Erwin Krasnow, partner at Garvey Schubert Barer, each year publishes his collection of "Holiday Humor."  And this year is no exception.  So take a moment to click the link below and enjoy Erwin's contribution to a few good laughs, or as he puts it, a "Gong Show without a Gong." 

Click:  Holiday Humor (Note that previous years' editions are available from the same site)

Thanks, Erwin.  And Happy New Year,

George

Court-ordered sale (WHNR-AM)

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE -- Note the revised date!!

Sale of stock of GB Enterprises Communication Corporation (which would involve the acquisition of licenses from the Federal Communications Commission to operate WHNR-AM, Winter Haven, FL) to the highest and best bidder for cash on hand at the time of sale.

January 24, 2013 at 11:00am. 
455 N. Broadway Ave.
Bartow, FL  33830

Circuit Court of Polk County, Florida
Case No. 2009CA005214

George R. Reed, Receiver
c/o Media Services Group
149 Roscoe Blvd. South
Ponte Vedra, FL  32082
(904) 285-3239
george@mediaservicesgroup.com

Station trading continues to pick up steam. On the radio side, BIA reports that station sales were up significantly in May over the same time last year.  Click HERE

Broadcast cash flow multiples appear to be holding steady in the 7x to 8x range (with occasional deals both above and below).

If you are looking for a good "first acquisition," we have just put a 3-FM cluster on the market in southeast Georgia:

• Dominant competitive position
• $128,000 in cash flow last year from only two stations; the third station went on the air this year
 • Owner will consider selling financing and will consult following the closing
• Asking price: $1,400,000

Let me know if you would like to take a closer look.

George
Media Services Group

Media Services Group closes sale of WAYJ (FM), Ft. Myers, FL

Classical South Florida Inc. has completed the acquisition of the assets of radio station WAYJ (FM), licensed to Ft. Myers, FL from WAY-FM Media, Inc. for $4.35 million.

“WAY-FM started in Fort Myers back in 1987,” said Bob Augsburg, founder and president of WAY Media. “Southwest Florida is still very strategic for us, and we’re simply moving a short way up the dial. Most listeners will hear us on 89.5FM, while those in Charlotte County will be able to tune us in at 100.5FM. We’re excited about this switch, which will allow WAY Media to launch a suite of new digital initiatives”

“We’re tremendously excited to have the opportunity to bring classical music back to the Southwest Florida airwaves,” said CSF president and general manager Douglas C. Evans.  “Classical South Florida was launched in Southeast Florida in the fall of 2007, and its programming can be heard from the upper Keys to the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast, and now in southwest Florida from Fort Myers to Naples and Marco Island.”

The new call letters of the station are WNPS.

Eddie Esserman of Media Services Group was the exclusive broker and represented WAY-FM Media.

Looking for your first radio station acquisition?

As station trading activity has picked up, we have developed a good inventory of small market stations and clusters in the southeast. Several of these are ideal “first stations” for a prospective buyer looking to get into radio station ownership.

Station prices are at the most affordable level in decades. Seller financing is back in vogue. And business overall appears to be picking up.

Though are larger deals are still on a “call for information” confidential status, here are some opportunities targeted toward budding entrepreneurs:

Alabama

• FM and AM with translators.

Georgia

• FM in coastal market. Includes real estate.
• FM and AM with positive cash flow.
• Three FMs.

North Carolina

• FM and AM in resort market.
• FM in coastal market with positive cash flow.
• Bargain priced FM in small market.

Puerto Rico

• AM in coastal resort market.
• FM in the west.

West Virginia

• Two FMs and Two AMs in growing market.

If you have sufficient equity for a down payment and working capital, please email your interest(s) to me and I will send the appropriate Non-disclosure agreement. For other areas in the country, check out our Classifieds page.

George
Media Services Group

A broker looks back at the NAB Show

Now that a couple of weeks have passed since returning from the NAB Show in Las Vegas (and I have finally caught up from being away!), I would like to share a few thoughts from the convention.

First, it is probably appropriate to explain the NAB Show from a broker's perspective, or at least from a Media Services Group broker's perspective.  In actuality, we see very little of the convention.  Our time is spent in our suite in non-stop meetings with station buyers, sellers, lenders, and investors.  And since MSG is a national firm, we meet with clients and customers from all over the country.  The week gives us an excellent perspective on the state of the industry, station trading, and station values.

This year's show was without question the most upbeat since the economy hit the fan during the Austin Radio Show, in fall 2008.  Sentiment about the economy was better, and financial performance at the stations has improved, with many operators expecting their second "up" year in a row.

Our suite was busy, with at times twenty or more people huddled together in simultaneous meetings.  Deal flow has increased and the quality of inventory appears to be getting better.  Most of the deals we completed last year were in small markets or involved workouts and bankruptcies; this year we are getting deals done in good, cash flowing clusters.

So why are things better?  I've identified three factors:

1)  As mentioned above, business at home is better.  Most stations are running ahead of year-ago numbers and pacings are good.

2)  Lenders are coming back.  Not in droves, but they are at least beginning to write some new broadcast loans.

3)  The Bid/Ask spread has narrowed.  Sellers have come to grips with the price reset, and buyers are realizing that we are off the low with the trajectory decidedly up.

Our opinion on radio multiples is that stations are trading between 7.0x and 8.0x Broadcast Cash Flow, with "beach front" property in the mid-8s.  We now have enough data points to view this range with a high degree of certainty.  No doubt there could be some outlier deals on either side, but most transactions are in this ballpark.

There is every reason to expect a robust Radio Show in Dallas in the fall.  I hope you join us there. 

George
Media Services Group

We're in the Encore Tower

Media Services Group is at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Our suite is in the Encore Tower, 60th floor, # E-6006. Please stop by and see us.

George

Let's talk in Las Vegas

The NAB Show is upon us. Media Services Group will have a suite at the Encore. Please get in touch to set up a confidential appointment to discuss station valuation, buying, selling, or financing.

I hope to see you at the Show,

George

Media Services Group

Congratulations to Media Services Group's Jody McCoy on the Bahakel/Woodward transaction!

March 30, 2012

Dubuque, Iowa/Charlotte, NC - Friday, March 30, 2012 – Beverly B. Poston, President and CEO, of Bahakel Communications, Inc., and Tom Yunt, President and CEO of Woodward Communications, Inc. (WCI), jointly announced the sale of Bahakel’s four station radio cluster in Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa to WCI. Jody McCoy of Media Services Group acted as the exclusive broker for the transaction representing the seller.

Effective April 1st the addition of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa 4-station group increases WCI’s broadcast holdings to 11 stations in the region with their other radio station cluster in the Green Bay, Appleton/Oshkosh, Wisconsin markets. Woodward Communications, Inc., headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, has six operating divisions: daily newspaper, weekly publications, commercial printing, niche B-2-B magazines, radio and a full-service advertising agency.

In announcing their purchase of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls group Yunt said, “We are very excited to add these outstanding stations to the Woodward Radio Group (WRG) and our “dynamic employee-owned media company,” and we look forward to the opportunity of serving the greater Waterloo/Cedar Falls communities. The stations are well positioned with their heritage and formats and have a wonderful track record in serving their valued listeners and advertisers.”

Poston said that “it is with highly mixed emotions that we sell the stations but that the decision was made easier because of the quality company that Woodward is, the fact that it is employee-owned and their commitment to provide such excellent services to the various communities in which they operate.”

She further added “that we (Bahakel) recently purchased an additional television station in Montgomery, AL, as well as an additional radio station for our Chattanooga cluster so this was done as some realignment of our properties. We leave Waterloo very reluctantly but comforted in knowing that our stations and employees will be in such wonderful hands.”

Bahakel also owns and operates six radio stations in Colorado Springs, CO and Chattanooga, TN and six television stations in Montgomery, AL (two stations); Jackson, TN; Columbia, SC, Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC, and their flagship station, WCCB-TV in Charlotte, NC.

Contact for Bahakel Communications, Ltd is Jim Babb (704-632-7217).

Jody McCoy
719.630.3111

George
Media Services Group