A November 20, 2013 contract had CBS KXJB-TV Valley City ND, part of the Fargo-Valley City DMA, going from Park Broadcasting to Excalibur Broadcasting. Now it’s sort of going from Gray Television to Major Market Broadcasting of North Dakota Inc. Yeah, it’s an odd deal. Broker: David Honig, MMTC
Excalibur was set to acquire the station for $10.7M and broker it to Gray, with Gray also holding a purchase option.
Then Gray bought the Hoak television group, including NBC KVLY, meaning it no longer had the legal possibility of acquiring KXJB. And it became one of the since celebrated stations that was spun off to a minority owner, with the assistance of David Honig and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.
So in the latest deal, Gray is selling its right to buy the station to MMBND, headed by Ravi Kapur.
The buyer is essentially getting a stick – the price, described as a payment for certain licenses and equity, will only cost $75K, a far cry from what Excalibur was set to pay.
That’s because Gray is hanging on to the call letters and likely all of the significant intellectual property.
Kapur is not without broadcast holdings. He owns a low power television station, WRJK-LP Arlington Heights IL, which is in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
