TV Deals

RBR+TVBR late Monday reported the sale of 13 TV stations in 10 markets by ZGS Communications to the NBCUniversal arm that includes the Telemundo Spanish-language network's owned-and-operated stations. The deal involves one full-power station, nine Class A stations, and low power stations serving Springfield, Mass., and Richmond. We now know that channel-sharing agreements forged by ZGS, a participant in the FCC's incentive auction, are also involved in its deal with Telemundo. We've also confirmed the purchase price for the 13 stations.

The first television station to serve a wide swath of coastal California between Portland, Ore., and San Francisco, jokingly known here as “behind the Redwood Curtain,” is now owned by the company that controls the crosstown CBS affiliate —a facility once owned by iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel. The closing of the sale of NBC affiliate KIEM-3, which saw Kalil & Co. serve as the exclusive broker in this transaction, is our top topic of discussion in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Dec. 4, 2017.

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.

An entity that describes itself as “a publicly traded diversified holding company which seeks opportunities to acquire and grow businesses that can generate long-term sustainable free cash flow and attractive returns in order to maximize value for all stakeholders” is growing again. This time, it has acquired a pair of low-power TV stations in the Sunshine State, and it is our "Mega"-sized deal in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY. 

Two public broadcasting entities in the state of Virginia are combining operations. That's the lead item up for discussion in RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Nov. 20, 2017, which also sees the donation of a former FOX affiliate in an area known for its potatoes.

Terry Crosby and Randy Nonberg have been actively seeking to build a new TV station serving Bay Area consumers. Now, the principals in Poquito Más Communications LLC are one step closer to making that happen on a much grander level. That's because an entity controlled by Nonberg and affiliated with Poquito Más has just captured a "zombie" station that's emerged from the FCC's Incentive Auction. The deal saw Kalil & Co. represent the seller and serve as escrow agent.

OTA Broadcasting was one of the big winners in the FCC's Incentive Auction, pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars for giving up the spectrum for eight Class A TV stations and two full-power facilities. But, OTA didn't get bids on all of its properties in Auction 1000, and it has now agreed to three separate deals involving a total of 7 Class A TV stations—and one hedge fund that's swooped in to claim them all.

OTA Broadcasting was a big winner in Auction 1000, the FCC's incentive auction that relinquished broadcast TV spectrum to wireless companies. It pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars, including $72,817,599 for saying farewell to a Class A TV station serving the New York Tri-State Area. Now, the channel-sharing agreement for the disappearing over-the-air station is bringing this "zombie" to one of the nation's best-known PBS member stations.

That's the key takeaway on CBS Corp.'s Q3 earnings results, released just after the Closing Bell on Wall Street Thursday, from prolific Wall Street financial analyst Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group. While CBS's revenue climbed to $3.17 billion, from $3.08 billion, the Local Media segment lagged. That's CBS Television O&Os and the company's digital assets. Meanwhile, net earnings for Q3 climbed ... but adjusted net earnings decreased by 4% when factoring in CBS Radio. Here's what Wieser, the Senior Research Analyst of Advertising at Pivotal, has to say about the quarter -- the company's last to feature CBS Radio as part of its results.

The tranquil town of Red Lion, Pa., nestled to the southeast of York, Pa., has now attracted national headlines for another "zombie" capture. This time, there's a multi-million payment involved, and a big pay-day for the seller. The deal was signed and sealed on Aug. 29. However, it's only now been filed with the FCC.

There are plenty of concerns surfacing across the nation about the proposed merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media. The latest entity to voice its opposition to the deal is an association representing some 800 of the smallest, mostly rural cable operators scattered throughout the U.S. 

It's been a difficult 10 full months since WBTS-LD signed on the air as "NBC Boston." News ratings have lagged. But, NBCUniversal is hardly giving up—it's just engaged in a complex deal that transfers a channel-sharing agreement tied to a Class A TV station that fetched millions in the FCC spectrum auction to WBTS, presumably to bump up its signal in the greater Boston area.

One of the nation's biggest noncommercial public media entities has added another outlet to its collection of Boston broadcast properties. It's a post-Spectrum Auction Channel-Sharing Agreement (CSA), and no dollars are trading hands. That's fine. Both the donor and the recipient of the CSA collected millions of dollars in the FCC's Auction 1000.

As astute RBR+TVBR readers likely know, "TV-49 Inc." is an entity tied to Norman Shapiro’s Weigel Broadcasting Co.  Quietly and with no comment, the Commission on Friday (10/20) gave its approval to an application filed Sept. 11 that sees Southern California License LLC selling the channel-sharing agreement for KAZA-TV, licensed to the island municipality of Avalon, Calif., to TV-49 for $9 million. Now, TV-49 is adding a pair of TV stations in Northern California and a pair of TV stations in the Pacific Northwest's biggest DMA.

Just in time for Halloween, a "zombie" has surfaced in Washington. And, the Commission is comfortable enough with this creature living on an island off the coast of Los Angeles that it's treating it unlike Godzilla. That's because the FCC has given its approval to the first-ever transaction involving a channel-sharing agreement, a so-called "zombie" station resulting from the Commission's incentive auction, before the channel-sharing has even commenced.