Year of the Deal? Not Yet

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ChartBy 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