A 6kw facility that is presently off the air, post-Hurricane Maria, in an eastern condado of Puerto Rico is being traded straight up for another 6kw facility that in the days since the hurricane struck the U.S. commonwealth has not returned to broadcasting.
The other facility is licensed to serve the island of Culebra off of Puerto Rico’s eastern coast, and it’s the top deal in RBR+TVBR‘s TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Tuesday, Nov. 7, and involves Francisco Montero of Fletcher Heald & Hildreth.
In a Spanish-language asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on Tuesday (11/7), Caguas Educational TV announced that it has agreed to trade WQML-FM 98.7 in Culebra to Western New Life, in exchange of WNVE-FM 101.5 in Ceiba, Puerto Rico and $1.02 million.
Both facilities were affiliates of the Spanish-language religious Radio Nueva Vida network. WNVE and WQML have both been silent since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico; the eastern region was particularly hit hard, with electricity still not restored in much of the areas the stations serve.
The WNVE broadcast tower and antenna are operated at a total cost of $1,000 per month, including the PREPCO electricity bill; there is no written agreement with the property owner for this arrangement, which carries over to Caguas Educational TV.
A $200,000 deposit has been made in concert with a Form 314 filing with the FCC; the remainder is due at closing.
Caguas Educational TV is also the licensee of WLAZ-FM in Kissimmee, Fla., a large center of recent immigrants from Puerto Rico, and WUJA-DT in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Western New Life owns WQHA-DT in Aguada, Puerto Rico.
Serving as legal counsel for Caguas Educational TV is Francisco Montero.
Lee Peltzman of Shanis & Peltzman served as the legal counsel for Western New Life in this transaction.
In other TRANSACTIONS TODAY:
- A pair of translators rebroadcasting Class C 100kw religious noncomm KSOS-FM 90.5 in Las Vegas have traded hands. K244CE in Pahrump, Nev., and K261BZ in Las Vegas are being handed to K244CE LLC from Low Potosi LLC. The purchase price is $1,000.
