Just about any way the data is sliced, June is in last place when it comes to comparing station trading metrics for the first six months to go into the book for 2015. Or to put it poetically, May was a beast and June was the least.
To find a positive, one has to look at really obscure data points, like the four FM CPs sold during the month puts June in third place out of the six. Big whoop!
There was one metric in which June posted a clear win – the 11 up-and-running LPTVs sold during the month is two more than the nine sold in May. But most of the LPTV trading this year so far has involved CPs.
In terms of stations sold, there were a grand total of 58 during the month. Yep, that’s the fewest for any month thus far.
In terms of value traded, June is also dead list. Although the $20,444,302 spent on radio stations was better than February, February featured a great deal more activity on the television side than did June, with a total spend of only $1,790,748.
Television trading was virtually all on the LPTV side, and that likely explains the low yield per deal. The three full power stations weren’t sold, they were reeled in from a trust by TEGNA after it split away from Gannett Co. and eliminated newspaper cross-ownership concerns.
In all, $22,235,050 was spent on station trading during the month, almost $3 million than was spent in February, and a good $131 million less than was spent in May.
Here is trading value on a week-by-week basis:
| June 2015 | Radio | TV | Total |
| 1-5 | $10,670,101 | $0 | $10,670,101 |
| 8-12 | $2,758,100 | $575,000 | $3,333,100 |
| 15-19 | $4,277,501 | $588,398 | $4,865,899 |
| 22-26 | $1,687,500 | $627,350 | $2,314,850 |
| 29-30 | $1,051,100 | $0 | $1,051,100 |
| Total | $20,444,302 | $1,790,748 | $22,235,050 |
| Source: RBR-TVBR, FCC | |||
And here it is, listed by deal type:
| June 2015 | Deals | Stns | Value | Pnote |
| Radio 1 mkt | 31 | 39 | $20,444,302 | $1,675,000 |
| Radio no value | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Radio total | 32 | 40 | $20,444,302 | $1,675,000 |
| TV 1 mkt | 8 | 10 | $1,540,748 | 0 |
| TV multi-mkt | 1 | 2 | $250,000 | $125,000 |
| TV no value | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| TV total | 11 | 18 | $1,790,748 | $125,000 |
| Total | 43 | 58 | $22,235,050 | $1,800,000 |
| Source: RBR-TVBR, FCC | ||||
This chart shows the types of stations traded each week:
| June 2015 | AM | FM | FM CP | LPFM | TV | LPTV | LPT-CP |
| 1-5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8-12 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 15-19 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 22-26 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 29-30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 15 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 4 |
| Source: RBR-TVBR, FCC | |||||||
And here are the stations, broken down by market size.
| June 2015 | 1-50 | 51-100 | 101-smlr | Out | Total |
| AM | 7 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 15 |
| FM | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 20 |
| FM CP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| LPFM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rad total | 8 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 40 |
| TV | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| LPTV | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| LPTV CP | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| TV total | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
| Total | 11 | 8 | 13 | 26 | 58 |
| Source: FCC, RBR-TVBR | |||||
The fact that the top deal for June was a bankruptcy sale sort of says it all. Here are the top deals for the month:
$6,500,000: KTRB-AM San Francisco CA from Pappas Radio of California, Susan L. Uecker, Receiver to U.S. International Radio LLC. Bankruptcy deal. FCC file date: 6/1/15
$3,000,000: KMKI-AM Dallas-Fort Worth (Plano TX) from Radio Disney Group to Salem Media Group. Broker: William B. Schutz (seller). FCC file date: 6/5/15
$1,750,000: WFSS-FM Fayetteville NC from Fayetteville State University to WUNC Public Radio. Includes $400,000 in underwriting announcements for 10 years. FCC file date: 6/8/15. Broker: Patrick Communications (seller), Public Radio Capital (buyer)
$1,400,000: KSIB AM-FM Creston IA. 100% of G.O. Radio Ltd. from David and Kathy Rieck to Chad and Amy Rieck. In-family stock deal. FCC file date: 6/19/15
$1,335,000: WDXE-FM Loretto TN, WKSR-AM Pulaski TN & WDXE-AM/WKSR-FM Lawrenceburg TN from Executors for Lakewood Communications and Pulaski Broadcasting to Radio 7 Media LLC. Buyers already own an AM/FM combo in Lawrenceburg. Broker: Mark Goodwin (seller). FCC file date: 6/17/15
$850,000: KZGL-FM Flagstaff AZ from Towers Investment Trust to Murphy Air LLC. Includes $750,000 promissory note. FCC file date: 6/8/15. Broker: Robert O. Mahlman Inc. (seller)
$800,000: KTFR-FM, KEMX-FM & KCXR-FM Tulsa OK (Chelsea, Locust Grove, Taft OK) from ABS Communications to Key Plus Broadcasting. Buyer owns KXTD-AM in the market. The stations are not full market signals, and serve areas to the east of the city. Broker: Doug Ferber, DEFcon Advisors LLC (seller). FCC file date: 6/16/15
$600,000: KMKY-AM San Francisco CA (Oakland CA) from Radio Disney to Radio Mirchi Inc. Broker: William B. Schutz (seller). FCC file date: 6/24/15
$600,000: WDWW-LP Cleveland GA from Richard C. & Lisa A. Goetz to DTV America Corporation. Station holds a CP to move to Atlanta. FCC file date: 6/26/15
$500,000: WMKI-AM Boston MA from Radio Disney Group to Salem Media Group. Broker: William B. Schutz (seller). FCC file date: 6/5/15
