TV station mergers & acquisitions volume fell to $7.3 billion in 2014, according to research house SNL Kagan, short of the $11.4 billion recorded in 2013 as consolidation in the sector slowed.

 According to Kagan, five large TV stations mergers worth between $684 million and $2.7 billion were tallied in 2013, but only two such deals – the largest being Media General’s $2.5 billion purchase of LIN Media – were recorded in 2014. Kagan blamed the consolidation slowdown partly on increased Federal Communications Commission regulations regarding broadcast ownership.

Overall, 145 full-power TV stations changed hands, bringing the average price per station to $49.1 million, compared to 286 full-power TV station sales for $38.9 million average in 2013, Kagan said. The average forward seller’s broadcast cash flow multiple for TV stations remained steady at 8.1 times (8.2 times in 2013).

Total broadcast M&A volume reached $8.7 billion for the year, according to Kagan, mainly fueled by a big increase (48%) in radio station deal volume. In total, 258 AM and 501 FM stations were sold, vs. 219 AM and 419 FM stations in 2013. The average price for an FM station rose from $2.0 million in 2013 to $2.5 million in 2014; average prices for AM stations rose slightly from $0.76 million to $0.86 million.

Media General, Inc. and LIN Media shareholders gave the thumbs up to their pending $1.6 billion merger in separately held meetings Monday.

Media General and LIN announced their deal in March. After certain divestitures, the combined company will own or operate 71 TV stations in 48 markets across the country, reaching 27.6 million or 24% of U.S. television households. The deal still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

After the closing, expected early next year, the combined company will keep the Media General name and will be led by LIN Media CEO Vincent Sandusky. Media General chairman J. Stewart Bryan III will continue to serve in that role. Additional board members will include Diana F. Cantor, Royal W. Carson III, H.C. Charles Diao, Dennis J. FitzSimons, Soohyung Kim, Douglas W. McCormick, John R. Muse, Wyndham Robertson and Thomas J. Sullivan. Four of the directors were designated from LIN Media and seven from Media General.

“Today’s votes were an important milestone that brings us one step closer to finalizing the merger,” Bryan said in a statement. “We are pleased by the support of our shareholders, which confirms our confidence in the significant value that this business combination will create for our investors.”

The LIN deal was one of several in the broadcast space over the past several months. Some analysts have speculated that the deal could help spark a second wave of consolidation in the sector, as smaller station groups look to bulk up to compete.

“This announcement is an important step on the critical path to ensuring the company is prepared to hit the ground running once we receive the necessary regulatory approvals,” Sandusky said in a statement. “After the merger is complete, we will have one of the strongest leadership teams in the industry. Their expertise and dedication gives me even more confidence that we will deliver on our promise to build a stronger, more efficient company that will compete effectively in the rapidly evolving media landscape.”

In what has become  a rarity in recent retransmission  consent negotiations, Mediacom Communications said Monday that it has reached retransmission consent agreements with two broadcast station groups without having to endure a blackout period.

In a terse statement, Mediacom said it reached deals with LIN Television and Vaughan Media. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The relative congeniality of the deals is a departure from 2011, when Mediacom endured a 6-week blackout of LIN stations, mainly because the two could not agree over price.   LIN owns about 43 television stations and seven digital channels in 23 markets – nine TV stations in Mediacom territory – and in March it agreed to be acquired by Media General in a deal valued at about $1.6 billion. Last month LIN agreed to divest stations in five markets to help expedite the merger, including stations included in this retrans deal – WJCL, WALA, WLUJ/WCWF and WTGS.

According to Mediacom, the LIN stations in the deal are: WALA (FOX) and WFNA (The CW) in Mobile, Ala./Pensacola, Fla.; WTHI (FOX and CBS) in Terre Haute, Ind.; WANE (CBS) in Fort Wayne, Ind.; WAVY (NBC) and WVBT (FOX) in Norfolk, Va.; WLUK (FOX) and WCWF (The CW) in Green Bay, Wis.; WOOD (NBC), WOTV (ABC) and WXSP (MyNetworkTV) in Grand Rapids, Mich.; KIMT (CBS and MyNetworkTV) in Rochester, Min./Mason City, Iowa; KSNT (NBC) and KTMJ (FOX) in Topeka, Kans.; KSNW (NBC) in Wichita, Kans.; WIAT (CBS) in Birmingham, Ala.; and WJCL in Savannah, Ga.

The Vaughan Media stations are KTKA (ABC and The CW) in Topeka, Kans. And WTGS (ABC) in Savannah, Ga.

Broadcast station M&A rose 30% in the first quarter, with total transactions valued at $3.33 billion in the first quarter, according to SNL Kagan.

The first quarter tally was driven by Media General’s plans to merge with LIN Media in a deal valued at $2.6 billion, including debt.  The 9 times forward looking cash flow valuation on that deal helped drive overall multiples in the quarter to 8.9 times cash flow in the period. Without the Media General deal, the TV multiple would have been 8.5 times, which is still 0.3 points higher than 2013's average, according to SNL Kagan.

In addition the Media General deal, other big transactions in the period included the $364 million sale of Post-Newsweek's WPLG in Miami to Berkshire Hathaway,  and the $190 million sale of nine stations from Quincy Newspapers Inc. and Sagamore Hill Broadcasting to Granite Broadcasting Corp. and Malara Broadcast Group.

According to SNL Kagan, about 107 TV stations traded hands in the period. The average TV station price in the quarter was $31.1 million.