TV Deals

Marksteiner AG (USA) License Holdco, LLC (Gunter Marksteiner, President) has closed on the sale

On Wednesday, RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY detailed the sale of NBC affiliated KIEM-3 in Eureka-Arcata, Calif., to an entity tied to Northwest Broadcasting. To make the deal happen, it had to spin the other station it owned in this small Northern California market. That transaction has just been finalized, and a Form 314 has been submitted to the FCC.

The owner of a TV station in Montgomery, Ala., for more than three decades has thrown out a life preserver to another television facility licensed to nearby Troy, Ala., by agreeing to acquire it. However, this owner needs the FCC's OK to make the deal happen, and is using the "failing" station test to state its case. If the Commission gives its blessing, two full-power stations -- and one low-power facility -- will be held by this company in the Alabama city.

A newly formed company serving a market that's home to Purdue University is now the owner of one of the nation's newest ABC affiliates. It's a formality, really: This company signed on the station in July 2017, and it has been owned by an affiliated operation. Now, Bill Christian and Mike Reed are simply making a bookkeeping change with the FCC.

The biggest acquisitor in the broadcast TV industry has struck again. In a just-filed Form 314 filing, HC2 Holdings — the owner of the Azteca América broadcast TV network — has revealed that its picking up a full-powered UHF facility in a Southern metropolis with a growing Hispanic population.

Lowcountry 34 — led by Jeff and Janet Winemiller — is selling a full-power station in Savannah, Ga., that had been associated with two LPTVs in the market. That was in January. Now, the Winemillers are buying two additional LPTVs in the DMA.

Under Wayne Barr Jr. as Chief Executive, HC2 has sold TV stations to Weigel Broadcasting and, most recently, to Gray Television. HC2 is adding to more TV stations to the sell pile.

In August, RBR+TVBR shared with readers the details of two "unique" low-power TV station permits that had just been sold by Mako Communications. These LPTV permits don't need to be constructed until 2023, giving the buyer a big window for getting the stations on the air. The transaction involving this LPTV-to-be pair just closed.

Roseland Broadcasting, led by Julie Huang and Matt Davidge, is picking up two low-power TV stations in concurrent deals filed with the FCC for regulatory approval on Wednesday. One is in Aspen, Colo. The other is in South Dakota.

On February 1, "Telemundo Costa Central" will be shifting to a new broadcast home, thanks to an agreement that involves News-Press & Gazette Co. The move is the result of the sale of the current facility by husband and wife owners to an entity led by an immigration attorney based in San Diego.

A digital low-powered television station licensed to Columbus, Ga., is changing hands.  And, it is indeed a deal soundly approved by the "Word of God."

Two full-service television stations and a low-power TV station are being dealt from one not-for-profit entity to another. Two of the properties are in the Volunteer State, while the third is based in Des Moines.

In the final days of August, the parent company of a home shopping channel agreed to sell its full-power digital TV station serving Boston. At the same time, a channel-sharing agreement (CSA) was forged by the buyer to allow a company that collected millions in the recently concluded FCC incentive auction to use one-third of this digital station's spectrum. The asset purchase agreement and CSA recitals have finally found their way to the FCC via a Form 314 filing made today, with Media Venture Partners serving as the exclusive broker.

As RBR+TVBR was first to report on Nov. 30, 2017, HC2 is acquiring the Azteca América Spanish-language broadcast network from affiliates of Mexico’s TV Azteca. HC2 also signed a definitive acquisition agreement to acquire the broadcast TV assets of Northstar Media LLC. Northstar owns a collection of low-power TV stations that comprise the largest Azteca América affiliate group in the U.S. Among those stations is Class A KPDF-41 in Phoenix. Now, HC2 will have a bigger facility serving the Valley of the Sun.