Clear Channel Sells Cluster

Clear Channel Communications Inc. of San Antonio has nearly completed the divestiture of its smaller market radio stations and the local cluster of four channels has been sold as part of the deal.
The cluster includes KKIX-FM 103.9, KIGL-FM 93.3, KEZA-FM 107.9 and KMXF-FM 101.9. The group represents some of the top stations in the fall 2006 ratings released by Arbitron Inc. Both companies are of West Palm Beach, Fla.
Clear Channel sold the four local channels to GoodRadio.TV LLC, a new venture headed by Dean Goodman, the former president and COO of ION Media Networks Inc.
ION, formerly known as Paxson Communications, was the largest radio group in Florida until 1997, when the company sold its radio and television stations to launch PAX TV.
Industry reports counted Goodman’s acquisitions from Clear Channel at about 180 stations in 36 markets and valued the group’s deals about $450 million. His LLC purchased a 12-station group in Missouri in February.
The total value of Clear Channel’s radio divestiture since the announcement of the plan last fall is estimated to be $730 million for 362 stations in 72 markets.
All of Clear Channel’s station sales were in markets outside the top 100 in the nation.
The sales are contingent upon regulatory approval, which could take 90 days. Clear Channel targeted 448 stations for divestiture in November.
Clear Channel’s initial price for the Northwest Arkansas cluster was $60 million.
The Northwest Arkansas market is ranked No. 135 in the nation by Arbitron, making it one of the largest acquired by Goodman.
Clear Channel is in the midst of a takeover bid led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. The company recently sold its television group to Providence Equity Partners Inc. for $1.2 billion.
Goodman stepped down as president and COO of ION Media after more than a decade with the company last October, accepting a $3 million payment as part of a separation agreement in a board of directors shakeup that also saw company founder Lowell Paxson leave as a condition of a settlement agreement to resolve litigation by NBC Universal.
NBCU currently has an offer to buy ION in a cash deal to acquire its group of 60 stations that reach 92 million people in 39 of the nation’s top 50 markets, including the entire top 20.