In Salisbury, Md., a Class D facility with 1kw daytime and just 28 watts at night from 1 tower is being sold.
If the call letters sound familiar, it’s because an FM that shares this call sign was sold in an unrelated transaction just four months ago.
This deal is the lone offering in RBR+TVBR‘s TRANSACTIONS TODAY for Friday, Aug. 4.
WICO-AM 1320 is a Talk station serving Maryland’s Eastern Shore, on the Delmarva Peninsula.
In a deal valued at $50,000, Rothschild Broadcasting is selling WICO to The Voice Radio LLC, an entity led by Edwin Andrade that includes 10% owner by Ecuadorian citizen Eduardo Subia.
Could WICO be shifting from Glenn Beck to the sounds of Juan Gabriel or Bronco?
The Voice Radio is the owner of WJWL-AM 900 “La Raza” in nearby Georgetown, Del., and a simulcast could boost coverage of a format targeting a rapidly growing segment of the population — first-generation immigrants from Mexico and Central America. It’s also the owner of Class A WKDB-FM “Maxima 95.3,” a Laurel, Del., station serving Salisbury, Md., with Tropical and Latin contemporary programming targeting Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, and multi-generational Hispanics who have settled in the area.
But, The Voice Radio is also the owner of WXSH-FM 106.1 in Pocomoke City, Md., and simulcast partner WJKI-FM 103.5 in Bethany Beach, Del., which airs Classic Rock as “The Vault.” The Voice Radio also owns WZEB-FM “Power 101.7”, the hip-hop station serving the Ocean City, Md., area.
A $7,500 deposit has been made by the Voice Radio to Miller and Neely PC. The remainder will be paid at closing.
Station equipment includes 1 Harris Gates One AM transmitter and one Orban 9100A AM Optimod audio processor.
The Voice Radio is a participant in Auction 99, the one-week FM translator application window that concluded Aug. 2. Rothschild granted The Voice permission to file a CP application for a new cross-service translator to be paired with WICO.
With the sale of WICO, Rothschild will no longer hold any attributable interest in any radio station. However, it will continue to operate WAMS-FM in Newark, Md., an AOR-formatted station at 94.9 MHz, via a Time Brokerage Agreement with owner Miriam Media.
Rothschild sold its other property, WKTT-FM 97.5 in Salisbury, to Rojo Broadcasting in late February for $305,000; it was a $5,000 profit for Rothschild, which had acquired the station in 2016.
The WICO-AM transaction is not connected to the March 28 agreement between GSB Broadcasting and The Bridge of Hope, which is acquiring WICO-FM 92.5 in Pocomoke City, Md., and is taking it noncomm in a deal valued at $250,000.
