Radio and Television Transactions

On Nov. 1, the radio broadcasting industry's speculation over who would be getting Entercom spin-offs, as required by the company to receive Department of Justice approval of its CBS Radio merger, came to an end. The nation's No. 1 broadcast company, iHeartMedia, is gaining some big AMs and FMs via an asset exchange with Entercom. In order to do that, iHeart has created a divestiture trust that sees the shift of two FMs in the Seattle market and one AM serving Boston sail away into the "Ocean."

The Probate Division of the Mississippi County, Mo. Circuit Court has rendered a decision regarding a bid to acquire the assets of Usher Broadcasting. The bid from a local broadcaster is "just and appropriate," and this has allowed the company to sell its holdings — an AM/FM combo — in a deal officially consummated on Oct. 26. It's our lead deal in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Thursday, Nov. 2, which also sees a co-channel FM translator to an Air1 station in Southern California get snagged by Educational Media Foundation.

In a major asset exchange that clears a big hurdle for Entercom in its effort to complete its merger with CBS Radio, the Philadelphia-based pure play broadcaster has agreed to trade stations in Seattle and Boston to iHeartMedia. In exchange, Entercom is getting properties in Richmond and in Chattanooga, Tenn. Seconds later, Beasley Broadcast Group revealed its making an FM-for-FM plus cash exchange in Boston. And, as expected, Bonneville International is getting control of some Golden State stations.

Dana Withers has agreed to add another radio station to the Withers Broadcasting Co. family. This time around, the station is "volunteering" to the sale. Also in TRANSACTIONS TODAY: A blueberry of a deal has closed in Maine.

A settlement agreement has been codified that settles questions of ownership and control of radio stations in North Dakota and Kansas owned by the late Janice Ingstad. The parties involved are Mrs. Ingstad's children—Tami Ingstad, Todd Ingstad, Rob Ingstad, and Tallie Colville.

Casa Media Partners is in bankruptcy. The sale of its seven full-power radio stations, an FM translator and an FM booster, supervised by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, was ordered for this entity with its headquarters within view of the Rickenbacker Causeway connecting Miami to Key Biscayne, Fla. With attorney David Tillotson as its legal counsel, Casa struck a deal that ends its ownership of the properties. Who's the buyer? A prolific operator of Hispanic radio stations in the Golden State.

RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY: WEEKEND EDITION is pleased to bring you another one of our favorite features — "Flip This Stick." In today's episode, we take a look at a Class C2 facility at 92.9 MHz in Island City, Ore., in the far northeastern corner of the state. In April, Xana Oregon bought it for $50,000. Now, it is selling it for a hefty profit.

One of the nation's biggest noncommercial public media entities has added another outlet to its collection of Boston broadcast properties. It's a post-Spectrum Auction Channel-Sharing Agreement (CSA), and no dollars are trading hands. That's fine. Both the donor and the recipient of the CSA collected millions of dollars in the FCC's Auction 1000.

A broadcast company in the Mile High State has just acquired a Class D AM serving a city along busy Interstate 25. More importantly, the facility comes with two translators serving this municipality, and it's the top deal featured in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Thursday, Oct. 26.

On Tuesday, RBR+TVBR reported that local media company Pamplin Media Group "is ready to file a Form 314 with the FCC indicating that it has sold its two AMs in the Rose City." It turns out that the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) was completed on Oct. 13, and was uploaded to the online public inspection file for one of the two AM stations being sold on Oct. 19. While the APA hasn't yet appeared in the FCC's CDBS, we now have full details of who the buyer is, and what they are paying for KPAM-AM 860 and "Sunny 1550."

A local media company headed by "owner and neighbor" Dr. Robert B. Pamplin that includes the semi-weekly rack-distributed Portland Tribune, some 21 newspapers serving communities across the metro area, and two newspapers in Central Oregon will soon be a print-focused operation. That's because Pamplin Media Group is ready to file a Form 314 with the FCC indicating that it has sold its two AMs in the Rose City.

Cumulus Media has acted on its Jan. 2014 "Put and Call Agreement" allowing it to convert its LMA of two big Chicago FMs to outright ownership. This results in the official end of Merlin Media's foray into radio broadcasting.

In mid-May RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY reported on the sale of a Class D AM, a dark FM, and two Class C3 FMs in the Lone Star State to Monte Spearman-led High Plains Radio Network. This deal is now closed, and Spearman is paying the seller a little more than he originally thought. That's because he's grabbing another AM from the seller.

Educational Media Foundation gained a significant presence in the Golden State in late September when it agreed to a deal valued at $57,750,000 that gave it entry into L.A. and North County San Diego. The City by the Bay was not noted, as EMF already owns a Class B covering the Bay Area that airs KLOVE. Yet, EMF just secured a translator covering San Francisco for KLOVE. Is another deal in play?

On Thursday, prosecutors announced that they have filed reckless burning charges in the Eagle Creek fire in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge. The accused: A 15-year-old boy. High burns in the gorge were seen just to the west of Hood River and Parkdale, where an FM translator rebroadcasting a Spanish-language LPFM has just been traded. The sale price is less than the cost of a flight of beer at Breakside Brewery.