A new article in the TV Newsday trade mag explains why Fusion Communications of Iowa decided to buy Louisville’s CW affiliate — it thinks it can make money.

The mag quotes Fusion partner Jeff Lyle, saying “We’re looking for stations where there’s revenue, growth potential and owners who are motivated to sell.”

In other words, they’re scooping up bargains, kind of like buying residential real estate right now. The station’s sale price hasn’t been made public, though the auction’s basement price was $750,000. Fusion execs are in town this week, and have yet to make a decision on a new location for the station, which is occupying a building it has sold.

The Newsday story adds some details we didn’t know — that attempts to sell the station outright last fall failed; that Fusion’s purchase includes the assumption of existing contracts and liabilities; and that the new owners aren’t concerned about low ratings but are committed to local programming.

Fusion operates Independent Network News, which supplies programming to 10 local stations, including Indiana’s Channel 9. But it won’t drop the 10 p.m. WHAS-TV newscast in favor of an INN product, at least for now.

The story closes with an optimistic quote from Carol LaFever, who was the station’s GM and orchestrated the sale.

“We think that Fusion will continue and expand upon our lineup of local programming. And revenue-wise, I think that will be the new industry trend. As a result, a lot of stations will benefit from our initial efforts.”