Radio and Television Transactions

On May 1, Route 66 Media acquired two construction permits in Northwest Texas, as owner Gary Ware invested just $10,000 to create a three-station group. Now, his company is bringing in a fourth station—also for a bargain-basement price. Meanwhile, JLE Inc. has closed on a “home team” pair in Bayou Country. Those are the key deals featured in RBR+TVBR’s TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Thursday, May 11.

In a transaction that has yet to be officially posted by the FCC, a Class B AM in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill., has been sold for $3 million. The deal was brokered by Dick Foreman of Richard A. Foreman Associates.

Saga Communications on Wednesday bid farewell to TV station ownership. But, in doing so, it doubled-down on its core business: radio. In a deal that sees it using roughly one-third of the proceeds from its TV industry exit, Saga has agreed to acquire the seven FM stations, one AM and four translators owned by Apex Media Corp., which exits the business.

Confirming rumors that a deal was imminent, Emmis Communications has agreed to sell its CHR/Rhythmic KPWR-FM 105.9 "Power 106" in Los Angeles to an affiliate of the Meruelo Group for $82.75 million.

During the 1980s, WLIR-FM in Garden City, N.Y., was the New York metropolitan area's equivalent of KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. As the only home for "new wave" and "modern rock," WLIR carved a unique niche in the Nassau-Suffolk market before becoming WDRE. Today, the WLIR call letters belong to a Class A at 107.1 MHz in the far eastern end of Long Island, in the city of Hampton Bays, N.Y. This WLIR has just been sold.

Fibbing to the Commission as to what station an FM translator will rebroadcast could cost you a pretty penny. For Juan Alberto Ayala and Elohim Group Corp., the penalty is $30,000.

A radio station known as "Y-100" has just been sold. Don't fret, San Antonio or South Florida. This "Y-100" is in rural southwestern Virginia. Meanwhile, a Class C1 facility serving both Albuquerque and Santa Fe with fine arts programming is shifting from commercial to noncommercial status in an effort to preserve its long-running Classical format. These are the deals featured in RBR + TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for May 5, 2017.

An FM translator that's moving from the San Joaquin Valley city of Woodlake, Calif., to the heart of Southern California is trading hands in a deal involving a husband and wife who will be giving Korean-Americans on L.A.'s Westside another way to get some "Seoul."

Curtis Media Group has closed on its $11 million acquisition of a six-station cluster in the Greenville-New Bern, N.C., market from Beasley Broadcast Group. Michael J. Bergner of Bergner & Co. was the exclusive broker in this transaction.

A silent AM in Salt Lake City owned by Cumulus Media has been purchased by an individual who has been busily making deals in Arizona and in Maui, Hawaii over the last few months.

In late January 2016, Hubbard Radio brought traditional Oldies tunes back to the FM dial in Phoenix by bringing some FM revitalization to Class D KAZG-AM 1440 in Scottsdale. This came via an LMA arrangement with the owner of a 250-watt translator on the South Mountain antenna farm. Now, Hubbard is paying a near record-setting sum for a sub-top 10 DMA for this translator, ensuring that "Oldies 92.7" continues to reach nearly all of the Valley of the Sun.

A 99-watt FM translator atop a mountain in the center of Alabama's biggest market is set to come under the control of SummitMedia. That's because it's getting the facility by exchanging an 85-watt FM translator in the same spot to one of the most prolific buyers of radio stations in recent months.

A Class C3 facility located in a Gulf Coast resort town just west of the Gainesville-Ocala market is changing hands. The deal is likely to stop the fun, while expanding the reach of a well-established source of the "Greatest Hits."

To radio historians, the call letters WFBL hold a place in the annals of Top 40's greatest moments. From May 1979 to October 1980, WFBL-AM 1390 in Syracuse, N.Y., became the first radio station to use legendary programming consultant Mike Joseph's "Hot Hits" format. Today, WFBL is dark, and as of April 19 it is heading into the hands of Central New York radio operator Craig Fox.