A collection of full-power and FM translator stations serving communities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are being transferred into an irrevocable trust, according to a filing on the FCC’s LMS made Friday.
If approved, this will see a prolific New England broadcaster and 2010 U.S. Senate candidate shift ownership of the properties to an irrevocable trust that he’ll directly oversee.
William H. “Bill” Binnie is transferring the properties held by licensee WBIN Media Co., based in Portsmouth, N.H., to the Harrison Irrevocable Trust.
But, not to worry — Binnie is not ceding control of the stations in any way.
In fact, he’s the trustee, and it is an internal shuffle of the licenses for the AMs, FMs and transfers that puts his Binnie Media under Mr. Binnie’s Carlisle Capital.
Helping Binnie make the Form 316 filing as legal counsel is Kathleen Victory of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.
Why is this transaction being done? “Estate planning purposes,” as one two-sentence attachment in the FCC filing explains.
The proposed ownership structural change is illustrated as follows:
