Detroit Radio: Potential Buyer Ends WFDF Bid

Radio Disney Inc.'s sale of its Detroit station has run into static because a buyer terminated its offer after entering the contract stage, according to TheStreet.com.

The buyer, a local broadcasting company that had made a verbal offer and reached the contract stage with the Walt Disney Co. unit, decided not to pursue Detroit station WFDF 910 AM and is instead looking to purchase an AM station from CBS Radio Inc.

The unidentified buyer is seeking a station with a stronger signal and coverage than what WFDF can provide.  WFDF has 50Kw-Day, 25Kw-Night and is directional.  One market observer says the WFDF signal covers suburban areas better than the city limits and the night-time pattern is much tighter.

WFDF 910 AM (50Kw) Day Coverage

Radio Disney announced in an internal memo in August that it is divesting 23 of its 24 local radio stations so it can focus on digital broadcasting. The stations up for sale include 22 AM stations and one FM station. Bill Schutz of media brokerage firm Schutz & Co. is leading the sale process for Radio Disney, through which the company is selling its assets individually or in small groups.

The Deal reported in late October that Radio Disney was near a deal to sell its Detroit and Cleveland stations to two different local broadcasting groups, with Detroit fetching a price tag between $2 million to $3.5 million and Cleveland attracting slightly under $1 million for WWMK 1260 AM (25Kw).

The Detroit station will eventually get sold to a local broadcaster but probably for less than the Houston station. Radio Disney agreed to sell its Houston station, KMIC, to local Spanish religious broadcaster Daij Media LLC for $3.2 million and made a filing with the FCC.

Radio Disney is carrying out a difficult deal at a time when AM stations are increasingly going out of favor, said Mike Bergner of media brokerage firm Bergner & Co.