New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUE-Channel 8 has been sold to Saints owner Tom Benson for $41 million.

WWL-TV

Tom Benson.

Emmis Communications Corporation, WVUE's Indiana-based parent, announced the sale Monday.

"We have enjoyed a great relationship with in the past as a broadcaster of Saints games, and it is particularly gratifying to transfer stewardship of this remarkable station to someone who is so committed to the New Orleans community," said Jeff Smulyan, Emmis' chairman and chief executive officer.

"While many are hesitant to invest in this city and state, I am not," Benson said in an interview broadcast Monday on WVUE.

Emmis said it hopes to close the sale with Louisiana Media Company sometime before the end of this year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)