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Vegas Translator Sells for $400K

Windy City Broadcasting sells signal to Radio Educational Network

Text has been updated to clarify the role of Fred Weinberg as the broker in the transaction.

If you had doubts about the possible value of an FM translator, consider this latest one.

A deal has been struck between Windy City Broadcasting, owned by John Bridge, and Farmworker Radio Educational Network for a translator in Las Vegas.

The buyer, which owns KYLI(FM) in Bunkerville, Nev., will use the translator to expand its coverage in the market. FREN paid $400,000 for K244EX at 96.7 MHz and is expected to relocate it to a new site at a greater height and simulcast the main KYLI signal through an HD3 multicast channel. KYLI seeks to improve on the 56 percent of coverage it says the current translator provided Las Vegas.

The buyer operates the Regional Mexican “La Campesina” in multiple western U.S. markets including Phoenix, Bakersfield, Calif., and Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash.

The announcement quotes Fred Weinberg, CEO of USA Radio Networks, who brokered the deal, talking about a trend in the city. “Similar translators have been moved to the top of the Stratosphere tower and operate with almost the field strength of a C3 station licensed to Las Vegas.” It quoted him saying negotiations are underway for several potential sites.

The announcement notes thatBridge acquired the translator for just $25,000 about two years ago. This sale is at the high end of recent translator valuations, though it doesn’t approach an earlier $1.8 million deal in Arizona.

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