A little LBI Christmas (or is that Hanukkah) Cheer (Or, LBI plays swaparoo to get more stations)

We've got fans! And they write us! (gasp!) And here's what they write, just in time for Christmas! Well, okay, it came awhile ago, but we were so busy investigating, we didn't have time to post:

LBI is involved in a three-way deal which moves the call letters and format of 104.7 Palm Springs to 98.5 Cathedral City, with 104.7 moving to Redlands and ownership transferred to LBI.

The deal was approved back in January by the FCC but still hasn't been consummated, despite the FCC rule that an approved transfer of ownership must happen within 90 days.

This got our little curiosity meter a-running!

104.7 Palm Springs is none other than Oldies KDES. Our recent wisdom would suggest that Liberman has agreed to buy the station, if it can be moved into the Redlands area.

Liberman Broadcasting Corp. agreed to acquire KDES-FM from R & R Radio Corp. for $17.5 million on November 26, 2007. The deal is conditioned upon the FCC's approval of the station's relocation from Palm Springs, California, to Redlands, California, and permission for modification of the facilities of the station.

98.5 Palm Springs is KWXY, which calls itself "that different station". It's currently an easy listening/beautiful music station.

"Carmine5" notes that:

This is an interesting and complex transaction. Looking at the purchase agreements, sale of KWXY all hinges on the sale and move of KDES-FM from Palm Springs to Redlands. If that happens then R&R Radio gets 10.5 million for KDES from Liberman Broadcasting and, in turn, R&R can buy KWXY from Glen Barnett for 7.5 million (nice deal for R&R who pockets 3 million and none the transactions include any real estate).

The sticking point is the move of KDES. It looks like the entire population of Palm Springs has filed an opposition to it. And if I'm reading these agreements correctly, if Liberman can't move KDES for whatever reason then they don't buy it and KWXY doesn't get purchased.

If nothing else, it looks like Liberman is paying much more for KDES than might have first been noticed. Things have been in the works for a long time. But, who is it paying it to? Liberman knows, of course. From their own filings:

On November 9, 2007, two of our indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries, Liberman Broadcasting of California LLC and LBI Radio License LLC, entered into an asset purchase agreement with R&R Radio Corporation, as the seller, pursuant to which we have agreed to acquire selected assets of radio station KDES-FM, located in Palm Springs, California, from the seller. The selected assets include, among other things, (i) licenses and permits authorized by the FCC for or in connection with the operation of the station, (ii) transmitter and other broadcast equipment used to operate the station, and (iii) other related assets. We intend to change the programming format and the location of KDES-FM from Palm Springs, California to Redlands, California.

The aggregate purchase price will be approximately $17.5 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments, of which $0.5 million has been deposited in escrow. We will pay $10.5 million of the aggregate purchase price to the seller and $7.0 million to Spectrum Scan-Idyllwild, LLC, or Spectrum Scan. As a condition to our purchase of the assets from the seller, Liberman Broadcasting of California LLC has entered into an agreement with Spectrum Scan whereby it will pay $7.0 million to Spectrum Scan in exchange for Spectrum Scan's agreement to terminate its option to purchase KWXY-FM, located in Cathedral City, California, and Spectrum Scan's assistance in the relocation of KDES-FM from Palm Springs, California to Redlands, California. Payment to Spectrum Scan is conditioned on the completion of the purchase of the assets from the seller. If the purchase of KDES-FM is not completed, we must pay a $500,000 fee to Spectrum Scan.

Consummation of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval from the FCC, including consent to the relocation of KDES-FM from Palm Springs, California to Redlands, California, and to other customary closing conditions.

Any more clues on the timing, or the FCC rule cited by our source would be much appreciated!

Finally, while we're on the topic, another one of our fans sent us this info:

[LBI is] also in negotiation to obtain a third FM signal in the inland empire as well. They would LOVE Lazer broadcasting's 105.7, which has a CP to upgrade to 6000 watts and move to 105.5, the same frequency as KBUE.