TV Deals In 2020: ‘Relatively Good Results In A Challenging Year’
With the last broadcast transaction of the year the broadcast deal volume for 2020 passed the $1 billion line, closing with a total of $1.02 billion. That's an 87% drop from 2019, Volker Mörbitz of S&P Global Market Intelligence notes, clearly highlighting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is, however, a volume 27% higher than that of 2010.
Ravi Kapur Lands A Big Apple LPTV
The founder and CEO of Diya TV, serving South Asian consumers, has been active in recent weeks for his agreements to purchase low-powered TV stations in various locales across the U.S. His latest deal will put him in the middle of the biggest DMA in America.
Word Up: Non-Secular Broadcast Ministry Grabs Ohio Capital LPTVer
In recent years, tuning to Channel 32 in Columbus, Ohio, would have yielded the Movies! affiliate, with the Weigel diginet siblings Heroes & Icons and Start TV networks on its DT signals. Now, the low-power TV station is being sold to a religious broadcaster that's held a Time Brokerage Agreement for the facility since 2019.
Tutt Puts N.C. LPTV Into New Hands
Travel between Rocky Mount and Wilmington, N.C., along U.S. 258, and you'll come across the picturesque city of Kinston, in Lenoir County. Here, a low-powered TV station is being sold by Tutt Media Group.
Ravi Kapur Secures Three Rocky Mountain Digital LPTVs
The Colorado cities of Aspen, Steamboat Springs and Vail are famous for their ski resorts. In each of these locales, low-power TV stations have been licensed to serve local viewers. Now, they are being acquired by the founder and CEO of Diya TV.
Frank Copsidas Grabs A Class A LPTV Property In Indiana
"Super Frank" Copsidas has made a name for himself in the Catskills and across New England for his investment in low-power television operations. Now, Copsidas, who recently invested in properties in the Deep South, has shifted slightly westward by acquiring a LPTV station in the Hoosier state.
Gray’s Dollar Deal Nets Five TV Translators
Gray Television is picking up a quintet of television translators presently tied to a full-power station presently offering This TV programming. It is tied to an intellectual property play that gives Gray the local FOX affiliate -- pairing it with its ABC and NBC affiliates serving the Sioux Falls, S.D. market.
Ravi Kapur’s Major Market SoCal Snag
Ravi Kapur has gained notice as the owner of a television broadcasting company that began with a low-power digital facility atop Chicago's Willis Tower and in January 2015 officially took control of KRDK-4, the former KXJB, in Fargo, N.D. Now, Kapur's Major Market Broadcasting is growing again. The seller? A 93-year-old L.A. radio station owner.
Sonlife ‘Zombie’ Sold In San Francisco
It's a station that maintains a post-spectrum auction repack channel sharing agreement with the market's Azteca América affiliate and a facility recently taken over by New York-based RNN. And, this San Francisco Bay Area facility has just been sold by NRJ TV, which scored a multi-million payday by giving up this facility's own spectrum.
Gray’s Winemiller Wins Make Georgia More Peachy
Gray Television has just agreed to purchase three LPTVs in Georgia from Jeff Winemiller's Lowcountry 34 Media. Why would Gray make the deal for the stations? Improving the over-the-air consumption of Gray-owned full-power TV stations nearby is the answer.
Chang Claims Yuma LPTV Property In New Deal
The fate of a low-power TV station serving Yuma, Ariz. and neighboring El Centro, Calif., viewing area will now be in the hands of Jeff Chang. Paperwork filed at the FCC shows Chang is agreeing to purchase the property with a digital channel of 2 and a PSIP channel of 41.
Commission Approves Marshall’s Mission Exit From TV Ownership
On March 30, Pluria Marshall Jr. transferred control of three stations he acquired from Nexstar Media Group in June 2014. It was a transaction fueled by a fight against Nexstar, followed by a December 2019 bankruptcy filing. The buyer raised eyebrows, leading three groups to write the FCC in opposition of the deal. The FCC rejected those arguments.
ARK Leader Moves Two LPTV Properties To ‘Collaborating’ Licensee
Edge Spectrum had been gathering low-power TV stations over the last three years in anticipation of NEXTGEN TV's coming riches for the industry. Now, its Chairman/CEO — who also heads ARK Multicasting — is shifting two more LPTVs to a different licensee, making it three in a week's time. We now know why.
SagamoreHill Doubles Up In La. Market
In December 2016, a broadcast TV company led by Louis Wall agreed to acquire a low-power television construction permit in Lake Charles, La., for $80,000, from DTV America Corp. Today, that facility at Channel 19 is a MeTV network affiliate under the calls KWWE-LD. Now, SagamoreHill is getting another construction permit in the Louisiana market.
A Family Sale For A Big Island Satellite
Across the state of Hawaii, Family Broadcasting Corp. has carved a commercial niche for itself by offering a slate of second-run programs "the whole family can enjoy watching together." While over-the-air broadcasts are mainly associated a Honolulu-based facility, a satellite station in Hilo has served as a full satellite partner until now. That will soon change.