DAYTON, OHIO — With little fanfare, two FM radio stations serving the Miami Valley officially ended their respective formats, with a change transpiring just past 12:01am Monday.
The stations, which had been operated by iHeartMedia as part of its Dayton cluster, are now licensed to a different operator.
They weren’t sold, however. The FM pair were given away as a donation by the trust that had served as its licensee for 14 years.
As RBR+TVBR first reported in May, the Aloha Station Trust — formed in June 2007 as a warehouse for radio stations licensed to iHeart predecessor Clear Channel Communications that needed divestment due to iHeart’s leveraged buyout led by Bain & Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners — ended up as the licensee of several stations.
Among them: Smooth Jazz WDSJ-FM 106.5 in Greenville, Ohio, and Top 40 WDKF-FM “Channel 94.5.” Most recently, they were Oldies WRZX “Big 106.5,” and Country WYDB “B94.5,” respectively.
Those stations’ eras in Dayton came to a halt early today (8/2), as Delmarva Educational Association officially completed its transfer of control of the stations from the trust, led by former Backyard Broadcasting head Barry Drake following the death of original trust head Jeanette Tully.
DEA, led by President Nancy Epperson and board members including Stuart Epperson Jr., the son of Salem Media Group co-founder Stuart Epperson, didn’t pay a dime for the FMs. Rather, the Trust donated the pair to DEA. The Trust reimbursed iHeartMedia for $200,000 in costs, while it will get a tax deduction for the donation of the stations’ equipment to DEA.
DEA is assuming the tower lease, with Boca Raton, Fla.-based SBA Communications.
The former WRZX now sports the WTKD-FM call letters. As predicted, it is the Dayton market’s home for “The Truth,” featuring Christian Talk & Teaching programming via The Truth Network.
For WYDB, it is now “Conservative Talk 94.5,” and asking locals via an online poll what programs they’d listen to.
WYDB signed on as WZJX-FM “94-5 X-Rock” in December 1993 under General Manager George Wymer, today an Account Executive with Streamline Publishing.
Additional reporting by Adam Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.