Mississippi Pair Goes To Monte Spearman

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washcocourtMonte Spearman’s High Plains Radio Network has upped its station count up to 22 with the acquisition of a 100kw FM and a Classic Rock AM with an FM translator located along the Mississippi-Arkansas border.

High Plains is paying $500,000 for Class C1 Country WDMS-FM 100.7 and Class D Classic Rocker WGVM-AM 1260 in Greenville, Miss., in addition to W247BA, a 250-watt translator at 97.3 MHz licensed to Indianola, MS, that rebroadcasts WGVM.

The seller is ArkLaMs Radio Group, owned by Nashville-based partners Allen Schemmel, Eddie Pearson and John Padgett. With this deal, the trio will no longer hold any broadcast ownership interests.

The deal is structured to allow Spearman’s company to pay $300,000 cash at closing and for seller financing for the remaining $200,000, pending FCC approval.

WDMS’s 100kw signal can be heard in nearby cities including Cleveland, Miss., and Monticello, Ark.

As reported by RBR + TVBR on August 11, High Plains Radio has agreed to purchase KFFA-AM & FM in Helena, Ark. , from Jim and Nancy Howe for $475,000.

The coverage area of those stations is just to the north of the region in which WDMS-FM and WGVM-AM and its translator can be heard.

The acquisition of WDMS & WGVM, along with translator W247BA, marks the entry of High Plains Radio into Mississippi.

The company also owns 10 stations in the Texas cities of Plainview and Lubbock; five stations in Altus, Okla.; and three FMs in Mountain Home, Ark.

Steve Shelton, who currently serves as Manager of WDMS & WGVM, will remain in this role following the sale of the stations to Spearman’s group.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the High Plains family of stations, and we will be actively looking to acquire additional Greenville stations to fill out our market potential,” Shelton said.

Bill Cate of Media Services Group’s Little Rock office was the exclusive broker of the transaction.

Greenville, Miss. has a rich history as the “Queen City of the Mississippi Delta,” and was home to the largest Jewish community in the state until the 1970s. The often-photographed Greenville Bridge, opened in 2010, is the fourth longest cable-stayed bridge in North America.