San Diego Radio: Local Media Snags KFMB Stations At Bargain Price

Broadcast and digital media company Tegna Inc. has made a deal to sell Talk KFMB 760 AM and Adult Hits KFMB 100.7 FM to Local Media San Diego for reported a total of $5 million.

Tegna originally acquired the two radio stations as part of its purchase of KFMB-TV from Midwest Television in February 2018.

Local Media San Diego reportedly has 30 days to wind down its use of the heritage call letters and one year to end its use of the calls “in connection with the transition of relationships with radio media buying agencies and other accounts.”

Local Tegna radio employees learned in October that Tegna was in the process of spinning off its radio stations.

Since it took over in late 2017, Tegna did not seem inclined to dedicate resources to KFMB 760 AM.  The Nielsen ratings for July/August/September, show KFMB 760 AM is in 18th place while KOGO’s is in 6th place, among all listeners.

KFMB 760 AM (5 Kw-D, 50 Kw-DA-N)

KFMB 100.7 FM (30 Kw)

Tegna was created in 2015 when it was carved out of the Gannett media empire. The Gannett company then focused on print (USA Today and other major print dailies) while the new Tegna, Inc. was made up of Gannett’s broadcast properties. Tegna continues to expand by buying up TV/radio groups. It now controls 62 TV stations in 51 markets including Houston, Dallas, Seattle, and Atlanta.

Interested  investors looking to buy KFMB 760 AM and 100.7 KFMB-FM were told to submit their offers to Tegna, which did not set minimum bidding guidelines, but insiders originally thought the value of the two KFMB radio stations would be in the $8-to-$10-million range.