WMAK-TV LLC, principally owned by James L. Lockwood, is acquiring WMAK-TV from Marcus Lamb and his Word of God Fellowship. For the buyer, it will be a second station in Knoxville, and for the seller, it will be a decent return on its investment in buying the station.
The station is an indy on Channel 7. WGF, known for its Daystar Television Network, closed on its $2M acquisition back during the summer of 2009 in a Kalil & Co.-brokered deal.
The new price will be $2.9M, with a heavily back-loaded compensation package. The buyers will put $100K into escrow, pay $200K cash at closing and strike two promissory notes, one for $200K and the other for $2.45M.
The buyer is headed by James L. Lockwood, David A. Hanna, Pamela B. Lawson and James A. Stern. A number of other individuals hold an interest in the company.
The buyers already own CW Channel 20 WBXX in the Knoxville DMA, licensed to Crossville TN. They note that the acquisition will reduce the number of independent voices in the DMA from ten to nine, one more than is necessary under current FCC rules. Further, neither of the stations is among the market’s top four.
Other stations in the portfolio include WHDF-TV Huntsville AL (Florence AL); WQCW-TV Charleston-Huntington WV (Portsmouth OH); and KTEN-TV Ada OK-Sherman TX (Ada OK).
