Another Television Station Deal

As part of the restructuring of Multicultural Broadcasting's television group they've put four of their six stations up for sale. Those stations include KCNS in San Francisco, WMFP in Boston, WOAC in Cleveland, and WRAY in Raleigh. Multicultural also owns WSAH in the New York City market and KHIZ in the Los Angeles market and is said to be retaining those two stations.

The agreement for the transfer of the first station to a new buyer has been filed with the FCC. The station is WOAC in Cleveland and the new buyer is Radiant Life Ministries. Previously Multicultural Broadcasting bought the channel as part of a five station deal from Scripps for $170 million. On a per household basis this breaks down to $11.39 per household and puts WOAC at $17 million. The asset purchase agreement has Radiant Life buying the station for $7 million or $4.59 per household. This is an incredible deal for a full-power television station in a large (DMA #17) market.

Equity Media Goes Up for Bids

One of the largest broadcast groups, Equity Media Holdings, concluded the first part of their liquidation on April 16, 2009 as part of their bankruptcy filing. According to press reports nearly 60 stations received bids with the total being slightly over $21 million for those stations. The biggest buyer was Daystar who bid $7.4 million to acquire seven full-power television stations and eight low-power and Class A stations. Max Media grabbed three full-power Fox stations in Montana including KMMF in Missoula, KBTZ in Butte and KLMN in Great Falls as well as three low-power stations for $1.3 million. Previously Max Media had a deal with Equity Media in early 2005 to acquire those same exact stations for $4.25 million. Another bidder, Valley Bank bid over $7 million to buy three stations including KQCK in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Better Life Television bid $975,000 to acquire full-power KTVC in Roseburg, Oregon and low-power station KAMK-LP in Eugene Oregon.

Overall it appears that the buyers got great prices for these stations. The low prices are likely the result of the inability for many potential buyers to obtain financing from banks and investors. Another likely reason for the low prices is that the majority of the Equity stations still need to have digital facilities built which alone could cost hundreds of thousands per station.

Estrella TV: Coming Soon to a Station Near You

LBI Media/Liberman Broadcasting, one of the largest Spanish language broadcasters in the United States, will soon launch their own nationwide television network called Estrella TV. The network will launch with a great arsenal of owned and operated full-power television stations in some of the largest Hispanic markets in the country including KRCA in Los Angeles, KMPX in Dallas, KZJL in Houston, and KPNZ in Salt Lake City. Liberman has also purchased a few low-power stations including one in the largest market in the country, New York City (WASA-LP) and one in the large Hispanic market of Phoenix (KVPA-LP).

Liberman has also announced that they have numerous affiliation agreements that will reach a large portion of the Hispanic population in the United States. Liberman has done a great job in setting the foundation for this new endeavor. One of the strengths of the new network will be the full-power televisions that will carry the network. This enables the network to have full cable and satellite coverage though each of those markets. Another good thing going for Liberman is that they produce nearly all of their own content. Liberman has production studios in the Los Angeles area that churns out hours of original programming per day. Unlike other recent upstart networks they can custom tailor the content to suit the uniqueness of the Hispanic population in the United States. It also enables them to create custom advertising solutions in the programming they produce. And finally I think another strength Liberman has is that they have a unique stable of programming. Unlike the other major Hispanic broadcasters that are heavily reliant on telenovela, Liberman instead counterprograms with talk shows, news, and reality television shows.

Overall I think Liberman Broadcasting has a good chance for success and Estrella TV is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Introduction to JFXL

On this site I will share my opinions and perspectives on news, current trends, as well as where things are going in the future. Right now I am particularly interested in new media, broadcasting (radio and television), the future of news coverage, gaming, and real estate. I will not be limited to just these categories and will post about numerous other industries as well.

Comments will be allowed and I encourage your feedback.