Radio and Television Transactions

"Semana Santa" and Spring Break for many public school systems across the U.S. may have something to do with it. Or, the atmosphere for spring transactions simply means sporadic bursts and busts are to expected for radio and TV deals. Today's edition of TRANSACTIONS TODAY from RBR+TVBR features just two deals, and both involve FM translators.

The town of Heber City, Utah, abuts all of the major cities in the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo market, and it is home to a Class C AM and its companion FM translator. These facilities have just been sold, and it is the lone deal in the weekend edition of TRANSACTIONS TODAY from RBR+TVBR.

A Class D AM to the northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth area that has been serving the market's large South Asian population as part of the "FunAsia" network of stations is trading hands.

In Idaho's Treasure Valley sits the town of Ontario, and it is home to a Class D AM that scrapes the Boise, Idaho metropolitan area, located to the south. The AM has an FM translator that serves Ontario, and both are being sold to an entity that owns the former Adelante Media Group properties in the Boise market. It's the key deal of the day for RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY.

To the north of Billings, Mont., along U.S. 87, is the town of Roundup. Two FMs, an LPFM and an AM are the lone "local" stations one can hear in Roundup. One of the FMs is now trading hands, and the entity grabbing it is placing "Your Network Of Praise" on a facility formerly used by a community radio group that's shifted its programming to the other FM in town. In other TRANSACTIONS TODAY: A Texas tower sale sees Bill Whitley of the Dallas office and George Reed of the Jacksonville office of Media Services Group as the exclusive brokers, representing the seller.

Nestled between Virginia Tech and the Tri-Cities of Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City, Tenn., is a 3,700-watt FM station branded as "The Bull." It may have a different ride ahead, as its new owner has just flipped the facility. In other TRANSACTIONS TODAY: Vic Michael is buying again.

Since summer 2017, WLPW-FM 105.5 — the Lake Placid, N.Y. Class A that had been “Rock 105” — has been silent. WLPW is one of the stations crippled by financial difficulties associated with Ted Morgan, and his now-defunct Radio Lake Placid.  As part of Morgan's asset liquidation plan, seen in November 2017, he gave another local entity the right of first refusal to acquire WLPW. That happened, and now this company has closed on its acquisition of the station it eagerly seeks to breathe new life into.

Nearly one year ago, an asset exchange between Educational Media Foundation and radio station owners Adam and Victor Michael saw the shift of a Hot AC serving the Valley Isle of Maui to a facility previously home to the KLOVE Christian AC noncomm network and KMKV-FM. Now, the Hawaiian broadcast company that's been operating this AC for the Michael family is outright acquiring the property, fully welcoming it into its island ohana. Also in TRANSACTIONS TODAY: a communications tower deal brokered by Media Services Group has closed.

It may not be the "legend of Sleepy Hollow," but there's a Class A noncommercial FM radio station serving the town of Sleepy Hollow, Wyo., that has served as a member of the American Family Radio Christian Talk and Teaching network. Now, American Family Association is selling the station to a North Dakota non-profit that will likely maintain religious programming at the facility. Also in TRANSACTIONS TODAY: How much did Neal Ardman pay for an AM in Tampa Bay?

A mighty Class B facility with a strong signal covering the Inland Empire of Southern California and much of inland Orange County with Vietnamese-language programming is trading hands. The buyer is an entity known for its radio stations targeting Asian American audiences.

The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart and three of his family members, also members of the clergy, are the principals of Family Worship Center Church. That's the entity that is adding a noncommercial FM station in Florida to its holdings, according to a Form 314 filing with the FCC made on Tuesday.

Among the big tower owners based in Boca Raton, Fla., is SBA Communications, the firm that in the third quarter of 2016 acquired a tower from Saga Communications in Norfolk for $1.35 million. Now, Saga and SBA have conducted business again — this time in New England, in a deal brokered by Boca Raton-based Michael J. Bergner of Bergner & Co.

Since 1974, a Class D AM with 5kw during the day and 152 watts at night has used a single tower to reach a large swath of the coastal Carolinas. Now, the owners of this station have decided to sell. The buyer is a local entity that has effectively operated the station for more than 20 years, and it is our top deal in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for the weekend of March 9-11.

Two deals are featured in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Thursday, March 8. In the first transaction, a swap of two FMs brings a piece of Michigan a fiercer Bear. The second deal sees a pair of "artistic" stations being merged with a very "sound" player.

In the world famous ski town of Snowmass Village, Colo., is a 23-watt FM translator that until recently has served as a rebroadcast partner of "The Range," a Classic Country station. Programming has shifted to another translator, with a slightly bigger coverage area, from nearby Aspen. As a result, the owner of the 23-watter is giving the facility away.