From 1958 through much of the 2010s, New England’s African American community could turn to a 1,900-watt daytime-only AM for programming specifically tailored to this audience.
By 2011, with listening habits gravitating toward FM and digital audio opportunities, a change in focus came for the facility, with Urban One yielding control of the station to an entity that eventually acquired it in 2016.
Now, WILD-AM 1090 is being spun again. And, the owners will be making a “life changing” shift for the presently silent daytimer.
The deal’s value is a fraction of what it was once worth.
For $80,000, Blount Mascomm is gaining control of WILD in Boston.
The seller is Radio Boston Broadcasting, an entity led by James Su, with 78% owner attribution, through Universal Broadcasting Group. The remaining 22% of Radio Boston is owned by John and Greg Douglas.
That’s when WILD was clearing “China Radio International” in Boston.
That programming ceased on November 4, 2019, when WILD was taken silent “due to technical issues that occurred with the station’s transmitter.”
It still hasn’t returned to the air, and when it does, it will become the Boston component of “Life Changing Radio,” a Christian Talk and Teaching noncommercial network with stations in Providence; Portland, Me.; Manchester, N.H.; Worcester, Mass.; and in Hartford and New Haven, Conn.
Life Changing Radio is led via a 50/50 partnership by William and Deborah Blount, and they will bring WILD back to life by way of a LMA with Radio Boston.
An $8,000 deposit is being held in escrow with attorney John C. Trent Esq.
The buyer is represented by Joseph Chautin III of Hardy, Carey, Chautin & Balkin of Mandeville, La.
