The FCC has nixed a failing station waiver, sending a proposed television duopoly by the boards in Boise ID. Journal Broadcast Group’s $8M proposal to acquire CW KNIN-TV to pair with its ABC KIVI-TV is officially an undone deal. The deal was further complicated by Journal’s six-station radio cluster in Boise, but that was not why the FCC gave deal thumbs down. If said KNIN’s ratings were sufficiently unspectacular to warrant a waiver; however, Journal and seller Banks-Boise Inc. used free cash flow to justify the financial prong used to determine if a transaction is waiver worthy.
It showed losses of $109.7K in 2005, $124.9K in 2006 and $90K in 2007. However, the FCC said it finds operating cash flow to be a more reliable indicator of a station’s financial health, and those numbers were improving. The station showed a loss of only $61.9K in 2005, shaved that to a loss of $9.5K in 2006 and was in the black in 2007 with a $61.6K margin. On the basis of that sequence, the waiver request was denied.
