NRJ Adds 2 Stations To Portfolio For $32.5M

Titan Broadcast Management is selling KTNC San Francisco (DMA 6) and KUBE (formerly KAZH) Houston (DMA 10) to spectrum speculator NRJ TV for a combined $32.5 million.

KTNC was priced at $13.5 million; KUBE, at $19 million, according to an FCC filing seeking approval of the deal.

The sale is structured as a transfer of control. The principals of Titan, Bert Ellis and his partners, also hold a one-third stake in NRJ.

Titan will continue to operate the stations.

KTNC is an affiliate of Spanish-language Estrella TV. KUBE is an English-language independent whose syndicated lineup include Dr. Phil, The Doctors and Rachael Ray.

NRJ has been buying up underperforming stations in and around major markets in anticipation of selling their spectrum to the FCC. The agency wants TV spectrum so that it can auction it to wireless broadband carriers.

NRJ already owns one station in San Francisco, KCNS, which it bought in 2011 for $15 million. NRJ and Titan, in the FCC filing, say the dual ownership complies with the FCC duopoly rules because neither KTNC nor KCNS is a top four rated station and the market with still have more than eight TV owners after the deal is done.

NRJ other acquisitions include WMFP Boston ($5 million), WTVE Philadelphia ($30.4 million), WXME New York ($22.8 million), KSCI Los Angeles and KIKU Honolulu ($45 million) and WGCB Harrisburg ($9 million).