Radio and Television Transactions

The licensee doing business as Inland Northwest Broadcasting is agreeing to part ways with its stations serving an Idaho city some 85 miles from Spokane. The buyer? The owner of a crosstown AM/FM combo, plus an FM translator.

Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., is a major U.S. Armed Forces training site, nestled within the Ozarks of Mid-Missouri. The closest city of size is St. Robert, and a Class C3 FM playing Adult Contemporary Country favorites is trading hands.

These days, the allure of a Class D daytime-only AM radio station is about as enticing as a pickle Popsicle. However, the interest level for one facility that fits this description attracted one buyer with money to spend. In Houston, an AM that must protect a Class A facility in Oklahoma City is just the right acquisition target for El Sembrador Ministries. 

Vic Michael has been an active buyer of noncommercial low-powered and full-power facilities across the U.S. West, and in Hawaii, of late. Now, he's agreed to buy an expanded-band AM with an all-important FM translator at 94.7 MHz. It serves much of the Cheyenne, Wyo., market.

A 1kw Class C AM serving Sylvania, Ga., is presently dark under a STA. It's been dark for a while. In fact, it's been silent for so long that the station has been designated for a license renewal hearing by the FCC. As such, Tampa-based owner Neal Ardman has a potential battle on his hands to save the station.

A digital low-power TV station serving Florida's state capital and a sibling LPTV facility located in Auburn, Ala., are being spun. It's a Game Day decision. Really. That's the name of the seller in this transaction.

The Coachella Valley has emerged as an investment opportunity for the head of "Ivox Radio LLC." That's the entity that is agreeing to purchase a group of radio properties in the market due east of L.A.

One of the stations is a Class B AM with an FM translator. The other is a Class D AM, also with an FM translator. They serve an area to the west of metropolitan Cleveland, and for fifty years had been associated with the Wilber family. That's no longer the case.

Aside from former FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, there may be few people outside of Kansas familiar with the town of Ulysses. It's a 300-mile drive from construction-cluttered Denver International Airport, and home to a group of eight radio stations are heading to a new licensee. Why? The current operator defaulted on payments owed to the entity getting the octet.

With 99 watts of power from atop the famed Sutro Tower, this FM translator emits enough of a signal to cover all of the city of San Francisco, lower Marin County and East Bay communities including Richmond and Berkeley, Calif. Now, its use as an outlet targeting Asians has been solidified thanks to a newly consummated transaction.

Where Arkansas meets Oklahoma via U.S. Highway 412 sits a dormant broadcast tower that's home to a transmitter for an AM that has been owned by regionally known licensee Jay Bunyard for nearly 13 years. Most recently, this station was an ESPN Radio affiliate. Now, it's being sold -- and a change in language is most likely on the way for this forlorn station.

The radio station owner Cyrus Heick leads is Dave's Broadcasting Co., and its just signed off on the sale of a Class A FM stretching from the popular Portland, Ore.-accessible beach communities of Manzanita and Cannon Beach to Long Beach and Astoria. Soon, Dave's will be saying goodbye to this FM, as Heick has signed off on its sale.

Up on Persimmon Knob in Alum Springs, Ky., sits the broadcast tower for a Class A FM recently reported as silent. The radio station using this tower has just been handed to a new licensee, pending FCC approval. And, the buyer will take care of creditors' bills -- including the one for the tower lease.

The religious noncommercial "Kingdom Keys Network" station roster has, until now, included a Class A facility in the tiny West Texas town of Stratford. Now, this Top O' Texas down due north of Amarillo is being spun, and a change in language -- but not format -- is on the way.