station trading

SagamoreHill has agreed to sell NBC affiliate KGNS Laredo, Texas, and CBS affiliates KGWN-KSTF Cheyenne, Wyo.-Scottsbluff, Neb., to broadcast newcomer Yellowstone Holdings LLC for $20.5 million.

The former Fox affiliate board chief and owners of several other stations has agreed to buy KYMA from James Rogers’ Intermountain West Communications for $1.3 million.

The sale of WIYC Troy, Ala., for $650,000 tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey.

WIYC Inc., headed by CEO and sole stockholder Neal Ardman, has filed an application with the FCC to purchase WIYC Montgomery, Ala. (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.

Brian Brady is expanding his footprint in Medford-Klamath Falls, Ore. (DMA 140). To go along with his Fox affiliate there, KMVU, he is acquiring KMCW-LP (Telemundo) and KFBI-LD (MNT) from Sainte Partners, according to Kalil & Co., which brokered the deal. Terms were not disclosed.

Gerald Benavides has agreed to sell low-power KVFW-LD Fort Worth, Texas (DMA 5), to New York Broadband LLC. The price is $1.05 million. Buyer principals include Charles Naumer, Kevin O’Halloran and Hui Liu. It also owns four TV stations in New York City and one in Richmond, Va. Kalil & Co. brokered the sale.

The sale of two low-power stations in Plano, Ill., to LocusPoint Networks for $6 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey.

The San Mateo (Calif.) Community College District staff recommended accepting a proposal to sell its noncommercial KCSM, a public broadcasting station located on the campus of the College of San Mateo, to LocusPoint Networks, a spectrum speculator owned by private equity firm The Blackstone Group. The District Board will meet Wednesday to consider the staff’s recommendation.

Low-power WSPY-CD Plano, Ill. (DMA 3), has been sold by WSPY-TV Inc. (Larry Nelson, president) to LocusPoint Networks (Ravi Potharlanka and Bill deKay, co-founders) for $6 million. The station broadcasts with 15,000 watts on ch. 35 with an antenna 285 feet above ground level. Greg Guy of Patrick Communications brokered the deal.

The industry is consolidating at what appears to be an accelerating pace as a result of sharply rising retrans revenue, cheap money and a permissive government. That’s good because station groups need bulk to deal effectively with networks and cable and satellite operators. But consolidation may work against broadcasters who choose to stay small, industry vendors and the public. To a large degree, whether consolidation is good for the public will depend on who is doing the consolidating.

The station group that went on block last week should attract top dollar because of its flagship, ABC affiliate WJLA Washington. It’s been a long time since a network affiliate in a top 10 market of that caliber has become available. Potential buyers include ABC and the usual suspects headed by Sinclair.

The Nexstar CEO tells securities analysts to expect more buying and selling of TV stations over the next 18 months as the industry continues to consolidate. Allbritton and Local LLC have declared they are on the block with $3 billion in assets, but many more stations are quietly being shopped, he says. He envisions that six mega-groups will ultimately emerge, with Nexstar being one of them.

The sale of the seven-station group is one option the privately held company says it’s exploring.

The sale of 19 stations by Communications Corp. of America and White Knight Broadcasting to Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Mission Broadcasting for $270 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey.

The $270 million deal comprises the 19 stations of Communications Corp. of America and White Knight Broadcasting. Nexstar gets 11, Mission gets eight.

The sale of seven low-power stations by Viacom Inc. to CNZ Communications for $3 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey.

An investor who holds shares of Fisher Communications Inc. has filed a lawsuit against directors of Fisher in effort to halt the proposed takeover of Fisher by Sinclair Broadcast Group for $41 per share.The plaintiff alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by agreeing to sell the company too cheaply via an unfair process to Sinclair.

Helped by a resurgent stock market and auto advertising, the stock of TV station groups is rising, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of the last decade’s recession. While the rebound has been impressive for all, two pure-play operators stand above the rest: Nexstar and Sinclair. And companies with a mix of stations and print, particularly newspapers, have also enjoyed the rising tide, though less robustly, as the drag from the print side remains a limiting factor.

In a call with analysts discussing its purchase of Fisher, CEO David Smith says: “We think we can do a lot more” station buying. With the Fisher buy, Sinclair — just since the first of the year — has boosted its portfolio by roughly 50 stations, spending approximately $842 million to do so, tapping cash on hand, banks and capital markets for the funds.

Under the terms of the agreement, Fisher shareholders will receive $41 in cash for each share of Fisher common stock they own. The transaction represents a 44% premium to the closing price of Fisher common stock on Jan. 9. Fisher owns 20 TV stations in eight markets, reaching 3.9% of U.S. TV households, and three radio stations in the Seattle market.

Sources say Sinclair has beaten out LIN for Fisher’s 13 full-power and seven LPTV stations.

The sale of Raul Palazuelo’s KVIQ Eureka, Calif., and five translators for $1.1 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey.

The sale of TTBG LLC’s WCWG Lexington, N.C., for $2.75 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey. 

The purchase of the North Carolina CW affiliate will increase Lockwood’s TV station portfolio to six stations in five markets.

In what would be the latest in a series of transactions, Sinclair Broadcast Group will add several more stations to its rapidly expanding station portfolio, according to industry sources. No word on yet on price.

Dennis Egan, a member of the Alaska Senate, has asked the FCC to take a deeper look at General Communication’s intent to purchase low-power KATH Juneau and KSCT Sitka. “I want to make it very clear that I have nothing against GCI. It is a great corporate citizen.” Egan said. “I’m just really worried about free over-the-air television. I just don’t know how it is going to work.”

The sale of ZGS Communications’ WWSI Atlantic City, N.J., for $19 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey. 

It’s signed a letter of intent and is conducting due diligence on CCA properties encompassing 12 stations in smaller markets. The deal would boost Nexstar’s portfolio to about 84 stations. In other TV group news, Local TV LLC has put itself up for sale.

Seller ZGS Communications, headed by Ronald Gordon, bought the full-power station five years ago for $10 million.

Deepak Viswanath has sold WDVB-CD Edison, N.J. (DMA 1) to LocusPoint Networks (Ravi Potharlanda and Bill deKay, co-founders) for $20 million. The station broadcasts on ch. 23 with 7 kw and an antenna 984 feet above ground level. Larry Patrick and Greg Guy of Patrick Communications were the brokers.

TCT Ministries Inc. (Garth Coonce, president) has sold WDWO-CD Detroit (DMA 11) to LocusPoint Networks (Ravi Potharlanda and Bill deKay, co-founders) for $4 million. The station broadcasts on ch. 18 with 14 kw and an antenna 466 feet above ground level. Greg Guy of Patrick Communications was the broker.

The sale of Venture Technologies’ WNYA Pittsfield, Mass., for $2.3 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey. 

Hubbard announced its deal to buy WNYA last month, but did not disclose the price. The FCC prohibits the ownership of two stations in markets as small as Albany, but in the application Hubbard asks for a waiver on the grounds that WNYA is “failing.” Hubbard asserts that WNYA meets all four criteria for the waiver, including that it has posted three consecutive years of negative cash flow. “WNYA’s financial condition is dire,” it says.

Armstrong Williams, who as part of Sinclair’s deal to buy the Barrington Broadcasting stations, will own, program and run stations in Flint, Mich., and Myrtle Beach, S.C. He says he’s serious about the broadcasting business and hopes to add more stations to his portfolio.

It has changed the call letters of WMAK to WKNX after completing the $2.95 million purchase from Daystar Television announced last November.

The $16.9 million purchase of WFFF and WVNY announced last year has closed.

The Wells Fargo Securities analyst says the group’s recent purchases of 29 stations in 19 markets are sound moves. “We like SBGI’s scale, leverage and opportunistic approach to M&A and anticipate there is more to come.”

Station owners in the state want the commission to deny General Communication Inc.’s Denali Media Holdings purchase of three stations, saying the deal “would result in the combination of ownership of television stations in two of the three television markets in Alaska with ownership of the largest, indeed in many cases the exclusive, provider of terrestrial cable and broadband service to much of Alaska’s population.”

Hoping to buy low and sell high in the FCC incentive auction, NRJ TV, OTA Broadcasting and Locus Point have bought 39 stations over the past two years, according to SNL Kagan.

The sale of Cocola Broadcasting’s KKJB Boise, Idaho, for $1.2 million tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA/Kelsey.