Gow and two other local investors in Gow Communications said Thursday they have purchased a majority interest in Mission Media Group, which was created by Sporting News Radio president and former Houston radio executive Clancy Woods.

Mission Media has a licensing agreement with American City Business Journals to produce and distribute content under the Sporting News Radio name.

“We think the future is very, very bright for sports content,” Woods said. “We have a lot of ideas that we are anxious to pursue. This allows us to do some things and move out of a holding pattern into a proactive posture.”

For Houston listeners, the partnership with Woods represents an expanded commitment to sports on the radio and the Internet by Gow, whose independent station was presumed by some to be the most vulnerable of this market's four all-sports stations.

“We think the combination will enhance and expand the pool of talent and content available to us,” Gow said. “We want to share resources between the network and the radio station.”

Gow said the deal will not affect KGOW's program lineup, which includes Tim Brando's midday show and Sporting News Radio's nighttime, overnight and weekend programming.

“Looking ahead with the talent that Sporting News Radio is pursuing and likely to roll out, we think there will be ways to sprinkle that talent across our radio station, and we hope there will be opportunities for some of our talent to participate in network shows,” he said.

The company eventually will employ about a dozen people in Houston to handle network operations, Gow said, but shows such as Brando's midday show will continue to originate from locations around the country.

Along with Gow, the local investors in Mission Media include Steve Webster, co-CEO of Avista Capital in Houston, and Patrick Dugan, vice president and general counsel of Nortex Corp. Both are among the more than 30 partners with Gow in Gow Communications.

Woods, who is based in Arizona, is a radio industry veteran who helped launch the adult contemporary Mix format on KHMX (96.5 FM) in 1990. Sporting News Radio estimates that it has three million weekly listeners via 175 terrestrial radio stations, Sirius Satellite Radio and other digital and mobile outlets.