According to Kagan, there was $102.3 million in radio deals in the second quarter of 2018 while TV deals totaled $5 billion. The second quarter’s top deal was Cumulus’ $18.0 million purchase of WKQX-FM in Chicago. The second-largest radio deal was a swap, yielding an estimated total of $16.8 million. That was the EMF deal with Radio One. EMF transferred three FM translators, worth an estimated $2.3 million, to Urban One and paid an additional $12.2 million in cash for Radio One’s WPZR-FM in Detroit.
The largest radio group transaction was the $10.7 million sale of four AM stations, eight FM stations, and five FM translators in two small Washington State markets from Ingstad Radio Washington to Stephens Family Limited Partnership.
On the TV side, Gray Television announced the acquisition of Raycom Media for $3.65 billion. The Sinclair/Tribune TV merger required a number of spin-offs to comply with FCC ownership caps. After a first station divestiture in March for $60.0 million, 22 more stations were sold to five different buyers in April and May to meet the caps. Excluding the Sinclair spin-offs and Gray’s deal for Raycom, the total deal volume would have been the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2016, amounting to just $185.8 million.
