Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1961)

— I BROADCASTING THE BUSINESSWEEKLY OF TELEVISION AND RADIO April 3, 1961 Vol. 60 No. 14 THE DAM BREAKS IN STATION SALES The FCC blesses multi-million WSAZ-AM-TV, KVOS-TV purchases, has $64 million more to pass on; WNTA-TV bidding still active The station sales market suddenly came alive last week after a do-nothing period of several months. In all that time, major station property sales have been negotiated, but seemingly were left vegetating in the FCC's files. Last week the commission approved two ownership changes involving an aggregate $8 million in financial considerations, the first of any size approved by the FCC since November. They were the purchase of 89% of WSAZ-AM-TV Huntington, W. Va., by WJR Detroit for $5.4 million and of KVOS-TV Bellingham, Wash., by Wometco Enterprises Inc. for $3 million. In the background, with bids being made almost daily and all spiraling upward, was WNTA-TV, the ch. 13 independent in New York put on the block publicly last February. The latest offer of $8.4 million comes from Ely Landau former chairman of National Telefilms Assoc./ for the whole NTA broadcasting package — WNTA-AM-FM-TV. The offer is being given serious consideration by NTA officials, it has been reported. The returning market in station sales — and it's the consensus of brokers and station lawyers that last week's FCC actions may herald the breakup of the log jam — faces two major threats: ■ The FCC has announced that it's thinking about placing a three-year holding period on all licenses. This would mean an automatic hearing on the sale of any station the owner has held for less than three years. ■ And last week the commission caused a tremor through the industry by announcing it's going to look into the possibility of recapturing a vhf channel in both New York and Los Angeles for educational use. Behind the scenes there was a rumor some members of the commission want to extend this inquiry into all major markets without an educational vhf assignment. Blind Man's Buff ■ It's speculated that the method — if a majority of the FCC agrees — would be to designate the first station up for sale as "it." The damper this would put on major market station sale transactions is obvious. Notwithstanding the FCC's action last week there are still pending in its files applications for station sale approvals that add up to a significantly substantial $64 million (see story ptge 35). This is more than half the total consideration involved in all sales approved by the commission in 1960. Those still awaiting the word from the FCC include such over-$10-million transactions as Crowell-Collier's pur A SEVEN-YEAR RECORD OF STATION TRADING Dollar volume of trading Combined Total Radio Only Radio-Tv TvOnly 1954 $ 60344,130 $ 10,224,047 $ 26,213,323 $ 23,906,760 1955 73,079.366 27.333,104 22,351,602 23,394,660 1956 115,605.828 32,563,378 65,212,055 17,830,395 1957 124,187,560 48,207,470 47,490,884 28,489,206 1958 127,537,026 49,868,123 60,872,618 16,796,285 1959 123,496,581 65,544,653 42,724,727 15,227,201 1960 99,341,910 51,763,285 24,648,400 22,930,225 Totals $723,592,401 $285,504,060 $289,513,609 $148,574,732 Note: Dollar volume figures represent total considerations joint radio-television properties, individual values were reported for all transactions, whether majority or minority not assigned to the radio and television stations. Such sales interests were involved. In many transactions involving are reported in the column headed "Combined Radio-TV" BROADCASTING, April 3, 1961 33