Two more transactions announced

Media Services Group has announced a couple of transactions. Though small deals, they provide evidence that the deal market is slowly but surely coming back to life.

1) Fort Wayne, IN Area FM Station Is Sold

Godwin-Starkes Property Management, LLC, an Indiana limited liability company has agreed to purchase the assets of WNUY-FM licensed to Bluffton, IN from Independence Media of Indiana, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and IM IN Licenses, LLC, an Delaware limited liability company. Godwin-Starkes Property Management, LLC through an affiliated company, owns WQSW-LP Fort Wayne, IN.

The purchase price is $350,000.

Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group and Stephan Sloan of
Media Services Group’s Providence office served as the exclusive brokers representing the seller in this transaction.

2) Tennessee Temple University has agreed to purchase the assets of Radio Station WUUS (AM), licensed to Rossville, GA (serving Chattanooga, Tennessee), from 3 Daughters Media, Inc. for $175,000.

Eddie Esserman of Media Services Group’s St. Simons Island, GA, office represented Tennessee Temple University in this transaction.

Both transactions are subject to FCC approval.

Congratulations to Bob, Stephan and Eddie on getting deals done in a tough financing environment!

George
Media Services Group

Radio Disney Group sells WMNE (AM) serving West Palm Beach

Radio Disney Group, LLC has agreed to sell WMNE (AM) (Riviera Beach, FL) serving West Palm Beach to Travis Media L.L.C. (pending FCC approval).

Eddie Esserman and Bill Whitley of Media Services Group were the exclusive brokers.

Congratulations Eddie and Bill (again!).

George
Media Services Group

Meet the Media Services Group partners: Eddie Esserman

Media Services Group just celebrated our 20th birthday. During that time, we have helped our clients buy and sell a lot of radio and TV stations, with transaction volume in the billions of dollars. It all started two decades ago when several brokers with Chapman Associates, myself included, decided to set out on our own and form MSG with a laser focus on client service. Several credit crunches and recessions later (along with a boom or two), we're still at it.

Over the course of the next few months, I want to highlight in these pages the guys I work with at MSG. We have a great team, and I am proud of my association with each and every one of them.

What better partner to start with than the one I've known the longest? Eddie Esserman and I met in Atlanta over 30 years ago; back then, we were kids (and competitors) in Atlanta radio. He was still relatively fresh out of Georgia Tech and a stint in the record business (get him to tell you his Willy Nelson story some time).

Like many of us, Eddie began his broadcast career in high school as an announcer. With a keen interest in engineering. he holds a General Radio Telephone license, having earned a First Class Radio Telephone license as a teen (and is still a practicing "ham").

After college, he returned to broadcasting in the programming department for the Pacific and Southern group of stations, migrating to the sales side and managing sales departments for two Atlanta stations. He became the Vice President and General Manager for Shamrock Broadcasting’s Atlanta outlet, WFOX.

In the mid 1990’s Eddie managed one of the country’s first large market duopolies (in San Francisco) for Shamrock. He pursued ownership after leaving Shamrock in 1995 and owned and operated in Macon and Savannah (I was proud to be his exclusive broker on those deals). After selling those stations, I talked him into joining us at MSG.

In addition to managing our office on beautiful St. Simons Island, GA, Eddie owns stations in nearby Brunswick, GA and not-so-nearby south Texas. Together, we are partners in a tower company (USAntenna, Inc.) with towers in the Southeast.

Eddie is a frequent faculty member of the NAB’s Education Foundation Broadcast Leadership Training Program. He has testified as an expert witness in bankruptcy matters and been a court appointed broker. And he is a great guy.

Catch Eddie's blog ("Esserblog") here: http://www.eddieesserman.blogspot.com/

George

From ESSERBLOG (Eddie Esserman): All the Emperors Had NO Clothes

Eddie's thoughts from the NAB Radio Show: http://eddieesserman.blogspot.com/