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Not many stations being sold – and is that the new reality?  Though I do hear that lenders and banks are now getting more aggressive, asking for pay down of debt because they’re so squeezed on the real estate and credit side. That might put more stations on the block. But broker Mike Bergner says the problem is, “nobody knows what things are worth”, and he says that leads to a situation where “there will be some transactions” but “there’s no real trading market.” That’s kinda circular: just as in real estate, if there aren’t many sales in a neighborhood to compare potential deals to, the valuations for your house are going to be squishy. Which leads to potentially fewer sales (and lawn signs that change from “For Sale” to “For Rent”). It was Bergner, a couple of months ago, who said that in a certain sense, there are now stations that are “unsaleable”, because “they’re worth much more to the people who currently own them than to anybody else.” Obviously, there are still deals getting done (things may look slower partly because of the calendar: it’s Summer). And a firming up of revenues could certainly help. So could further de-regulation from Congress or the FCC, in terms of letting across-the-street competitors get bigger. But the overhang from the credit crunch will mean that debt could remain hard to find, forcing principals to put up more equity than 3-4 years ago. Again, it’s somewhat circular: there are former owners who cashed out and might return. But the price has gotta be right .
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