Deals for Translators Still Flowing as Window's Monday Closing Approaches
With a deadline for AM broadcasters to seek a 250-mile waiver to allow them to move an existing FM translator expiring Monday, brokers and attorneys told us they see a steady stream of translator deals. The window was on a first-come first-served basis and included an initial rush for applications (see 1608030071). Broadcasters continue to find opportunities for translators during the length of the window, Womble Carlyle radio lawyer John Garziglia told us.
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As of Tuesday, the Media Bureau received 992 filings during the 250-mile-waiver-window, said a spokeswoman. Of those filings, 873 have been granted and 37 dismissed, the bureau said; 82 applications remain pending, the spokeswoman said. Those numbers could still change by the window's Monday close, but Audio Division Chief Peter Doyle said at a mid-October National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters conference that he expects the bureau to have granted over 900 applications once the process is complete. Industry officials said the speed and volume of translator applications granted during the window is far above the normal pace of FCC proceedings.
Deals for translators have continued to take place over the course of the window because prices have fallen as demand fluctuated, Garziglia said. Though attorneys and brokers said the initial flurry of deals was driving translator prices up at the start of the window, those prices fell as transactions slowed, Garziglia said. As the prices fell, buying and relocating a translator became a viable option for stations that might not have been financially able to participate in the scrum at the window's start, he said. “We continue to see a steady flow of translator deals,” said Patrick Communications Media Broker Gregory Guy. “It remains an economical way to create a mini-Class A station.”
Action in this window was partially influenced by an upcoming translator window set for after the incentive auction in 2017 (see 1510260062), Garziglia said. Like the 250-mile waiver window, that window was created by FCC AM revitalization efforts. AM stations that participate in that window would get permission to build their own translators rather than buy an existing one, which makes it an attractive option for stations with less cash on hand now, Garziglia said. A station waiting for that window will have to go longer without an AM station than they would if they relocated a translator now. As prices in the window fell, that math began to favor getting a translator now for many stations, Garziglia said. “These translator moves have been very successful for many AM stations, giving them an opportunity to put their programming on an FM channel in their market for the first time,” said Wilkinson Barker's David Oxenford in a blog post on the closing window.
An FM translator's benefits for an AM station go beyond the number of listeners it may add to an audience, Garziglia said. As more AM stations get translators, the available space for them gets smaller, meaning some bought in the latter portion of the window may not have large contours, he said. An AM station that also can broadcast in FM is much more attractive to advertisers, he said. Though Garziglia said the numbers don't always bear it out, advertisers often believe an AM-only signal won't reach enough listeners to make ads viable. Being able to show an FM signal quickly adds to a station's ad revenue, he said. The expense of adding an FM translator “quickly pays off,” Garziglia said.