Monroe Religious TV changes hands

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KMCT-TV, an independent religious television station serving the Monroe LA-El Dorado AR DMA from DT Channel 38, is staying under the same licensee name but getting a new layer of ownership underpinning.
Life Place Ministries is the seller, and First Assembly of God of West Monroe is the buyer. The buyer is headed by Michael S. Warren. Although both entities are listed as non-profit, the contract specifically indicates that the television station is in fact a commercial operation.


The stock sale of Louisiana Christian Broadcasting Inc. and its television assets is priced at $780K cash, and an LMA went into effect 8/31/09.

The deal is contingent on the sell-off of two low power facilities, and applications to sell both were filed with the FCC last month. They are low impact deals, with KLMB-LP El Dorado AR exiting the company in a simple debt assumption transaction, and WCBZ-LP Baton Rouge bringing in only $9K.

The seller is sitting on a possible $10K FCC fine for failure to properly account for its compliance with commercial limits during children’s programming. It has appealed for a markdown to $4K in recognition of its voluntary disclosure of the infraction and its general history of compliance, and the appeal is still pending. The seller says it will assume whatever the FCC’s final assessment is if it occurs before closing.