LIN TV to sell low-700MHz licenses for $32.5M

PROVIDENCE – LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL), parent of local television stations WNAC and WPRI, today announced an agreement to sell 32 lower-700 megahertz licenses to Aloha Partners LP for $32.5 million in cash.
LIN TV and its affiliates create and deliver local news, community stories and entertainment programming to 9 percent of U.S. television households.
Aloha, based in Providence, says on its Web sit that it “is developing market trials to provide high-speed, wireless broadband Internet services and broadcast mobile TV and music service in several of its markets.” The company has been testing 700MHz mobile TV in Las Vegas and wireless broadband in Phoenix.
“The 700MHz spectrum is considered the optimal frequency to use for mobile TV applications because of its superior in-building penetration and its ability to cover large areas,” LIN and Aloha said in their announcement today.
Aloha already has the nation’s largest portfolio of 700MHz-spectrum licenses. The acquisition of the LIN markets will bring its holdings to more than 270 such licenses and nearly 85 percent of the Top 100 market population.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, pending regulator approval.
LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL), based in Providence, owns or operates 29 television stations and Web sites in 17 mid-sized U.S. markets. Its stations include WNAC (Fox) and WPRI (CBS) in Providence; WWLP (NBC) in Springfield, Mass.; and WTNY (ABC) and WCTX (MyNetworkTV) in the Hartford-New Haven region. Additional information is available at www.lintv.com.
To learn more about the Providence-based Aloha Partners LP, visit AlohaPartners.net.