Radio and Television Transactions

On May 13, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that Connoisseur Media had agreed to part ways with a group of radio stations in Millbank and Watertown, S.D., respectively. On Monday (6/1), the asset purchase agreement was submitted as part of a LMS filing seeking FCC regulatory approval of the sale.

At the end of June, Connoisseur Media completed its sale of two AM stations and three FMs in a South Dakota market to local owners. It was discovered shortly thereafter that an important oversight was made in its transfer of control documents approved by the FCC. A correction has now been submitted to the agency.

With the clock ticking on an STA to go silent

Lotus Communications Corp. has officially added a historic 5kw Class B AM broadcasting in the City of Angels. The deal was originally announced in October 2016, and Kalil & Co. was the exclusive broker for the transaction.

An AM/FM combo in the heart of Northern California's Wine Country has been dealt from one local operator to another. A 1kw AM goes for a big price in the Lone Star State's Capital. Those are the deals in detail in RBR + TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Friday, April 14.

Monte Spearman's High Plains Radio Network is expanding again. In a deal that's just been consummated, the Texas broadcaster is picking up three FMs and an AM from another Lone Star State operator. The stations serve a rural area northeast of Abilene.

Wilfredo Blanco-Pi and La Más Z Radio are getting new AMs in a somewhat complicated deal in la Isla del Encanto. At the same time, Blanco-Pi has agreed to a plan that would move the transmitter of an AM owned by International Broadcasting Corp. to the site of one of Blanco-Pi's stations. Blanco-Pi will then sell the 5.6-acre site to IBC.

Two radio station deals have closed, and both feature Patrick Communications as the broker handling the transaction. These deals take top billing in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Monday, July 31.

The TV station airing the Spanish-language Azteca América broadcast network in the nation's No. 1 Hispanic DMA — Los Angeles — is trading hands. How is this possible, as the station participated in the FCC's Spectrum Auction? The party that holds its Channel-Sharing Agreement just sold the CSA to a Wisconsin-based player, making this a "zombie" deal that sees the transfer of programming rights, and not an actual broadcast TV facility.

Three separate groups have asked the FCC to tweak their respective FM translators, so as to diminish interference from fully licensed co-channel FM stations. One of these owners is The Walt Disney Co. The other is a company that was forced to shut down a controversial translator in the Raleigh-Durham area, which made Lakes Media Network owner Tom Birch very, very happy.

OTA Broadcasting was one of the big winners in the FCC's Incentive Auction, pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars for giving up the spectrum for eight Class A TV stations and two full-power facilities. But, OTA didn't get bids on all of its properties in Auction 1000, and it has now agreed to three separate deals involving a total of 7 Class A TV stations—and one hedge fund that's swooped in to claim them all.

On Oct. 13, the regional Mexican network known as "La Z" added a major Hispanic market in the Pacific Northwest to its roster of stations by way of a time-brokerage agreement with a Latino-focused faith-based organization. Now, the company behind "La Z" — Bustos Media — is acquiring the station.

Jay and Teresa Bunyard are the longtime 50/50 partners in Arkansas-based RadioWorks Inc., and they've just sealed a deal that gives them a Class A in "The Natural State." Also in TRANSACTIONS TODAY: SBS moves in Puerto Rico, and a STA filing in Southwest Florida.