LIN Media provides services for CW KWBQ-TV & MNT KASY-TV in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe NM DMA, but it isn’t the company buying the stations – not the licenses, anyway. But the stations are being sold, and LIN will be in the picture.
The stations are the last in the portfolio of ACME Communications, which has been selling off its television interests for the past few years.
The two stations plus KWBQ satellite KRWD-TV in Roswell NM are going to Tamer Media LLC in a deal brokered by Brian Cobb’s CobbCorp. LLC, which advised the seller.
Tamer, headed by John S. Viall Jr., is getting the licenses, and LIN, which already has shared-services agreements in place with ACME’s Albuquerque holdings, is getting certain non-license assets.
The price is said to be approximately $17.3M, and is expected to close before year’s end.
LIN owns and operates CBS KRQE and Fox KASA in the DMA.
Commenting on the transaction, Doug Gealy, ACME’s Acting CEO, said, “We are delighted to be in a position to sell our remaining television stations. This proposed transaction obviously puts us in the final phase of successfully completing our process of monetizing our assets, with only our Daily Buzz operation remaining. Upon the completion of this transaction, we plan to distribute virtually all of our cash to our shareholders. In the meantime, we will continue to pursue opportunities to monetize our remaining asset.”
Viall said, “I am excited about the opportunity to enter broadcast ownership and to provide a compelling program service to the viewing public in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe marketplace.”
