Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, surged the most in more than four years after the company agreed to buy Belo Corp. for about $1.5 billion, gaining TV stations to reduce its dependence on its shrinking newspaper business.

Gannett rose 34 percent to $26.60 at the close in New York, the biggest one-day gain since April 2009. The McLean, Va.- based publisher will pay $13.75 per Belo share in cash and assume $715 million in debt, according to a statement yesterday.

The per-share price is 28 percent above Belo’s closing price yesterday.

The acquisition will make Gannett the fourth-largest owner of major network affiliates, almost doubling the number of stations to 43 from 23.

Adding more local broadcasters in US cities such as Houston gives Gannett leverage with cable and satellite distributors when they renegotiate licensing fees.