McCoy Makes Temporary Exit With TV Sale

Four years ago, while still a participant in the NAB’s Broadcast Leadership Program, which grooms young broadcasters for top station management or ownership, DuJuan McCoy bought Fox affiliates KIDY San Angelo and KXVA Abilene, both Texas, and five low-power stations.

Today, McCoy’s Bayou Broadcasting announced a deal to sell the group to London Broadcasting, which has been buying up Texas stations, mostly in small markets.

By mutual agreement, McCoy said he would not divulge the sale price, even though it will come out in his FCC application seeking approval of the deal in a week or so.

According to McCoy, he paid “a little more than $3 million” for the stations in 2008, not including a note from the seller, and invested heavily in the stations to upgrade them to digital and HD.

Despite the recession, McCoy said the group has experienced “positive growth” every year under his direction.

The two Fox affiliates and their companion low-power MNT affiliates are the “revenue generators,” he said.

The assets include a main studio for all the stations in San Angelo, a sales office in Abilene and two transmitter sites.

McCoy, 45, said he is not exiting the business. “I’m a young man. My juices are flowing. I’m already nibbling on other stuff.”

That “other stuff” would be Big Four affiliates not in large markets, but in markets larger than San Angelo (DMA 197) and Abilene (DMA 164), he said.

McCoy is a member of the NAB board, and believes he is the only African-American owner of a Big Four network affiliate in the country.

London Broadcasting, headed by Terry London, earlier this year completed the acquisition of independent KTAQ Dallas (DMA 5) from Simons Broadcasting. It has stations in four other Texas markets, not including San Angelo and Abilene.

Kalil & Co. represented Bayou Broadcasting in the deal.