Travel east on 15 Mile Road from Gratiot Avenue, just south of Mt. Clemens, Mich., and you’ll come across the broadcast tower and the studios and offices of a television station that debuted on May 20, 1989, under the ownership of a man who owned an automotive parts supply company.
Today, WADL-38, which operates on digital Channel 27, is still a family-run operation — for now. Adell Broadcasting Corp. on May 10 signed off on an agreement to sell the station for millions of dollars. It has yet to close, and the man who today runs Adell believes regulatory approval won’t be approved anytime soon.
In protest, Adell has pulled The CW Network affiliation from the station. There’s a reason why.
The CW is majority-owned and controlled by Nexstar Media Group, which enjoys a cozy relationship with the party that has agreed to acquire WADL for $75 million — Mission Broadcasting.
Mission, which is headquartered in Wichita Falls, Tex., is 51% controlled by Board Chairman Nancie Smith and 49% held by President Dennis Thatcher. Adell, today controlled by the founder’s son, Kevin Adell, has received a $250,000 escrow deposit.
With Coe Ramsey and Patrick Johnson of Raleigh-based Brooks Pierce as Adell’s legal counsel, there has been no progress with the Media Bureau’s approval of the station’s sale. This is perhaps due to Mission’s ties to Nexstar, the nation’s No. 1 ownership group by number of broadcast stations. All of Mission’s stations are managed by Nexstar through local marketing agreements (LMAs) and shared service agreements. Controversially, Mission-owned WPIX-11 in New York is operated by Nexstar; those opposed to this relationship include the American Television Alliance, a pro-MVPD lobby that argues such arrangements are unfair with respect to retransmission consent negotiations. Others say Nexstar’s operation of WPIX-11 should be held as attributable interest, although shared services agreements do not apply to ownership concentration percentages at present.
What’s likely preventing the sale of WADL from gaining the FCC’s green light is the ATVA, of which MVPD lobbyist ACA Connects is a member. As reported by RBR+TVBR in June, the ATVA filed comments with the FCC opposing what it calls “the sham sale” of WADL to Mission.
According to the ATVA, “broadcast giant Nexstar proposes to guarantee financing for the purchase” of WADL. As is the case with WPIX, Nexstar proposes to sell all of the station’s advertising for WADL.
There’s nothing unlawful about this, with Nexstar in adherence of the FCC’s 39% ownership cap. But, the asset purchase agreement agreed to between Adell and Mission includes an option agreement allowing Mission to sell to Nexstar the station in the future at cost.
Now that the FCC has five voting Commissioners and a Democratic lean, could Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer assert her authority and issue a Hearing Designation Order, a move that even with a 2-2 FCC iced Standard General’s proposed merger with TEGNA?
While that possibility certainly exists, Kevin Adell has grown impatient, issuing a fiery press release late Monday night as the Detroit Lions were seeking to ice the Las Vegas Raiders at Ford Field in downtown Detroit. He lamented about waiting six months, commenting, “Transitionally, with the delay, the overall deal needed to be adjusted.”
For WADL viewers, MyNetwork TV programming remains, and is being expanded. Meanwhile, The CW has no over-the-air home in Detroit, at least at the moment. A Nexstar spokesperson declined to comment on the matter when reached by RBR+TVBR.
Meanwhile, Adell spoke to Adam Graham of The Detroit News and was bitter not about the regulatory holdup but of funds due to his company apparently associated with the sale of WADL. “They didn’t pay, that’s really what it comes down to,” WADL owner Kevin Adell said Monday to the newspaper. “It’s always about the Benjamins, don’t ever forget it. Everything is always about the Benjamins.”
It was unclear if Adell was referring to the escrow payment not being fulfilled, or of additional funds tied to the $75 million proposed sale that awaits the FCC’s OK.
WADL had just snagged The CW Network affiliation, with programming debuting on September 1. Previously, it aired on CBS News & Stations’ WKBD-50; Paramount opted to cease affiliation agreements with The CW earlier this year.
Adell’s profile in the Detroit area has been elevated for the last several months, thanks to two wholly distinct matters that have gained the attention of national and local media. As Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink reported in mid-August, Adell-owned WFDF-AM 910 with no warning abandoned its spoken word programming targeting the Black community. After three weeks of Sports Talk programming, WFDF in early September decided to take on Cumulus Media’s WJR-AM with a conservative News/Talk format. Programming includes Premiere Network shows from hosts such as Glenn Beck, Clay Travis, and Sean Hannity. Total Traffic & Weather Network is supplying reports, while ABC News Radio is offering updates.
Asked why he made the change, Adell told Alternative weekly Detroit Metro Times, “I didn’t kill 910, the African Americans not supporting it, killed it … I didn’t silence the African American community. They silenced it themselves.”
Then, there are the negative reports that have surfaced of late. Detroit Metro Times on September 18 noted how a cousin of Kevin Adell is accusing the WADL owner of stealing “many millions of dollars” worth of property from his family. Mr. Adell responded to the family member’s accusations, which led to a lawsuit accusing him of fraud and racketeering, of being a “shakedown” with no legal merit.
At issue is a 25-acre parcel of land in Novi, Mich., that is zoned for commercial use.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adell told Detroit Metro Times that he is negotiating a settlement with the U.S. government to settle a lawsuit filed against him on the grounds he has not paid $17.8 million in estate and gift taxes linked to his family inheritance. This led the federal government to seek authorization from a U.S. district court to force Mr. Adell to sell his home, valued at $3.7 million, and to enforce federal tax liens against the dwelling.
— With reports from RBR+TVBR in Northville, Mich.
