It was the lowest quarterly radio deal volume since 2012 according to the folks at Kagan. The top radio deal of the quarter was the $10.0 million sale of non-commercial KUHA-FM in Houston followed by another non-commercial transaction, the $8.0 million sale of FM stations KPLI, KPLU, KPLI and KVIX as well as seven translators and one translator construction permit in Seattle from Pacific Lutheran University to University of Washington.
Kagan says the biggest development in radio was a surge of FM translator sales. Through the end of March a total of 435 applications for modification of FM translators were granted. Almost three-quarters of these applications (318) require a change of ownership. In 214 cases (121 construction permits and 93 licensed stations), the change of ownership happened immediately after the application was granted. Counting all FM translator sales, 447 FM translators (including 237 construction permits) were sold in the first quarter 2016. For comparison, in all of 2015, 453 FM translators (including 189 CPs) changed hands.
The 90 million is just a number to look at.
If the number is lower than past quarters, nerds will say radio isn’t being bought.
If the number is higher, nerds will say station owners are bailing out.
The body of the article said sellers were averaging about 6 1/2 times cash flow, but that number also can be confusing. I really wish we had the old days when owners were focused more on top line (sales). Dwelling on operating costs is not the province of gifted executives.