amfmxm said:
The FCC doesn't use Arbitron allocations for Mobile-Pensacola because of the overwhelming duplication--it should be one market--they use the signal overlap method ordinarily reserved for determining cap space in unrated markets.
Yes, it does. While it's true that stations not considered in the metros are subject to contour overlap (which I'll get to in a second), the FCC calculates stations in the Mobile and Pensacola MSA's based on Arbitron defined markets. Read these for more info:
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=101498502&qnum=5160©num=1&exhcnum=1
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...xt=25&appn=101498502&formid=314&fac_num=73256
This kind of COL change is usually the first step in a two-step process to move the stick closer to the Big City (Mobile). Time will tell.
The purpose of moving 104.1 to Saraland is explained in the application in section 2. Yes, my explanation of why it happened wasn't exactly correct. I apologize for the faulty memory. It happens as we get older! However, the purpose was to get it into the Mobile metro so it didn't have to use the contour overlap criteria to determine the number of stations in its market. If 104.1 stayed in Atmore, Cumulus couldn't have legally bought WMEZ/WXBM because 104.1 would've overlapped too many signals.
ADX Communications is contesting this deal. I don't know what the reason is, but it's possible it has to do with the move of 104.1 to facilitate the purchase of these additional stations.
The $1.6 million for 98.3 is compensation--compensation to Cumulus for a full C in a Top 50 market--Nashville. This is like trying to follow one of those 3-team deals in the NBA. You know, in order for Dwight Howard to go to the Lakers, Orlando gives Sacramento $5 million and a second-round pick in the 2016 draft and the Kings take Andrew Bynum from LA to create cap space allowing the Lakers to pay Howard his $20 million salary...
You're on the right track, but that isn't exactly correct. A normal deal would've been a swap of 97.5 for 98.3 plus cash and/or a discount on another station (Nashville). Cumulus, however, is swapping 97.1 Nashville (a C2, not a full C, by the way) for 97.5 Mobile. Then, Cumulus is selling 98.3 for $1.6 million to EMF both because EMF wants to replace 97.5 and because Cumulus will be over the limit without a divestiture by adding 97.5. Most likely, the deal was structured the way it was for tax reasons. Dickey Brothers Broadcasting Company, which was owned by the management at Cumulus, swapped WVOL 1470 in the Nashville area for the unbuilt CP of WRQQ 97.1 in the late-90's/early-2000 time-frame. Cumulus eventually did a stock-for-stock deal, which was tax-free, to get DBBC's stations (Nashville and Atlanta) into the company. So, a swap of 97.5 for 98.3 and a discount on the Nashville purchase would've probably subjected Cumulus to capital gains tax while a "like kind swap" of 97.1 for 97.5 allows them to avoid taxes and take the $1.6 million for 98.3 as a capital loss.
