The ties between Sinclair’s CBS WGME-TV Portland ME and Max Broadcast Group’s Fox WPFO-TV Waterville ME go back a few years. But Max will be leaving as Sinclair and a partner acquire the station, the value of which has appreciated nicely over 10 years.
In all, Eugene Loving’s MBG will earn $17M for the station. Frequent Sinclair operational partner Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation will be getting the license assets of the station for $3.4M, and Sinclair will buy the remaining assets for $13.6M.
That compares very favorably to the price Max paid. Max acquired the station as WMPX-TV from Paxson Communications pursuant to an 11/8/02 contract for $10M in a deal that included then-WPXO-TV St Croix VI. Per the contract, the Maine station accounted for 95% of the total deal value, or $9.5M.
As usual, Sinclair and CBC will enter into a JSA/SSA with Sinclair in the driver’s seat. CBS will get the lion’s share of the standard 70/30 split of advertising revenue under the JSA, and will pay a monthly fee of $325K to Sinclair under the SSA. The parties will add 1.5% to the fee each year the SSA is in effect.
According to a 3/17/10 RBR-TVBR report, the Sinclair station had been providing newscasts for the Max station for some time, and upgraded that service at that point in time, taking the evening newscast from 35 minutes to a full hour and adding a morning program called “Good Day Maine.”
