Here’s more evidence that the broadcast M&A market is heating up. Journal Communications CEO Steve Smith was asked during his analyst Q&A whether the company was interested in making acquisitions. He not only said yes, but gave more detail.
Having paid down significant debt in the past year or so, Smith said Journal now has the flexibility to think about growth initiatives. “We haven’t changed the view on the preference to grow in-market and to add stations to markets where we already have a presence,” Smith said, noting that allows the company to spread risk and leverage the good management it has already.
“So, for instance, in a market that might not have television where we have a strong radio cluster, we sure would like to add television to that. And also, we’re certainly not opposed to new markets, but we would have a preference towards beginning in-market for acquisition possibilities,” the CEO explained.
Click here for the company’s Q4 financial results.
RBR-TVBR observation: We’ll save you brokers a little work. Journal has radio but no TV in Knoxville, TN; Springfield, MO; Tulsa, OK; and Wichita, KS. It has TV but no radio in Ft. Myers-Naples, FL; Green Bay, WI; Lansing, MI; Las Vegas, NV; and Palm Springs, CA.
