This story was updated on June 24, 2017 to reflect inaccuracies regarding the highest sums paid for an FM translator station. K224CJ’s purchase price is one of the highest-ever paid for a translator outside of a top 10 DMA. A Chicago transaction in July 2014 marked the biggest deal ever for an FM translator. RBR+TVBR regrets the error.
MESA, ARIZ. — In late January 2016, Hubbard Radio brought traditional Oldies tunes back to the FM dial in Phoenix by bringing some FM revitalization to Class D KAZG-AM 1440 in Scottsdale.
This came via an LMA arrangement with the owner of a 250-watt translator on the South Mountain antenna farm.
Now, Hubbard is purchasing this translator for a near record-setting price for a sub-Top 10 market, ensuring that “Oldies 92.7” continues to reach nearly all of the Valley of the Sun.
The translator is K224CJ, licensed to Phoenix. Thanks to its placement on South Mountain, “Oldies 92.7” can be easily heard across the metro, with the lone exception being the far northern areas that include Deer Valley Village and Anthem.
Hubbard has been leasing K224CJ from Happy Dog Communications, led by Michael Mallace and Kenneth Brentlinger. With this transaction, Hubbard is paying Happy Dog $1.8 million to own it outright.
That tops the $1 million spent by Windy City Broadcasting for FM translator W280EM, at 103.9 MHz in Chicago—and is the highest sum seen for an FM translator in a sub-Top 10 market. It matches a $1.8 million transaction in June 2013 for W264CF, used as an FM translator for Classic Country WCBY-AM in Cheboygan, Mich.
The record price for an FM translator to date is $4.6 million — paid by Elroy Smith’s Integrity Radio for W264BV at 100.7 MHz in Chicago.
A $200,000 deposit has been made by Hubbard to WashingtonFirst Bank, which is serving as Happy Dog’s escrow agent.
There is no broker associated with this transaction. Barry Friedman of M Street-based law firm Thompson Hine LLP served as Happy Dog’s legal counsel in this deal. Mark Weitz of Minneapolis-based Stinson Leonard Street LLP was Hubbard’s legal counsel.
KAZG-AM is widely known in radio circles for its use of a lamp timer to power down from 5kw daytime to 52 watts at night from a single tower in Ponderosa Lumberyard. KAZG was acquired by Hubbard through its 2013 purchase of Sandusky Radio’s Phoenix station group.
