officially returned to KPHO on September 10, 1994. three days after New World's purchase of KSAZ-TV—which became an independent before affiliating with Fox three months later—was finalized. A $1 million promotion blitz was undertaken by Meredith and CBS, along with a planned doubling of the station's local news output. Becoming part of the "Family" In 2013, Gannett—owner of KPNX and The Arizona Republic—announced it would merge with Belo, which owned KTVK and KASW (channel 61). As FCC rules restrict one company from owning more than two television stations in the same market, Gannett announced that it would spin off KTVK and KASW to Sander Media, LLC, a company operated by former Belo executive Jack Sander, with their operations to remain largely separate from KPNX and The Republic. However, in St. Louis, Gannett owned NBC affiliate KSDK while Belo owned CBS affiliate KMOV. The Department of Justice required the outright sale of one of the two St. Louis stations in lieu of a transfer to Sander, noting a combination of the two would put Gannett in a dominant position in the local advertising market. Concurrent with the closure of the merger on December 23, 2013, Meredith announced it would acquire KMOV, KTVK, and assets used in KASW's operation, with the KASW license being transferred to SagamoreHill Broadcasting. The transaction closed in mid-2014, kicking off a period of integration of the two stations. On August 7, Meredith announced plans to merge the two stations' operations at KTVK's studio in the Central Avenue Corridor, citing its significantly larger size in comparison to KPHO's facilities. The union of KTVK and KPHO-TV's news operations, marketed under the "Arizona's Family" banner long associated with KTVK, came with the loss of 14 jobs across both stations. KPHO general manager Ed Munson headed the combined operation until his 2018 retirement. Sale to Gray Television On May 3, 2021, Gray Television announced its intent to purchase the Meredith Local Media division, including KPHO and KTVK, for $2.7 billion. In Arizona, Gray already owned CBS affiliate KOLD-TV in Tucson. The sale was completed on December 1. News operation KPHO-TV has operated a news department since it signed on. In the early days, there were no news film facilities that permitted processing of film in the state; all film had to be processed in California. This changed in 1952, when Ralph Painter figured out how to project processed film from a