The credit crunch has put a damper on the private equity deal party. So is now a good time to sell? For broadcasters, now may indeed be the time.

Take Publisher Hearst Corp., for example. The company, which owns 73 percent of Hearst-Argyle Television, on Friday offered to buy up the remaining shares in the TV broadcaster for $23.50 a share, or $600 million, through a cash tender offer. Hearst-Argyle Television owns 26 television stations across the U.S. including South Carolina’s WYFF.

Broadcast shares have in general been beaten up over the past few months - and had fallen harder than the wider market. A number of ‘for sale’ signs hanging over properties were temporarily taken down, such as Nexstar Broadcasting Group.

So with assets the cheapest they’ve been in months, opportunists could swoop in, as Hearst has done.

Hearst, which has properties including the San Francisco Chronicle and Cosmopolitan (picture from www.hearstcorp.com), is offering a premium of 15 percent over Thursday’s closing price for HTV.

Typical take-out values have been in a premium range of 22 percent to 26 percent above historical closing prices, said Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller in a research note released Monday, which would suggest a price range of $25 to $25.75 for HTV.

“Is 23.50 enough?” asks Miller in the report. He adds: “…the real issue is whether investors believe there is a significant change in the industry take-out multiples given the disruption in the credit markets and whether the majority of the outstanding shares will vote for the $23.50 offer price.”

One boost broadcasters can look forward to next year is spending by presidential hopefuls on political ads. Some think that could boost M&A if the credit markets improve.

In the letter to Hearst-Argyle’s board of directors, Hearst CEO Victor Ganzi spelt out his arguments for taking the company private:

“The competitive demands of the TV broadcasting industry and changes in the broader media industry, when balanced against the pressures on a public company to deliver short-term results, have convinced us that private ownership of Hearst-Argyle is desirable and will assist Hearst-Argyle in attaining its strategic and business objectives. At the time Hearst invested in Hearst-Argyle, we believed the availability of a public currency would enable Hearst-Argyle to grow through acquisitions, and the transaction where Hearst-Argyle acquired the Pulitzer stations would not have been possible without a public currency. The landscape has changed since that time, and we now believe that Hearst-Argyle should be privately owned. “

Another firm seen as likely for corporate parent take-out is broadcaster Cox Radio, writes Miller. Cox is 65 percent owned by Cox Enterprises, according to data supplied by the parent company. “We still believe Cox Radio is the corollary to HTV”, writes Miller, adding that he believes stocks of Lin TV, Nexstar and Cox will be lifted by Hearst’ move.

(Helicopter photograph from www.hearstargyle.com)