Radio and Television Transactions

Eric Wotila has gained notice across the U.S. for his role as President of digital multicast network NewsNet. Now, he's in the news as Wotila has agreed to an asset purchase agreement that will adjust the ownership in the station branded as "NewsNet Michigan."

With 5,000 watts at 590 on your AM dial, it cranked out the hits from 1959 through 1971. By 2011, it had become a Cumulus Media property. The next decade wasn't kind, with a 2014 transmitter failure and power cut that continues to today. Cumulus spun the AM in September 2021. Now, it is poised to change hands again.

A 99-watt FM translator at 93.1 MHz that serves the southeastern portion of the Birmingham, Ala., metropolitan area is being spun. The buyer? The company that has control of the originating station, WAYE-AM 1220 in Birmingham.

Until August 2021, he served as the Market President for iHeartMedia in Huntsville, Ala. That's when he departed to form his own broadcast media company. Now, the new entity has filed paperwork with the Commission for its first two properties. 

An AM and its FM translator licensed to the city of Santa Fe, N. Mex., are seeking the Commission's approval for a pro forma transfer. It is being done without consideration, and for estate planning purposes.

Gray is adding to its properties in the Panama City Beach, Fla., market with the addition of another low-power TV property in the former Spring Break hub popular with Atlanta and Birmingham-area retirees and beachgoers.

Universal Media Access is agreeing to sell KSJO-FM in San Jose and its Pleasanton, Calif., booster — key to GeoBroadcast Solutions' ZoneCasting technology. But, the sale is actually an employee-led acquisition that sees Sanjiv Gupta partnering with UMA's COO and the company's digital and programming leader.

It's a Class A FM covering a small swath of the Edmond, Wash., area to the north of Seattle, and it uses a 9-watt FM translator to help with coverage of such communities as Bellevue and Issaquah. Now, these homes of Christian Rock noncommercial network RadioU are being spun. The buyer is known for stations "Where God's Word Is Heard.

In mid-December, the leaders of Spanish Independent Broadcast Network opted to part ways with its low-power television station serving the Valley of the Sun. Who's the buyer? It's the same entity that two years ago snagged a LPTV facility serving the Verde Valley, home to towns such as Jerome and Sedona, Ariz.

A pair of licensees tied to North Carolina-based Curtis Media Group have agreed to spin a pair of AM radio stations, and one FM translator, to another media company operating in the state.

No, we're not talking about stations tied in some way to Bobby Vinton but, rather, the town of Vinton, Va. Here, an AM radio station with an FM translator are heading to a new owner, pending FCC approval.

Until March 2017, Hector Villalobos owned and operated three FMs and an AM serving agricultural areas tied to the Monterey-Salinas market. At the time, one of those FMs was sold. Then, Villalobos in September 2020 sold the two other FM stations. Now, the AM has been spun, marking his exit from ownership of stations serving the picturesque region of Northern California.

In late July, the FCC was asked to approve the sale of seven TV stations and four radio stations across five markets by Waypoint Media and related entity Vision Communications. The transaction, which saw Kalil & Co. serve as the broker, has now closed, making Coastal Television Broadcasting Group LLC the owner.

Among the first radio industry transactions of 2022 to await FCC approval is the sale of a radio station from the Estate of Robert Cummings Toole and Karen Toole to a Montana corporation. The deal involves an FM that can reach the capital, Helena, and a FM translator serving a small mountain community.

From the town of Spring Harbor, Mich., a Class A FM has served the cities of Jackson and Albion with a student-run Christian music format. Until now, it has reached the Ann Arbor area via a FM translator outside of the city that’s home to the University of Michigan. That's come to an end, as the FM translator's sale has been completed.