station trading

The E.W. Scripps announced this moring that it has a deal to buy two Granite Broadcasting stations — ABC affiliate WKBW and MNT affiliate WMYD Detroit — for $110 million in cash.

Another suitor has taken preliminary steps in the courtship of PBS affiliate KMBH Harlingen, Texas. Don Dunlap, president-GM of KEDT, the PBS outlet in Corpus Christi, says his station is “eager to explore all options” and has had “a number of conference calls” on the subject of KMBH’s proposed sale.

The sale by Compass Communications of Idaho of KFXP-DT Pocatello, Idaho, to Abraham Telecasting Co. for $350,000 tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The sale by Evangel World Prayer Center of Kentucky of WJDE-LD Nashville to Word Broadcasting Network for $60,000 tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The NBC affiliate has been purchased by LocusPoint Networks, an investment firm that is acquiring stations with plans to participate in the FCC’s incentive auction.

Washington sources say the FCC chairman is studying what to do about station sales involving sharing arrangements and postponing action on pending transactions in the meantime.

According to analysis by BIA/Kelsey, strong political advertising revenues from the previous year, retransmission consent revenues and continued historically lower interest rates were all contributing factors to this strong showing in the television station acquisition market. 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville is negotiating the sale of KMBH Harlingen, Texas, which could end, or interrupt, public television programming in the Rio Grande Valley. But attorneys involved in the sale, as well as a diocese spokeswoman, said steps are being taken now to continue public television programming.

The sale by Cowles California Media Co of KCOY Santa Maria, Calif., to VistaWest Media LLC for $1.175 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The sale by Mako Communications of KATA-CD Mesquite, Texas, to Lone Star Spectrum LLC for $5.8 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

It now owns the Telemundo affiliate in the Texas market of Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen.

The sale by Sainte Partners II LP of KVIQ Eureka, Calif., to Frontier Radio Management for $1.25 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The Chicago-based group owner completes the final steps of its $2.73 billion transaction announced in July.

The sale by Sander Media of three stations to Meredith Corp. for $407.5 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The cable system-owned buyer is adding CBS affiliates in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan to the two stations in the state already in its portfolio.

The combination means the company’s broadcast division reaches nearly one-third of all U.S. households.

For $407.5 million, Meredith is getting KMOV St. Louis and KTVK-KASW Phoenix that Gannett is acquiring in its purchase of Belo Corp.

There are now zero black-owned and operated full-power TV stations in the United States. This sorry state of affairs is the culmination of a trend that started in the late 1990s when Congress and the FCC allowed massive consolidation in the broadcasting industry. This policy shift crowded out existing owners of color and ensured that it would be nearly impossible for new owners to access the public airwaves. Recent FCC actions (and in some cases, inaction) have only hastened this decline in opportunities for diverse broadcasters.

The commission on Friday gave the green light to the $1.5 billion Gannett buy of Belo’s 20 stations (minus KMOV St. Louis, which it is spinning off) as well as the $2.7 billion purchase by Tribune Co. of Local TV LLC’s 16 stations. Gannett says it expects to close its deal next week.

As a result of its November deal for Hoak Media, Gray Television will end up with a second duopoly (CBS-Fox) in the Colorado market west of Denver. That’s one too many under the FCC rules — it already has an ABC-NBC duopoly there. So, it’s spinning off the CBS-Fox combo to Nexstar Broadcasting in two separate deals for a total of $37.5 million.

It’s purchasing Fox affiliate KEVN Rapid City and satellite KIVV Lead from Mission TV LLC.

With 2013 not yet over, SNL Kagan has counted $10.9 billion worth of broadcast TV deals through Nov. 30, involving 270 full-power stations and 265 low-power stations. By comparison, the entirety of 2012 saw broadcast TV deals totaling roughly $2 billion, and 2011 saw deals totaling only $1.2 billion. There are myriad factors that have driven the uptick in consolidation, including strong balance sheets on the part of certain broadcasters and access to cheap debt, but perhaps the most important is retransmission consent fees.

Three TV stations owned by Roberts Broadcasting Co., which filed for bankruptcy in 2011, are being sold as part of a settlement reached Wednesday. Ion Media Networks is paying $7.75 million for WRBU St. Louis; WZRB Columbia, S.C.; and WAZE Evansville, Ind.

Gannett Co. can move ahead with its purchase of Belo Corp. as long as the deal does not include CBS affiliate KMOV St. Louis, antitrust enforcers at the U.S. Justice Department said today.

The FCC has approved the purchase by the News-Press & Gazette Co. of three stations from the Cowles California Media Co. The $22 million deal is for KION (CBS) and KMUV (Telemundo) in Monterey-Salinas, Calif., and Fox affiliate KKFX Santa Barbara, Calif.

Despite the fact that representatives from E.W. Scripps Co. toured WKBW Buffalo, N.Y.’s operations last week, broadcasting industry insiders say don’t assume anything. Scripps, according to several industry reports, is one of several media groups reportedly interested in Granite Broadcasting Corp.’s eight TV stations, including WKBW. Granite officials declined to comment. The tour, insiders say, was just that — a tour.

The sale by Roberts Broadcasting of WRBU East St. Louis, Ill., to TCT Ministries Inc. for $5.5 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

In a move that could be trouble for Sinclair’s previously announced purchase of Allbritton Communications, the Media Bureau says Sinclair’s plans to spin off stations in Charleston, Birmingham and Harrisburg to sidecar operators would violate commission rules.

The sale by Prime Cities Broadcasting of KNDX Bismarck, KXND Minot and two low-power stations, all in North Dakota to Excalibur for $7.5 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The commission approves the $18 million purchase of Max Media’s Montana stations announced in October.

The sale by Hoak Media of stations in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas to Gray Television for $335 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

The 24 stations in 15 markets cover 3.4% of the U.S. and range from DMAs 68 to 201.

Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it closed on the acquisition of the non-license assets of NBC affiliate KRNV Reno, Nev. (DMA 107), from Intermountain West for $26 million, giving it a triopoly in the market. It already owns the Fox affiliate and operates the MNT outlet.

The cable operator and trade group ask the FCC to reject Mission’s $15.25 million purchase of Stainless Broadcasting’s two Binghamton, N.Y., stations, claiming that Nexstar Broadcasting will end up with “de facto control over three of the Big Four broadcast signals and four of the six national broadcast network affiliates” in the market.

Upon completion of the deal and other pending transactions, Gray will own and/or operate television stations in 39 markets broadcasting a total of 123 distinct channels of programming, including 70 channels affiliated with one of the Big Four networks. At that time, Gray will operate duopolies in 16 markets.

The sale by Duhamel Broadcasting Enterprises of stations in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming to Schurz Communications Inc. for $10 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Kelsey.

What Schurz is paying the Duhamel family for the ABC affiliate was revealed today in an FCC filing seeking approval of the deal. The parties announced the sale on Oct. 31 without disclosing the price.

The CW affiliate was just purchased by Excalibur Broadcasting from Lockwood and upon approval of the deal, Gray Television will provide it with back-office services and limited programming. Gray owns the market’s NBC affiliate WSAZ.

The FCC has granted the application by WIYC Inc., headed by CEO and sole stockholder Neal Ardman, to purchase WIYC Montgomery, Ala. (DMA 118), from Josie Park Broadcasting for $650,000. Ardman also operates WPAN-DT Mobile, Ala., under an LMA and owns WKBX-FM Jacksonville, Fla. Ardman, the founder and former head of Retro TV Network, through his company Broadcast Partners now syndicates TV shows including The Lone Ranger, Lassie, He-Man, She-Ra and The Archies to various networks and distributers.

The current resurgence in TV station values and deals is being driven by a combination of a robust debt market, retransmission fee revenue from multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and a healthier advertising market.