Radio and Television Transactions

The town of Kermit, Texas, is roughly 45 minutes west of the Odessa-Midland market. It's the home of a silent Class A that's just been acquired by a newly formed entity wholly controlled by Isaac Diaz. He's also the manager of an entity that owns a TV station in the DMA, making this a story others in the deal-making market may wish to review: An FM is being added to a UHF as a way to maximize media reach in this community.

There's a "Shooter" in Texas that's been successfully wrangled. Armor of God played a big role in the apprehension of this "shooter" -- a Class A FM radio station serving a medium-sized market in the Lone Star State. It's the top item of business in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Feb. 8, 2018. Also today: A 'Guel'-done deal for a new FM, and the sale of an AM daytimer in the Volunteer State.

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.

To the northeast of Dallas, a Class A facility served the local community with contemporary Christian music under the branding "Celebrate FM." That came to an end on Oct. 30, when the station's owner and operator decided to sell the station. Now, an Asset Purchase Agreement has been filed with the Commission to spin the property, which was sold by LKCM Radio Licenses in March 2014 to the entity now parting ways with it.

Vic Michael has been a prolific buyer and seller in recent months, with properties exchanging hands in Hawaii and in the Rocky Mountain West. Now, Michael is saying goodbye to a pair of FM translators in Colorado. The buyer is one of the state's biggest noncommercial operators, which is already leasing the facilities for an "AM revitalization effort."

A full-power TV station serving the El Paso market and a collection of 8 Class A and LPTV facilities in five other markets are now officially owned by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group, with four other deals still pending at the FCC. It's the lead item in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Feb. 1, which also sees two deals involving AM stations in Big Sky Country and the Keystone State.

The owner of a Class C2 FM station serving the Oregon coast from Coos Bay has decided it no longer wants to beam one of its signals from its lighthouse. An asset purchase agreement has been signed and filed with the FCC that sees Lighthouse Radio Group sell this facility, which just changed its call letters, to a local entity headed by an individual recognized in 2012 by Radio INK magazine as being among the top 12 broadcast Directors of Sales in the U.S. 

Since January 2016, ZGS Communications — known mainly for its ownership of TV stations affiliated with NBCUniversal's Spanish-language Telemundo network — has allowed another entity to operate its Class B AM serving the National Capital Area via a Time Brokerage Agreement. Now, with ZGS selling off its affiliates to NBCUniversal, it has decided to officially part ways with its lone radio station by selling it to its TBA partner.

In October 2017, Oxnard, Calif.-based Lazer Broadcasting Corp. struck a deal to acquire seven full-power radio stations, an FM translator and an FM booster from a company in bankruptcy. The purchase was done in a Section 363 auction sale in a pending Chapter 11 involving a Miami-based operator. It's now known that Lazer paid a little more than what was originally announced. We also know who the legal team was that represented Lazer in this deal.

A low-power TV station in November 2017 won FCC approval for a minor modification to a construction permit that effectively transports the facility from Lafayette, Ind., southeast to the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Now, this LPTV is being swapped. In exchange, owner DTV America Corp. is getting an LPTV located in the Southern Tier of Western New York.

The owner of the main PBS member station in the Windy City has snatched a "zombie" station. That's because the "station" it is acquiring no longer exists, and is now operating via a Channel Sharing Agreement (CSA) with another station in Chicago. That station just happens to be owned by the company lassoing this former competitor in the non-commercial TV space.

An oral agreement has been struck between Roy E. Henderson, an owner of radio stations in Texas and in Michigan, and a family member that is being done "for estate planning purposes." It's the top item up for discussion on a quiet day for deals in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY.

With 34 radio stations across eight mid-sized markets, the FMs and handful of AMs now up for sale by The E.W. Scripps Co. will likely attract a wide array of potential suitors. Will one company swoop in to buy all of the stations? One top media broker tells RBR+TVBR that's not likely.

Vic Michael's Kona Coast Radio is allowing one of his AM stations in the Rocky Mountain State to go Spanish. That's because it is being sold a Hispanic broadcaster. It's our lead deal in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY.

Believers International Broadcasting, of Terrell, Texas (“Seller”) and Vision Hispana Incorporated Internacional, of McAllen, Texas (“Buyer) have agreed on the sale of radio station KVJS-FM, Facility ID 173851, 88.1, Arroyo, Texas for $37,500.