Broadcast broker activities, H1'21

Under the current conditions of the challenging broadcast deal market, the assistance of broadcast brokers has been more important than ever. Not counting Gray Television Inc.(opens in a new tab)'s big consolidation deals, the first half of 2021 registered a total deal volume of $139.2 million — less than the average monthly deal volume in any of the years between 2011 and 2019.

More than half of that volume ($70.8 million) came from just 12 deals ranging from $2.5 million to $18.1 million — with nine of the 12 deals conducted with the assistance of broadcast brokers.

The largest radio deal of the first half of 2021 was brokered by Richard A. Foreman Associates Inc.(opens in a new tab) On June 3, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.(opens in a new tab) announced the sale(opens in a new tab) of two AM and two FM stations in the Seattle-Tacoma, Wash., market to Lotus Communications Corporation(opens in a new tab) for $18.1 million.

Foreman also brokered the $2.5 million sale(opens in a new tab) of two FM stations in upstate New York, targeting mainly Montreal, from Martz Communications Group Inc.(opens in a new tab) to Educational Media Foundation(opens in a new tab).

Aside from the Gray transactions, the largest TV transaction was Sovryn Holdings Inc.(opens in a new tab)'s $10.0 million acquisition(opens in a new tab) of two Class A TV stations in Los Angeles from NRJ Holdings LLC(opens in a new tab), brokered by Patrick Communications LLC(opens in a new tab).

Sovryn Holdings also bought(opens in a new tab) a Class A TV station in the Chicago market from Local Media TV Chicago LLC(opens in a new tab) for $5.70 million. That transaction too was brokered by Patrick Communications, which was part of no less than 14 of the 73 brokered transactions in the first half and — with a total of $29.4 million — the broker with the largest deal volume.

In Sovryn Holdings' third acquisition, the $1.5 million purchase(opens in a new tab) of a digital low-power TV station in Houston, Craig A. Ruark LLC d/b/a The Broadcast License Store(opens in a new tab) assisted seller Abraham Telecasting Company LLC(opens in a new tab).

Whisper Advisors(opens in a new tab), a management consulting firm founded in 2017, logged its first entry in our broadcast broker database, facilitating the $7.7 million sale(opens in a new tab) of a TV station in the Seattle-Tacoma, Wash., market from Venture Technologies Group LLC(opens in a new tab) to Radiant Life Ministries Inc.(opens in a new tab)

Fowler Media Consulting LLC(opens in a new tab) brokered five deals, the largest one being the $4.0 million sale(opens in a new tab) of an FM station in the Orlando, Fla., market from Entravision Communications Corp.(opens in a new tab) to Radio Training Network Inc.(opens in a new tab)

Bergner & Co.(opens in a new tab) was the financial advisor for a large group sale in which seven FM and four AM radio stations, five FM translators and one FM booster in the New York markets of Elmira-Corning and Olean were sold(opens in a new tab) from Sound Communications LLC(opens in a new tab) to Seven Mountains Media of NY LLC(opens in a new tab) and Southern Belle LLC(opens in a new tab) for $1.8 million.

Robert H. Branch Jr.(opens in a new tab) was the broker in the sale(opens in a new tab) of an FM station in the Albuquerque, N.M., market from Calvary Albuquerque Inc.(opens in a new tab) to Bible Broadcasting Network Inc.(opens in a new tab) for $1.4 million.

Four other brokers, MyMediaBroker.com(opens in a new tab), Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage(opens in a new tab), Griffin Media Brokers(opens in a new tab) and Media Services Group Inc.(opens in a new tab) registered a brokered deal volume above $1 million through a number of smaller deals. In July, at the beginning of the second half of the year, Hadden & Assoc. Inc.(opens in a new tab) became the 12th broker of the year registering a million dollars or more.

July was a big month for Kalil & Co. Inc.(opens in a new tab), the leader of our broadcast broker rankings in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Kalil registered only one deal(opens in a new tab) announcement worth $850,000 in the first half of the year but announced eight transactions adding to a total of $65.7 million between July 12 and July 29.

Altogether, between January and June 2021, we received deal announcements from 32 broadcast brokers — only five fewer than all of 2020. More significantly, the total broadcast brokered volume of $83.6 million was 67% higher than in the first half of 2020 and reached $151.4 million on July 29, exceeding 2020's total of $148.3 million.