Radio and Television Transactions

There's a Class D AM station with call letters widely known to a generation of Houston radio listeners that's licensed to Bellville, Tex., to the northwest of town. In January, this station made headlines for failing to sign off at sunset, as required by its license. Now, the station is trading hands, and the deal is valued in the millions of dollars.

The privately held owner of an AM/FM combo in a town south of Wichita has just filed a Form 315 with the FCC requesting the approval of an internal stock purchase. This will put the company fully in control of an individual who is making the acquisitions from the heirs of the individual whose untimely passing necessitated the lone deal up for discussion in TRANSACTIONS TODAY.

Another month, another dearth of deals? The first full week of November started with a whimper with respect to fresh filings of transactions at the FCC. The lone item up for discussion in today's TRANSACTIONS TODAY: A translator trade in North Carolina.

"Classic Country, bluegrass, western swing and more." That's the promise a 1kw daytime-only AM radio station in Central Florida has delivered until its signal went dark. Now, this facility just south of one of the nation's largest retirement communities is being sold.  Also in TRANSACTIONS TODAY: A positive owner remix for a Texas duo.

In locales such as Texas and Oklahoma, it's perhaps not so odd to have an oil company own a radio station. In the city of Lubbock, the broadcasting arm of G.O. Williams Oil Co. has been the owner of an FM with a Construction Permit for 100kw. Now, this company is parting ways with the station. The buyer is an entity that recently entered New Mexico's biggest market.

Robert and Emily Goodrich are 50-50 partners in an Oklahoma-based broadcast entity. In a deal just filed with the FCC, the husband and wife team are adding an AM/FM combo in an appropriately named community along the banks of Idaho's Salmon River.

Two noncomm FMs and a pair of FM translators serving an area of California along U.S. 395 and the Golden State's eastern spine are trading hands. While the programming could change, the stations are expected to remain Religious.

After "40 years and 40,000 sales calls," life as a radio broadcasting industry consultant for a former station owner has taken a new turn. As of today, he is now the sole member of a newly created entity poised to assume control of two divestiture trusts most recently overseen by the late Jeanette Tully. Paperwork has been filed with the FCC that not only pass these two licensees to Barry Drake, but also a newly formed third divestment trust that is comprised of two radio stations. 

Friday saw the continued divestment of FM translators held by an Idaho-based broadcasting ministry led by President Dennis Clounch. This time around, Edgewater Broadcasting is saying goodbye to facilities in Eastern Washington and in a small town due east of Twin Falls, Idaho, among several other markets. The recipient: An entity already getting some Edgewater FMs, for free.

A dark noncommercial FM serving a small Southern city has just been acquired by the No. 2 licensee of radio stations in the U.S. It's one of the lone deals involving a fully licensed radio station to be filed with the Commission this week, capping off one of the slowest periods for transactions so far this year.

In a deal between two individuals, a group of five low-power TV stations in Texas are trading hands. The stations are in Lubbock, Victoria and San Angelo, respectively.

It's been a very slow October for radio and TV transactions. The trickle of deal-making is such that the lone item up for discussion in TRANSACTIONS TODAY is a change of control of a low-power FM serving a community in the Grand Canyon State.

A Class D AM on the outskirts of Alabama's biggest city has been donated to a group that plans to use the facility and its unbuilt FM translator to "successfully advance their educational outreach to the young women of color" in the area for which these facilities serve.

In March 2003, Idaho-based Edgewater Broadcasting filed approximately 1,700 applications for FM translators across the country. It was granted 484 CPs. Some 14 years later, Edgewater accelerated the transfer of hundreds of construction permits. Now comes word that Edgewater is parting ways with several others.

An Idaho-based non-secular broadcasting company led by President Dennis Clounch has decided to sell another one of its FM translators, continuing a trend started two years ago. The latest divestment involves a city in Montana, and the No. 2 licensee of AM and FM broadcast stations in the U.S.