Intelligence Briefs

In early 2009, CBS Radio changed FM Talk-formatted KLSX in Los Angeles to the CHR format that is now KAMP, and so I took my

If a broadcaster owns multiple stations in a market, it usually will dispose of all of those stations when it comes time to sell. That is not always the case, however. On occasion, one of the stations will be an underperforming station that the broadcaster wishes to jettison. In other cases, the broadcaster may be over the ownership cap in that market and wishes to dispose of the station that places the broadcaster over the limit. In still other cases, the broadcaster may have an opportunity to “trade up” and to obtain a higher powered station only if it is able to sell a lower powered station.

A critical issue in a purchase and sale agreement for both the seller and the buyer --- indeed, a matter of the transaction’s life and death -- is the period of time that the representations and warranties and the rights to indemnification for breaches thereof will remain in effect beyond the closing. This provision, commonly referred to as the “survival clause,” is critical to the allocation of risk between the parties. “Survival” represents the period of time within which the parties have a right to make a claim under the representations and warranties and to file a lawsuit.

As a result of the Congressional appropriation agreement, the total amount that must be collected remains the same as last year - $339,844,000. However, the FCC seeks to rebalance the amounts to be assessed upon the licensees of each of its primary bureaus. Since 1998, when regulatory fees were first implemented, 30.2% of the total has been allocated to the Media Bureau, based upon the distribution of equivalent full-time employees at that time. A more recent analysis reveals that the percentage of Commission employee resources that are devoted to Media Bureau matters has risen to 37.5%. However, due to a cap of 7.5% on rate increases in any given year, the Media Bureau allocation for FY 2013 would rise only to 33.33%. (Presumably, most of the remainder would be applied to a further increase in FY 2014.)

Although it might be true that a rose is a rose is a rose, it would be wrong to assume that a purchase agreement is a purchase agreement is a purchase agreement. Newcomers to the broadcast industry are sometimes surprised at some of the differences between a broadcast transaction and the sale of a business, such as the local hardware store, that is not so fraught with regulatory requirements.

The specter that hovers over any broadcast transaction is the possibility that someone could file a petition asking the FCC to deny the application seeking the Commission’s consent to the transaction. After what may have been months of negotiation, the swapping of numerous drafts and meticulous due diligence, the transaction may be upended by such a petition to deny.

In 1928, psychologist William Moulton Marston conceived, developed and wrote about a modern take on behavior profiles. Behavior profiles have undergone many transformations since then, with the most important transformations in the tools used to measure people according to Marston’s original model.

Choosing a communications lawyer is a major decision for current and prospective owners of radio and television stations. Yet, too often

Today, Hispanic Radio is the key vehicle to reach Hispanics across different age groups, social

Choosing a communications lawyer is a major decision for current and prospective owners of radio and television stations. Yet, too often

In these days of radio broadcasting by cluster, some owners find they have more stations than they need and wouldn’t mind “thinning the heard.” There are buyers for these stations and we may begin to see some more deals. When the seller is staying in the market, however, there is often a fear that the buyer may use the station to compete with the seller, and so some sellers have tried to put restrictions in the sales agreement, sort of like a negative covenant in real estate. “Yes you now own the land, but you cannot use it for an industrial purpose.”

Drafting a purchase agreement can be a complex affair. Despite the best intentions of the parties, the negotiation and drafting process nearly always

WYBN-LD launched October 18th, 2011 from the Windham Ski area NY, right after Hurricane Irene. We feel we have benefited immensely from

It’s been almost four months since CBS Corp. launched CBS Sports Radio, with a lineup of national programming that features the

Every month when Arbitron’s PPM ratings release around the country, programmers, researchers, general managers and the trade press (to name just a few) immediately begin crunching the numbers to look for trends. Who’s up, who’s down and what are the leading indicators pointing to for the next book? Depending on where you sit, this might resemble staring at a glacier because on a multi-market level changes in share and rank can seem imperceptible to the untrained eye.