TORONTO — The co-founders of Renfrew, Ont.-based My Broadcasting Corp. have received approval from the FCC to obtain the 80% interest in the licensee of a Cape Vincent, N.Y., radio station held by three shareholders — a decision that will make this Upstate New York FM serving Kingston, Ont., wholly owned by a Canadian broadcasting company.
At the end of 2022, Jon Pole and Andrew Dickson, who formed and lead My Broadcasting, signed off on an asset purchase agreement giving them 100% of the stock in Border International Inc. held by Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting giant Rogers Sports & Media.
Rogers’ holdings in the licensee was maxed out at 20%, given its status as a Canadian owner. In January 2023, Pole and Dickson petitioned the FCC to allow it to acquire the 80% interest in Border International held by David Mance, Jack Clancy and Craig Harris.
This would allow My to fully own WLYK-FM 102.7 “The Lake,” a station that has been serving Kingston, Ont., given the signal contour of the FM, for several years.
With regulatory approval from the FCC, this would create a new entity that would run WLYK: 123 Inc. The Commission took its time to act on the request, and in May 2023 finally decided the proposal was worthy. However, it issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that allowed the public to chime in, with Comments due June 5; the Reply Comment Date was June 20.
No one commented on the proposal. As such, the FCC gave its stamp of approval — nearly one year after the plan was put together by Pole and Dickson. The sole broker in the transaction is George Kimble of Kozacko Media Services.
Under Rogers, WLYK was Top 40 “KISS 102.7.” Under new ownership, it is Classic Hits as “Lake FM.” Rogers earned $325,000 USD from the sale of its stake in the station.
