By all accounts, 2014 wasn’t the world’s most amazing year when it comes to station trading. But dealmakers are going to have to get on the stick if they are going to match it in 2105. At the very least, the monthly progression in total value moved up in March after taking a dip in February.
Totals are for deals accepted by the FCC for filing during the first quarter of the year.
The total number of stations sold in March was actually the lowest monthly total so far, but as the chart below indicates, that’s mainly because there were no big multiple LPTV CP deals of the sort commonly made by DTV America Corporation.
Here’s the breakout month-by-month by station type.
Q1 2015 | AM | FM | FM CP | LPFM | LPFCP | TV | LPTV | LPT-CP | Total |
January | 10 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 79 |
February | 12 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 60 | 92 |
March | 14 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 64 |
Total | 36 | 54 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 14 | 100 | 235 |
Source: RBR-TVBR, FCC |
Most of the action has been in rated markets ranked #101 of smaller. And FMs are moving faster than AMs, except in the top 50 markets, where the number was somewhat inflated by the Radio Disney spin-offs.
Q1 2015 | 1-50 | 51-100 | 101-smlr | Out | Total |
AM | 13 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 36 |
FM | 8 | 3 | 23 | 20 | 54 |
FM CP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
LPFM | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
LPFM CP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Rad total | 22 | 7 | 33 | 49 | 111 |
TV | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
LPTV | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
LPTV CP | 0 | 15 | 77 | 8 | 100 |
TV total | 8 | 19 | 88 | 9 | 124 |
Total | 30 | 26 | 121 | 58 | 235 |
Source: FCC, RBR-TVBR |
In terms of value, money spent on stations in March was more than double that spent in January and February combined. And the amount spent on radio is more than triple that spent on television, presumably as groups weigh their options ahead of the incentive auction.
Q1 2015 | Radio | TV | Total |
January | $32,733,109 | $1,301,200 | $34,034,309 |
February | $18,210,410 | $6,945,610 | $25,156,020 |
March | $42,612,826 | $20,923,000 | $63,535,826 |
Total | $93,556,345 | $29,169,810 | $122,726,155 |
Source: RBR-TVBR, FCC |
Most of the deals filed thus far have been for stations in a single market. The majority of multimarket television sales involved the aforementioned LPTV CPs. Here’s the breakdown:
Q1 2015 | Deals | Stns | Value | Pnote |
Radio 1 mkt | 65 | 85 | $90,856,145 | $2,206,703 |
Radio multi-mkt | 1 | 5 | $2,700,000 | $0 |
Radio no value | 17 | 21 | $0 | $0 |
Radio total | 83 | 111 | $93,556,345 | $2,206,703 |
TV 1 mkt | 20 | 22 | $22,380,200 | $0 |
TV multi-mkt | 5 | 102 | $6,789,610 | $0 |
TV total | 25 | 124 | $29,169,810 | $0 |
Total | 108 | 235 | $122,726,155 | $2,206,703 |
Source: RBR-TVBR, FCC |