OTA Broadcasting Grabs Palm Springs Station Pair

OTA Broadcasting has agreed to acquire KMIR-KPSE Palm Springs (CA) from
Journal Broadcast Group. The stations are NBC and MyNetworkTV
affiliates, respectively.

A subsidiary of computer pioneer Michael Dell's MSD Capital firm, OTA is headed by William Tolpegin.

Palm Springs is DMA No. 148.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is subject to regulatory approval.

Seen
as a spectrum aggregator, low-profile OTA acquired low-power WYCN,
airing in the Boston DMA, for $4.1 million earlier this year, and WLCW
Providence, a CW affiliate, for $13.75 million.

Last year's deals for OTA included pickups of WEBR in New York for $6.6 million, along with KUGB Houston for $2.3 million. 

Kalil & Co. represented the seller and Media Ventures represented the buyer.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.