Marquee Broadcasting’s motivation to buy WUGA-TV Toccoa GA from the University of Georgia is the old-fashioned one: It plans to operate it. However, on the off chance it turns out to have incentive auction value, UGA will not be left behind. Broker: Jason James, Patrick Communications.
The station is being acquired by Patricia and Brian Lane for $2,500,000. It will join a portfolio which already includes a full power television station in Salisbury-Ocean City MD and a low power outlet near there in Dover DE.
If WUGA were a radio station, it would be considered to be in unrated territory. However, Nielsen assigns a DMA to all US counties, giving a station claim to one or another despite its physical location and whether or not it projects an over-air signal into the DMA’s primary population center.
To illustrate the isolated nature of this northeast Georgia station, it was listed by EOBC as a Greenville-Spartanburg SC DMA, but much of its coverage area is attributed to the Atlanta DMA. In reality, it serves the more sparsely populated expanse between the two media markets.
The station carries vast potential in terms of the incentive auction, according to Greenhill and EOBC estimates. However, James said it wasn’t generating much interest on those grounds.
“We approached multiple buyers from the spectrum opportunity community,” he said, “and spectrum buyers declined to make an offer. In the end, we were able to find a buyer that would acquire the station to run it and provide local service to the community.”
The Lanes have stated as much — they are buying the station not as a speculative acquisition but as a going concern. “We are excited about the opportunity to serve the Greenville to Atlanta community, building on the legacy of WUGA,” said President Patricia Lane. “We plan to provide quality programming for the whole family to enjoy and look forward to serving the community.”
However, on the off chance the station does attract interest in the incentive auction, and the Lanes decide to sell, UGA will participate in the windfall.
The final clause in the transaction contract reads:
“16.14 Spectrum Auction Proceeds. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if Buyer agrees to contribute the Station’s spectrum usage rights to the FCC in the reverse auction pursuant to the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-96 (“Spectrum Act”), then Buyer shall pay to Seller one-half of any amount it receives in proceeds from the auction in excess of Eight Million Dollars ($8,000,000.00), provided that Buyer receives such proceeds pursuant to the Spectrum Act. Any payment to Seller due under the foregoing sentence shall be payable to Seller by wire transfer of immediately available funds no later than sixty (60) days after the date on which such funds are received by Buyer from the FCC.”
For television history buffs, Patrick Communications provided this look into the station’s recent past: “WUGA-TV has a history of service to communities in northeast Georgia from a broadcast tower located in Toccoa and is available on satellite and cable systems across much of North Georgia. The station, originally known as WNEG-TV, was acquired by the University of Georgia Research Foundation in 2008 from Media General, Inc. After three years of operation as a commercial station, the license was transferred to the University and management was transferred to the UGA Public Affairs Division in 2011. The call letters were changed to WUGA-TV, providing non-commercial programming under an affiliation with Georgia Public Broadcasting.”
