Looking to buy an AM originating station for a new non-profit network. AM with no FX or tower land, under (way under) 100K, with land and FX 100-175K.
[email protected] Thanks.
[email protected] Thanks.
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Looking for an inexpensive station
- Thread starter RadioGuy1864
- Start date
There are plenty of radio station broker and sales websites, and brokers who specialize in buying/selling stations that may be able to help you. A quick internet search will turn up plenty for you to contact:
www.radiotvdeals.com
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The RadioTVDeals Media Broker Directory helps you to find a media broker to help you sell your radio station for sale or TV station for sale.
www.radiotvdeals.com
Deleted - Was a duplicate post due to crappy internet connection.
Interesting! Given your non-profit status (I presume with proper IRS certification versus a state non-profit), there may be a group owner or two who might be willing to donate an AM arranged via a respected broker.
You can pick up AMs in cities for little cash. I was looking through Deal Digest at Radio Insight and saw a pair of AMs in St. Louis that had been downgraded in power but still hit a few million plus an FM translator for $210,000. It seems one of the AMs had land that came with the sale per the asset agreement filed with the FCC.
Not knowing your plan for programming content, I would possibly consider non-commercial FM. So many entities have an attitude of winning anything they can get in filing windows and many times sell very cheap. $10,000 to $25,000 is not too uncommon albeit for a frequency in a smaller community (under 50,000). There was a 10,000 watt FM at a nice HAAT still in a CP for $8,000. Yes you had to build it out. There was a Montana FM covering a good area including a major population center for $15,000 that had been run by a church for several years (rented tower site).
Brokers are akin to real estate agents. Some are good and some are lousy. There are websites where people list stations for sale (including a few brokers) but they are asking unrealistic prices. One, for instance, was a small town AM with a long history of serving the community until the seller bought the station and went to a Christian format, struggled for years and was selling for $195,000 including land and tower. It seems the station needed a new ground system and the tower was almost rusted through. The building needed major work from years of neglect and billing didn't cover much more than the electric. It was advertised as a turnkey goldmine of a station at $195,000. The guy giving his assessment valued the station at $70,000 including land and facility.
I met a fellow that bought a 250 watt AM with amazing coverage. He paid $5,000 less than the appraised value of the land and building (per the county tax record)...$50,000. The owners were up in years and simply wanted the station to go to someone who would continue serving the community. In fact, they were smart enough to include living facilities as a part of the building. Nothing fancy and the place needed a bit of cosmetic work but overall he got a turnkey business. The truth be told, many of the businesses had shut down over the years and places like Dollar General were working on lowering sales for existing moms and pops in town. He could only manage about $6,000-$8,000 a month in sales and paid religion mainly Sundays but for a husband and wife it was okay. It is a daytimer. He joked he made as much on Sundays as he did all week.
I was offered a station in a town of 8,000 for $50,000. The building had holes in the roof (you could see sunlight) but they kept those room's doors closed. The station, per the owner, could bill about $5,000 a month on average. He had put in a new ground system. Figuring he had been a major community figure (school board, city council, county judge and owned a couple of local businesses over the years) I determined my shot at billing $5,000 a month was not realistic. The transmitter that was placed in service when the station fired up for the first time was still in use and it was not on it's last leg but on it's last toe nail. This one was a daytimer but had under 250 watts nights that went unutilized. $50,000 in repairs and new equipment and you'd have something: $100,000 debt and $60,000 a year gross if you could pull it off.
You can pick up AMs in cities for little cash. I was looking through Deal Digest at Radio Insight and saw a pair of AMs in St. Louis that had been downgraded in power but still hit a few million plus an FM translator for $210,000. It seems one of the AMs had land that came with the sale per the asset agreement filed with the FCC.
Not knowing your plan for programming content, I would possibly consider non-commercial FM. So many entities have an attitude of winning anything they can get in filing windows and many times sell very cheap. $10,000 to $25,000 is not too uncommon albeit for a frequency in a smaller community (under 50,000). There was a 10,000 watt FM at a nice HAAT still in a CP for $8,000. Yes you had to build it out. There was a Montana FM covering a good area including a major population center for $15,000 that had been run by a church for several years (rented tower site).
Brokers are akin to real estate agents. Some are good and some are lousy. There are websites where people list stations for sale (including a few brokers) but they are asking unrealistic prices. One, for instance, was a small town AM with a long history of serving the community until the seller bought the station and went to a Christian format, struggled for years and was selling for $195,000 including land and tower. It seems the station needed a new ground system and the tower was almost rusted through. The building needed major work from years of neglect and billing didn't cover much more than the electric. It was advertised as a turnkey goldmine of a station at $195,000. The guy giving his assessment valued the station at $70,000 including land and facility.
I met a fellow that bought a 250 watt AM with amazing coverage. He paid $5,000 less than the appraised value of the land and building (per the county tax record)...$50,000. The owners were up in years and simply wanted the station to go to someone who would continue serving the community. In fact, they were smart enough to include living facilities as a part of the building. Nothing fancy and the place needed a bit of cosmetic work but overall he got a turnkey business. The truth be told, many of the businesses had shut down over the years and places like Dollar General were working on lowering sales for existing moms and pops in town. He could only manage about $6,000-$8,000 a month in sales and paid religion mainly Sundays but for a husband and wife it was okay. It is a daytimer. He joked he made as much on Sundays as he did all week.
I was offered a station in a town of 8,000 for $50,000. The building had holes in the roof (you could see sunlight) but they kept those room's doors closed. The station, per the owner, could bill about $5,000 a month on average. He had put in a new ground system. Figuring he had been a major community figure (school board, city council, county judge and owned a couple of local businesses over the years) I determined my shot at billing $5,000 a month was not realistic. The transmitter that was placed in service when the station fired up for the first time was still in use and it was not on it's last leg but on it's last toe nail. This one was a daytimer but had under 250 watts nights that went unutilized. $50,000 in repairs and new equipment and you'd have something: $100,000 debt and $60,000 a year gross if you could pull it off.
^^^ Which leads to another strong point...Don't go into something like this blindly or 1/2 educated about anything - the market, the true costs of acquiring and maintaining the station vs. what you could bill or get in donations, ensure you're hiring a competent engineer to fully and fairly evaluate all parts of the station to ensure you know exactly what you're getting into and any potential costs involved in simply making or keeping the station legal, etc.
WOBL/WDLW Lorain, Ohio (rimshots Cleveland) I believe would be interested.
Thanks for all the feedback, I'll bring it to the Board of the non-profit.
Hi. Broker here, just back from the NAB Show.
Couple of things: if you're looking to originate a network, an AM may not be your best choice. While a non-commercial FM can feed translators in the NCE band anywhere in the country, an AM can't. You're limited to 25 miles or the 2 mV day contour, whichever is larger.
For what it sounds like you're trying to do, you want a broker who has a deep understanding of FCC rules. Some of us do, others don't. (Look for one who also files FCC applications. I'm one of a few who does.)
Also, be sure your broker is a member of the National Association of Media Brokers.
Couple of things: if you're looking to originate a network, an AM may not be your best choice. While a non-commercial FM can feed translators in the NCE band anywhere in the country, an AM can't. You're limited to 25 miles or the 2 mV day contour, whichever is larger.
For what it sounds like you're trying to do, you want a broker who has a deep understanding of FCC rules. Some of us do, others don't. (Look for one who also files FCC applications. I'm one of a few who does.)
Also, be sure your broker is a member of the National Association of Media Brokers.
I'd lean toward non-commercial FM for a couple of reasons: no annual spectrum fees and FM is less costly to maintain than AM. Given you can feed translators nationwide is an excellent reason.
fybush makes excellent points on finding the right broker. Since you're talking low price stations, negotiate a rate with your broker so all that time and research is worth it for them.
fybush makes excellent points on finding the right broker. Since you're talking low price stations, negotiate a rate with your broker so all that time and research is worth it for them.
I agree with the comments from b-turner, Mikey Radio, and fybush. It's not so simple as just buying a station and being on the air.
A simple analogy would be like buying an old home with no experience in fixing, repairing, or finding problems in homes. Say your goal is: "buy a really cheap home." Well you can find a really cheap home pretty easily but it probably has deferred maintenance, there might be mold in the walls, the heater or AC might not work, the foundation might be sinking in a corner, it could be condemned by the city/county, the wiring could be poorly done and cause a fire, it could have liens on the title, etc.. There is a rare chance you find a gem that is great without having a building inspector do an inspection and a real estate agent helping you out but you're probably going to end up with a huge headache.
A good buyer's broker (representing you not the seller) or engineer is going to be like that building inspector and real estate agent that gives you advice on your purchase. They may tell you about the transmitter being 20 years old and needing to be replaced, they may tell you that the tower lease needs to be renegotiated in 6 months and the monthly lease could go up substantially, or that the tower owner could even evict you and sell the land when the contract is up. They might even find the station is operating at the wrong site, or at the wrong power, with the wrong antenna, or with a directional antenna not within the parameters of the license. These are not rare events either there are buyers who have gone through this and it happens very regularly unfortunately.
Then once you get your station you need to pay music licenses, pay FCC fees, pay insurance, renew the station's license every few years, maintain public file documents, some cities/towns/counties have licensing requirements or fees, may need to do EEO filings, need to find a local engineer you can call to fix problems, and more.
It may sound like I'm trying to scare you out of purchase a station. I am not. I just want you to be careful and don't jump into something that could turn into a giant headache for you and your group.
A simple analogy would be like buying an old home with no experience in fixing, repairing, or finding problems in homes. Say your goal is: "buy a really cheap home." Well you can find a really cheap home pretty easily but it probably has deferred maintenance, there might be mold in the walls, the heater or AC might not work, the foundation might be sinking in a corner, it could be condemned by the city/county, the wiring could be poorly done and cause a fire, it could have liens on the title, etc.. There is a rare chance you find a gem that is great without having a building inspector do an inspection and a real estate agent helping you out but you're probably going to end up with a huge headache.
A good buyer's broker (representing you not the seller) or engineer is going to be like that building inspector and real estate agent that gives you advice on your purchase. They may tell you about the transmitter being 20 years old and needing to be replaced, they may tell you that the tower lease needs to be renegotiated in 6 months and the monthly lease could go up substantially, or that the tower owner could even evict you and sell the land when the contract is up. They might even find the station is operating at the wrong site, or at the wrong power, with the wrong antenna, or with a directional antenna not within the parameters of the license. These are not rare events either there are buyers who have gone through this and it happens very regularly unfortunately.
Then once you get your station you need to pay music licenses, pay FCC fees, pay insurance, renew the station's license every few years, maintain public file documents, some cities/towns/counties have licensing requirements or fees, may need to do EEO filings, need to find a local engineer you can call to fix problems, and more.
It may sound like I'm trying to scare you out of purchase a station. I am not. I just want you to be careful and don't jump into something that could turn into a giant headache for you and your group.
inari, thank you for the wonderful comments. The one thing I can add is that you have the FCC and FAA (if you have a tower) to deal with. Just like a cop pulling you over for speeding, they don't care if you are cash poor. You broke the law and are getting a ticket. You do everything required of you by the FCC no matter your cash flow. If that's a 200+ foot tower you own, it must remain lit if the bank account is at zero.
Acquiring a station is all about how long you want to work for the bank before you work for yourself (and banks don't loan on stations because technically you never own the license). The quicker you are working for yourself, the better.
Acquiring a station is all about how long you want to work for the bank before you work for yourself (and banks don't loan on stations because technically you never own the license). The quicker you are working for yourself, the better.
That's a great point. As struggling LPFM's have discovered; making assumptions like you can keep operating costs low by using volunteers, think again. Volunteers come with their own baggage and struggles which sometimes ultimately end up costing you more than having actual employees.
I'll bite. What's an FX?
I think I've read it being used in connection with translators occasionally, although I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean (FM eXtension?).
Syndicators, networks, ad agencies and reps have a problem identifying FM translators and HD channels. They can't wrap their arms around something other than a 3 or 4 letter call. Most don't appear to understand that K234AU is a legal call sign for a translator, or that KXXX-HD2 is also a legal call sign. They're all trying to come up with something that fits their paperwork requirements.
One network uses "F2" for HD-2, due to space limitations, but the six character call sign of the translator still stumps them. Sometimes they want to argue "what is the actual call sign?"
AM is definitely not the route you want to take when starting a non-comm network.
Since translators cannot (legally) originate programming, the question is well placed. The call sign they want is of the originating station.
I've dealt with dozens of syndicators. Their paperwork doesn't always allow for the actual sign, they don't want "KXXX-FM" when the originating station is the HD channel. KXXX-FM HD2 doesn't always fit their paperwork, and KXXX-FM doesn't separate the HD channels. That's when they use KXXX-F2, KXXX-F3, etc. because they don't have the available characters. That was my point.
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