Entravision Communications has just snagged its fifth television signal in the Silver State’s biggest market.
The company has, however, taken the quiet route in letting the world learn of its latest acquisition — one that comes after the company on March 2 slyly revealed in its Q4 and full-year 2016 earnings call with financial analysts that it pocketed a stunning $264 million in the FCC’s incentive auction.
The owner of Univision-affiliated KINC-15 and UniMás-affiliated KELV-LD 27 in Las Vegas is adding Luken Communications affiliate KMCC-34 and booster K33MB-D in nearby Laughlin, Nev., for $3.75 million.
The seller is Cranston Acquisition and Cranston II LLC, led by Scott Zemnick.
Entravision is making an escrow payment of $187,500 for the facilities, with the remainder due at closing.
Greg Guy with Patrick Communications served as the broker in this transaction, representing the seller.
Per FCC rules, Entravision can have a TV duopoly in Las Vegas so long as either station is not among the top four stations in Nielsen ratings. Low-power facilities do not count toward this rule, and in addition to KELV, Entravison owns KINC simulcast partners KNTL-LP at Channel 47 in Laughlin, and KWWB-LP at Channel 45 in Mesquite, Nev.
KMCC has had a unique recent history, with MundoMax affiliation through the network’s demise in 2016. Prior to that, it was the Las Vegas affiliate of MundoFox. From February-December 2009, KMCC was the Mega TV affiliate for the market.
It is not publicly known what Entravision plans to do with KMCC. However, it could shift UniMás programming over to the facility in order to give the network “must-carry” status across the entire Las Vegas DMA.
