He’s purchased a small-town AM radio station near Atlanta and in June 2022 entered the Myrtle Beach, S.C., market. Now José Steven Lara is signing off on the acquisition of an AM with an all-important FM translator located in a community to the southeast of Raleigh.
Gorilla Broadcasting, led by Lara, is agreeing to acquire from Jimmy Johnson‘s Johnson Broadcast Ventures WMPM-AM and W232DO at 94.3 MHz in Smithfield, N.C.
WMPM is a Class D facility with 5kw daytime and 145 watts at night from 1 tower, and both the AM and FM translator focus on Smithfield.
A $220,000 purchase price has been agreed to, with Lara making a $35,000 deposit and agreeing to pay $55,000 in cash at closing. The remainder will be honored by a Promissory Note of $180,000.
WMPM presently airs a Southern Gospel format, which has been in place since Johnson agreed to purchase the station from Carl Lamm for $155,000 in late 2019.
WMPM had been silent for most of 2019, after Lamm opted to retire and take the station dark under a STA with the FCC.
