WADL Detroit Sold On Spectrum Valuation

[mvcg66b3r 97]

FCC valuations look pretty good--especially to colorful owner Kevin Adell

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/station-station/wadl-detroit-sold-spectrum-valuation/134627

 

Estimated Potential Auction Compensation

http://wireless.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions/learn-program/docs/compensation-charts.pdf

[DirtyHarry 721]

Of particular interest is how high the values are for Class A stations.

 

The Dispatch people stand to make a quick 30 mil on WALV. Likewise with the CAT stations in Cleveland and WBQC in Cincinnati.

 

Who knew?

 

EDIT: Looks like Sinclair should have held on to WLWC in Providence.

[Rusty Muck 4309]

It's interesting that you bring up the "CAT" - aka WAOH-LP/29 and W35AX-LP/35 Cleveland. They are owned by the Klaus family, who also own WNIR/100.1 (now the last station in existence to use the "Spirit of..." jingle package) and WJMP/1520, which... exists.

 

Both WAOH and W35AX are supposedly set to convert to low-power digital via flash-cut in the next few weeks. When? TBD. But it is apparently imminent.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the House of Klaus cash in on both LPTVers. Despite the massive amount of change that has befallen WNIR (their flagship personality and their evening host died in the span of a few weeks back in 2012, and then they had to blow up their long-running morning show a year later) they won't sell that station yet. WAOH and W35AX, however, could yield them a nice payday.

 

As for WLWC, that may be THE one time that S!nclair should have stayed in a market all along. Although I do expect them to eventually buy back WLWC's intellectual property and run it as a subchannel of WJAR.

[scrabbleship 427]

As for WLWC, that may be THE one time that S!nclair should have stayed in a market all along. Although I do expect them to eventually buy back WLWC's intellectual property and run it as a subchannel of WJAR.

This popped in my head the second I read that WJAR was heading to SBG. IIRC, SBG still handles some minor things for WLWC on OTA's behalf and WLWC still airs Ring of Honor so it wouldn't be a shock.

 

I do wonder if MG will cash out WCTX and move it's programming to a subchannel of WTNH. That amount for its spectrum isn't chump change and can help a ton.

[rkolsen 1680]

I wonder what the valuations are based on? I noticed when I read the document I was surprised that the valuation of a station in Baltimore is more than DC.

[tyrannical bastard 3541]

Another station that would be foolish NOT to sell out is WHIZ in Zanesville, OH. They're the only reason that market exists (which is ONLY Muskingum County and completely surrounded by the Columbus DMA) and WCMH would be happy to expand their audience since all of the other Columbus stations fill in the gaps. They have radio stations to fall back on as well, including one they moved closer to Columbus and leased out to an owner who sold their original station to Ohio State.

 

I'm thinking these valuations are based on population and proximity, regardless of DMA. This is why a market like Zanesville can fetch a pretty penny versus a remote market with too many stations like Mobile-Pensacola. And if these frequencies are used for non-TV purposes, markets don't matter anymore.

[Samantha 2878]

 

Another station that would be foolish NOT to sell out is WHIZ in Zanesville, OH. They're the only reason that market exists (which is ONLY Muskingum County and completely surrounded by the Columbus DMA) and WCMH would be happy to expand their audience since all of the other Columbus stations fill in the gaps. They have radio stations to fall back on as well, including one they moved closer to Columbus and leased out to an owner who sold their original station to Ohio State.

 

I'm thinking these valuations are based on population and proximity, regardless of DMA. This is why a market like Zanesville can fetch a pretty penny versus a remote market with too many stations like Mobile-Pensacola. And if these frequencies are used for non-TV purposes, markets don't matter anymore.

 

Jessell's column puts it this way. This has been definitely one of the more unexpected impacts of the whole affair:

 

 

Big numbers for big markets are what you would expect. What's really interesting is the enormous auction value being attached to stations in relatively small markets adjacent to the major markets because of daisy-chain effects and the desire of the FCC to offer spectrum buyers clear, interference-free spectrum.

 

So you have maximum prices like $180 million for Palm Springs, $160 million for Providence, $150 million for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, $100 million for West Palm Beach and $95 million for Youngstown.

[DirtyHarry 721]

 

It's interesting that you bring up the "CAT" - aka WAOH-LP/29 and W35AX-LP/35 Cleveland. They are owned by the Klaus family, who also own WNIR/100.1 (now the last station in existence to use the "Spirit of..." jingle package) and WJMP/1520, which... exists.

 

As for WLWC, that may be THE one time that S!nclair should have stayed in a market all along. Although I do expect them to eventually buy back WLWC's intellectual property and run it as a subchannel of WJAR.

 

It's kind of funny because I was looking at the stable of stations owned by OTA on their website and noticed there were quite a few LPTV's in the mix. I thought to myself, why would anybody own this junk? Now I know and it makes all the sense in the world --- even though LPTV's don't have the reach of full power stations, their signal is strongest where it matters the most, which is in the center of population. That explains the high values. For that matter, Sinclair might even be tempted to sell WJAR given the valuations in that corridor.

 

Dispatch won't waste two seconds dumping WALV, which is on Channel 46 and has a very tall HAAT. They should be able to get some very good money for that signal. Check out their signal pattern. Small market full power stations often don't have this kind of reach.

 

https://maps.google.com/?q=http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/contourplot.kml%3Fgmap%3D2%26appid%3D1481533%26call%3DWALV-CD%26freq%3D0.0%26contour%3D51%26city%3DINDIANAPOLIS%26state%3DIN.kml

 

Columbus has two Class A stations at 17 and 19. Not sure what they are worth since the upper channels are the ones being cleared. Probably worth something as chess pieces to relocate other channels.

 

 

Another station that would be foolish NOT to sell out is WHIZ in Zanesville, OH. They're the only reason that market exists (which is ONLY Muskingum County and completely surrounded by the Columbus DMA) and WCMH would be happy to expand their audience since all of the other Columbus stations fill in the gaps. They have radio stations to fall back on as well, including one they moved closer to Columbus and leased out to an owner who sold their original station to Ohio State.

 

I'm thinking these valuations are based on population and proximity, regardless of DMA. This is why a market like Zanesville can fetch a pretty penny versus a remote market with too many stations like Mobile-Pensacola. And if these frequencies are used for non-TV purposes, markets don't matter anymore.

 

IIRC, they were trying to clear the channels above 31, so WHIZ (at 40 or 41) should be able to extract a premium. Depending on what the spectrum is worth, WHIZ might be able to relocate after all the dust settles, or maybe transfer their programming to LPTVs.

 

Likewise, perhaps, with the Parkersburg and Lima LPTV's.

 

This is all very amazing to me because LPTV is basically the junkyard of TV. Crap programming, no cable carriage and until the advent of digital crappy pictures. These stations were selling for $50,000 and there were still no takers. Amazing.

[Thundershock MN 169]

Whoa! I think we need to pump the brakes here a bit.

 

First, I think it's important to point out that only Class A Low Power stations are protected and therefore eligible to participate in the auction. All non-Class A Low Power stations and translators are not eligible to participate in the auction and are subject to displacement in the repacking process.

 

Second, these aren't the final prices for relinquishing a license, they are estimates. Tom Wheeler even stated “the numbers are not the exact amounts you can expect to be paid in the auction.” The estimated compensation chart is based on clearing 126MHz. That clearing target is on the high end and may not be achievable in some markets. It also doesn't factor into account any "scoring methodology" that may be used.

 

Also, lets not forget this is an auction. The Incentive Auction itself is made up of two parts the Reverse Auction and the Forward Auction. In the Reverse Auction the FCC will reclaim spectrum in use by broadcasters. And, the Forward Auction will sell the reclaimed spectrum to wireless companies. The Reverse Auction will be conducted as a “descending clock" auction meaning the FCC will lower its offer price each round and broadcasters will indicate their choice at those prices or if they choose to drop out until the clearing target is reached. So, for kicks lets say the FCC determines in order to reach it's clearing target it needs to buy 5 stations spectrum back in an area. However, 7 stations have chosen to participate. The FCC will not buy all 7 they will keep lowing their bids until 2 stations drop out. In other words buy low, sell high.

 

So, at best these are very high end opening bid prices. But, broadcasters are far from guaranteed to get these values if they participate.

[Rusty Muck 4309]

I highly doubt that a station like WHIZ, which enjoys a near monopoly in their respective market, would want to cash out. Zanesville wouldn't get nearly enough news and weather coverage from the Columbus stations, and that's by simple geography alone. Plus, it would be horrible P.R. on WHIZ's end.

 

Substitute WHIZ for any standalone full-power TV station in a small market and you'd get the same result. Not only would the negatives of giving up outweigh the benefits... why would they want to do it?

 

A full-power station station like WADL could give themselves up without much issue because it is one of the smaller stations in the market. Same thing with any struggling large market station... think of KDOC, WBBZ or KTXD... they conceivably could cash out.

 

The FrankenFMs (low-power analog channel 6, masquerading as "87.7") are another group to look at. Regardless of the FCC's "proposal" for a hybrid digital picture and analog aural signal (despite the headline, it is merely a proposal and may not even be remotely feasible) the license holders may be netting a pretty penny.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

 

I highly doubt that a station like WHIZ, which enjoys a near monopoly in their respective market, would want to cash out. Zanesville wouldn't get nearly enough news and weather coverage from the Columbus stations, and that's by simple geography alone. Plus, it would be horrible P.R. on WHIZ's end.

 

Substitute WHIZ for any standalone full-power TV station in a small market and you'd get the same result. Not only would the negatives of giving up outweigh the benefits... why would they want to do it?

 

A full-power station station like WADL could give themselves up without much issue because it is one of the smaller stations in the market. Same thing with any struggling large market station... think of KDOC, WBBZ or KTXD... they conceivably could cash out.

 

The FrankenFMs (low-power analog channel 6, masquerading as "87.7") are another group to look at. Regardless of the FCC's "proposal" for a hybrid digital picture and analog aural signal (despite the headline, it is merely a proposal and may not even be remotely feasible) the license holders may be netting a pretty penny.

 

Then you've got the case of KAZT, where the in-Metro Class A is more valuable than the "full service" rural Channel 7. I wonder if they'll cash out. Broadcasting was a side business for the owners, and the people within the company that believed in the financial viability of the station are now deceased.