station trading

Upon completion of the deal for the Fox affiliate, National will enter into sales, programming and other shared service agreements with Dallas-based London Broadcasting Co.

MNT affiliate WPME Lewiston and CW affil WPXT Portland are among the three station sales that were submitted to the FCC for its approval during the week ending March 12, according to BIA/Kelsey.

Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based New Age is selling its CW affiliate in Portland, Maine, WPXT, to Tyche Broadcasting for $75,000, according to an FCC filing seeking approval of the deal. Tyche is owned Frank Copsidas of Portland, who has no other broadcast interests. New Age has been operating WPXT in a virtual duopoly with WPME, an MNT affiliate owned by MPS Media.

Sales of five low-power TV stations in two markets were submitted to the FCC for its approval during the weeks ending Feb. 20 and Feb. 27, according to BIA/Kelsey.

Sale of WBQM-LD was one of five TV stations deal submitted to the FCC for its approval during the weeks ending Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, according to BIA/Kelsey.

Bankupt owner International Media Group is seeking to transfer KSCI and two other stations to itself as debtors-in-possession while it tries to sell. KSCI currently broadcasts programming in a mix of Asian languages.

The FCC has granted Acme Communications’ sale of CW affiliate WBUW Madison, Wis. (DMA 85), to the Byrne Acquisition Group LLC for $1.8 million. Byrne owns low-power WHHI Hilton Head, S.C. When Acme announced the sale last December, it said it expected it to close in the second quarter of this year.

The spectrum speculator outbid two others for the bankrupt New York independent station last November, but the auction was contested, delaying the filing of the FCC sale application. NRJ has purchased three other underperforming stations in recent months with an eye on the FCC’s spectrum auction.

As he has in at least three other markets, Henson will enter into a shared services agreement with Raycom Media so that Raycom can run Toledo, Ohio, Fox affiliate WUPW in tandem with its CBS affil WTOL.

Michael Pascucci, who sold independent WLNY to CBS last month for $55 million, is picking up another $6.5 million from the sale of three LPTV stations to a separate investment group.

Michael Pascucci, who is selling his independent in New York to CBS for $55 million, is picking up another $6.5 million by selling three related low-power stations to investors led by Lawrence Rogow and Paul Koplin.

The sale of seven stations to Sinclair results closed on Jan. 3.

(RTTNews) — Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. announced that it has closed the asset acquisition of Four Points Media from affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. for $200 million. The company […]

The $212 million deal comprises full-power ABC affiliates in Denver (KMGH); San Diego (KGTV); Bakersfield, Calif. (KERO); and Indianapolis (WRTV) and low-power Azteca America affiliates in Denver; Fort Collins, Colo.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Diego; and Bakersfield, Calif.

When CBS announced on Dec. 12 that it was acquiring WLNY and creating a New York duopoly (with flagship WCBS), it didn’t release the price. But it shows up in the FCC application seeking approval of the deal. WLNY is an independent station owned by Michael Pascucci and family.

Byrne Acquisition Group is buying the CW affiliate for $1.8 million. In addition, Acme’s board approves distribution of its LIN TV Corp. stock to its shareholders.

The purchase of the independent station on Long Island will give CBS a duopoly in the nation’s largest media market.

As expected, the San Mateo (Calif.) Community College announced Wednesday that it is seeking a buyer for the public station. In June, the board said the sale was due to the station’s projected $800,000 structural deficit.

The latest buy for the computer billionaire is Me-TV affiliate KVOS. Terms were not disclosed. Earlier this year, he purchased KFFV Seattle and KTLN San Francisco.

The FCC today approved E.W. Scripps’ application to buy the McGraw-Hill TV station group for $212 million in cash. The deal comprises full-power ABC affiliates in Denver (KMGH); San Diego (KGTV); Bakersfield, Calif. (KERO); and Indianapolis (WRTV) and low-power Azteca America affiliates in Denver; Fort Collins, Colo.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Diego; and Bakersfield, Calif.

NRJ, a group that is buying underperforming stations with an eye on cashing in on the FCC’s proposed incentive auction, outbid two others in a Nov. 15 auction for WSAH, a bankrupt independent licensed to Bridgeport, Conn., on the fringe of the New York market. But its high bid of $22.8 million may not be enough. Arthur Liu, the original owner of the station, is challenging the sale process in bankruptcy court.

The election cycle of 2012 is expected to be very lucrative for some stations, which will also benefit from charging cable and satellite distributors for the rights to retransmit their signals. A period of consolidation is under way in local television — and with it, a renewed debate about the implications of merger and acquisition activity on the industry.

The eight-station deal will give Sinclair two more duopolies, one in West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce, Fla., another in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. It also makes Sinclair the country’s largest group in number of stations. Next in line for acquisition is LIN’s WWHO Columbus, Ohio, with a deal to be announced very soon.

Newport Television is getting $1.1 million for KTVF Fairbanks, Alaska, according to an FCC filing. The sale of the NBC affiliate to Chena Broadcasting, a local group headed by Michael Young, was announced last week.

LIN TV CEO Vincent Sadusky says that M&A in the TV station business is likely to increase with “non-traditional” owners as potential sellers. Recently, Sinclair announced a deal to acquire seven stations from private-equity firm Cerberus, while Newport Television, which is owned partly by Providence Equity, has an impressive portfolio, though it may not be for sale.

With its purchase of McGraw-Hill’s stations in Denver, Indianapolis, San Diego and Bakersfield, Scripps is benefiting three constituencies: Itself, the viewers in those markets and the industry at large. Itself  and viewers because its plan to boost the new stations’ value stems from investing in news to raise ratings (and ad rates), giving viewers better news options; and the industry because the deal finally sets a price for stations that could get the station trading market rolling again. A lot of potential sellers have been sitting on the sidelines because they don’t know what their stations are worth. Now they do.

The buyer is headed by Michael Young, a one-time member of the municipal assembly. Terms were not disclosed.

Last week’s $212 million purchase of the McGraw-Hill TV group will boost Scripps’ U.S. coverage to 13% and make it the country’s largest owner of ABC affiliates. And it also gives it five low-power Spanish-language stations. Brian Lawlor, Scripps’ SVP of the TV division, says his company made the deal because the new stations are “a really comfortable fit” in terms of culture, geography and size. He talks about the plans to make the most of this new opportunity, the company’s first major station purchase in 20 years.

Debtors of the bankrupt former Multicultural Television Broadcasting station are inviting qualified parties to come to Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 15 to bid on it. It’s the last of five that MTB bought from Scripps in 2006 for $170 million.

The $212 million that Scripps agreed to pay McGraw-Hill for its station group justifies higher valuations for other stations groups like Belo and Sinclair, says Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker.

The aggregator of third-rate TV stations has a deal for its third station: WTVE, licensed to Reading in the Philadelphia DMA. NRJ earlier this year bought two other stations — WMFP Boston and KCNS San Francisco — for $20 million and was a failed bidder for a station in Los Angeles. Seller Richard French bought WTVE three years ago for $13.5 milion.

Loop Media LLC, owned by Lawrence Rogow and Paul Koplin, both of Los Angeles, are buying  low-power WTSD-CA Philadelphia, from nonprofit Priority Commmunications Ministries for $300,000, according to an FCC filing seeking approval. Rogow is chairman of the Venture Technologies Group LLC., a group with full-power stations in Seattle; Lansing, Mich.; and Peoria, Ill., and numerous low-power stations elsewhere.

The Four Points group includes seven stations in four markets, including the CBS affiliates in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas. The seller is Cerberus, a private equity firm. Sinclair will operate the stations under an LMA prior to closing.

Baylor University is selling noncommercial KDYW Waco-Temple-Bryan, Texas (DMA 89), to Community Television Educators of Waco, headed by Marcus and Joni Lamb, owners of the religious Daystar network and station group, according to an FCC filing seeking approval. The purchase price is $250,000. M.C. Alcamo & Co. advised the seller.

Local TV’s CBS affiliate is asking the FCC for a “failing station” waiver that would allow it to buy RTN affilate KPBI for $800,000.

The FCC has approved the proposed $5 million purchase of KFFV Seattle by OTA Broadcasting, a company owned by computer retailing billionaire Michael Dell. KFFV is an infomercial-heavy independent. The seller is Carlene Casey. This is the second such deal for Dell this year. Earlier, he was cleared to buy KTLN San Francisco for $8 million.

The FCC has granted Raycom Media permission to move ahead with its $18-million acquisition of WFXG Augusta, Ga. (DMA 114), a Fox affiliate it has been managing under a local marketing agreement since 2003. Raycom doesn’t own or operate any other stations in the market.

Michael Dell, founder of the online computer retailer that bears his name, has been cleared by the FCC to purchase KTLN San Francisco for $8 million. The seller, Christian Communications, will continue airing religious programming on the station under a two-year LMA.

Changes in the television industry since the last wave of M&A activity will spur new deal-making and change its very nature. Retrans fees — which had not yet matured as a meaningful second income stream as of the last M&A cycle — will now be a new catalyst for growth and achieving scale. Add to that the differentiating value of broadcast television — its ability to generate cash, the near-term value of huge spending in political advertising, and the emerging (and, yes, changing) shape of station economics — and you have newly ripening incentives for buyers and sellers.

Oak Hill Capital Partners and TPG — or possibly a combination of the two — have emerged as the top candidates to buy out Nexstar majority owner ABRY, a Boston-based private equity firm. However, virtually all private equity firms with broadcast interests are likely giving the Nexstar deal a look.