 On June 25, 2018, Atlanta-based Gray Television, owner of CBS affiliate KOSA-TV (channel 7), announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including KWES and KWAB, and Gray's 93 television stations) under Gray's corporate umbrella.The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—required divestment of either KOSA or KWES due to FCC ownership regulations prohibiting common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market (as well as more than two stations in any market).As part of the deal, KWES was divested, but KTLE-LP was retained, with its digital simulcast moving to a subchannel of Gray's KOSA-TV.