risky and very difficult” to acquire stations to gain the needed scale.

He also acknowledged the difficulty of the decision in South Bend.

“It is emotional because the 'SBT' in WSBT stands for South Bend Tribune. We have long and close ties to that station and those employees," Schurz said. "So if I said to you it wasn’t emotional, that wouldn’t be telling the truth. But as we looked at the future, we believed that others would be better stewards of the stations, and employees would have better opportunities as well.”

The deal is subject to review by the Federal Communications Commission, a process that is expected to take at least a few months.

The sale, if approved, would expand Gray’s reach to 49 TV markets in 28 states. The company has been trying to grow aggressively in recent years and recently purchased KCRG, the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company reported revenues of about $500 million in 2014.

Hilton H. Howell Jr., the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the Schurz announcement is "a momentous day in Gray’s 118-year history."

"We welcome more dedicated reporters, account executives, and technologists to our growing family," he said. "Gray’s existing stations will make the Schurz stations stronger, while the Schurz stations will make our existing stations better."

Local TV broadcasters have been consolidating in recent years to increase their negotiating leverage against much-larger cable companies, which also have been getting bigger with mega-mergers, such as AT&T’s recent $65 billion acquisition of DirecTV. The cable companies pay fees to local stations to buy their content.

Just last week, Media General, a Virginia company that owns 71 local TV stations, announced it will acquire Iowa-based Meredith Corp.’s 17 stations in a $2.4 billion deal.

Schurz Communications moved into broadcasting in 1922 with the launch of WGAZ radio (now WSBT) in South Bend.

In 1969, it purchased WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Va. WDBJ is the station where two employees were shot and killed last month by a former co-worker while they were on location.

Todd Schurz traveled to Roanoke on Monday with top officials from Gray to personally announce the news of the sale.

“I right now am in Roanoke because the top two people from Gray and I said, ‘Where does the staff and the station need to hear it from us in person?'" he said. "It is emotional, but that is why we’re here in Roanoke.”

Schurz Communications' expansion into TV over the years has included: KTUU in Anchorage, Alaska; KY3, KSPR and KCZ in Springfield, Mo.; KWCH and KSCW in Wichita, Kan.; WAGT in Augusta, Ga.; and KOTA in Rapid City, S.D.

In addition to the South Bend radio stations, Schurz currently runs KFXS, KRCS, KOUT and KKMK in Rapid City, S.D; and WKHY 93.6 KHY, WKOA K105, WASK 98.7, WXXB B102.0 and WASK ESPN 1450 AM in Lafayette, Ind.

In 2008, Schurz built an 83,000-square-foot facility on East Douglas Road in Mishawaka for WSBT and Schurz corporate headquarters. The building cost more than $25 million, and another $10 million to equip.

Schurz will not sell the building as part of the deal and plans to keep its corporate headquarters there, even while the stations continue to operate from the facility.

“I expect the stations to be there for a period of time," Todd Schurz said. "You have some very unique, specific space for the stations. I expect someone to be in that building. It’s certainly not going to be vacant.”

Gray moved into the South Bend market in 2006 with the acquisition of WNDU from the University of Notre Dame for about $85 million.