Radio and Television Transactions

A Class A FM serving the city of Macomb, Ill., has a new owner. The transaction is hardly a surprise, however, as the seller has been allowing the buyer to operate the facility, resulting in a change in the non-secular worship and praise programming heard on the station.

No, Educational Media Foundation isn't about to launch a Spanish-language Christian music station in Oklahoma's second-largest market. Rather, it is making a deal with David Ingles Ministries for a noncommercial band FM in Tulsa.

In early July, it became known that a special group of low-power television station permits were available, placed on the market by a licensee that didn't wish to build them by their rather unique deadline. What makes these LPTVs so special is that they don't need to be built until 2023. On Monday, two more of these LPTVs were spun, following a Scripps deal announced last week.

It's a broadcast television station owner with eight properties in 7 markets.  Now, it is adding a property in Virginia's quintessential college town, Charlottesville. The seller: Jeff Winemiller.

In early 2020, a Kansas City radio station operator made headlines for its decision to air six hours of programming each day from Russia-sponsored Sputnik Radio, as a result of a lease agreement with Florida-based RM Broadcasting LLC. Now, the station's owner has opted to part ways with a far-suburban silent FM translator. It's a deal that will bring "vida" back to this dormant facility.

In January 2020, Brenda Floyd and James Allgood closed on their purchase of a pair of FM radio stations in Louisiana. The $200,000 deal was brokered by Bill Whitley of Media Services Group. Now, one of those 50-50 ownership partners is selling their stake in the stations.

From the town of Spring Harbor, Mich., a Class A FM serves 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. Soon, that will end, as the school that owns the FM translator is selling it to another religious broadcaster.

On August 30, the Construction Permit for a 250-watt FM translator serving a city in northern Louisiana expires. Rather than rush to put it on the air, or risk losing the license, the mini-station's owner has opted to sell it by hiring Kalil & Co. as its broker. The buyer? The nation's second-largest licensee of radio stations.

Founded in 2018, Desert Mountain Broadcasting has rapidly expanded through acquisitions to amass a stable of 12 stations and 3 translators in the Montana markets of Billings and Bozeman. It's poised to grow once again.

One month ago, a licensee led by Will Hill agreed to purchase an AM/FM combo, along with an FM translator, in a deal brokered by two individuals who know the lay of the land — Cody, Wyo.-based Larry and Susan Patrick. Now, Hill is adding another Wyoming FM, this time in the municipality of Hudson.

It owns and operates the "River Radio Network," comprised of a Weirton, W. Va.-based AM/FM combo and an FM translator. Now, its owner has signed off on an asset purchase agreement giving it three FMs, and an AM with an FM translator, in the nearby Wheeling market.

It's a unique Class A facility offering co-channel protection to Class B giant KBIG-FM in Los Angeles, some 90 minutes to the west. And, until July 31, it was offering the "Valley's Greatest Hits" to listeners from Palm Springs to Twentynine Palms and Cathedral City. Now, this FM is speaking Spanish, and serving evangelical Hispanics in the Coachella Valley.

While Cox maintains a dominant position in the Dayton-Springfield market of Ohio, Nexstar Media Group has a formidable presence, too. It owns the local NBC affiliate.  Soon, it will also own a second station in this market.

To the far northwest of Amarillo, Tex., is a Class C2 33kw FM that has mainly served the area's Hispanic audience in recent years. Now, that service is likely to continue, as the property has been sold to Viva Media.

He's been a President at Entravision Communications, where he had a hand in launching the company's national radio arm. He's also spent time at the now-defunct Radio Unica and at Univision. Today, José Villafañe is both the CEO of Hispanic media rep firm MNA Sales, and national Hispanic radio network Nueva Network. You can soon add radio station owner to the curriculum vitae.