WMCN License Holdings (Lenfest) has struck a deal to sell the non-spectrum assets of WMNC-TV Atlantic City (Ch. 44). IT has been submitted to the FCC, according to Kalil & Co., which brokered the deal.
WMCN, an independent UHF, was one of the stations the FCC paid to give up its spectrum in the incentive auction. WMNC said it wanted to share a channel after the auction and has submitted a construction permit to that effect. The sale, to RNN Philly License Co., includes the channel sharing agreement that will allow it to remain on the air using spectrum from another station in the market. Without that, the license would ultimately have to be turned back in to the FCC.
Related: Pai Advisor: FCC Can't Hold Another Big Spectrum Auction
The FCC has said those channel-sharings include must-carry rights and has approved non-spectrum sales of the FCC licenses and those assets that remain with winning bidders/channel sharers after the auction, which some have tabbed "zombie" stations.
The buyer, based in New York, owns TV stations in New York and Boston and produces news for three Verizon FiOS: FiOS1 News Long Island, FiOS1 News New Jersey and FiOS1News Lower Hudson Valley.
