Radio and Television Transactions

After less than five months of ownership, Frank Iorio Jr. has decided to sell five broadcast facilities. The buyer? Look no further than a November 2020 deal that saw the sale of a Pittsburgh station once owned by Cecil Heftel and known for a brief time in the 1970s as "13Q."

He's a longtime broadcast media licensee based in Memphis. Until now, his holdings included a Class A Top 40 FM serving the Tupelo, Miss., listening area, and a Class C3 sibling serving Florence, Ala., with Top 40 programming. Soon, those stations will be under new ownership, pending a regulatory OK.

Vincent Castelli has agreed to acquire a trio of unbuilt low-power television stations, engineering a deal with an entity doing business as Quad Marketing Group.

It's a Fargo-based media company that owns WDAY-AM, flagship TV property WDAY-6 and The Forum newspaper serving this South Dakota city and neighboring Moorhead, Minn. Now, Forum Communications is growing by agreeing to a deal brokered by Kalil & Co.

Until now, a Class C3 FM serving Lawton, Okla., has been held by The Estate of William Richard Fritsch, administrated by Janice Fritsch. Pending regulatory approval, Chad Fox will soon be the owner of this station, branded as "The Breeze."

It's known as the home of The Telegram News, Zip Printing and "The Radio," a hub for four broadcast brands serving Southern Ohio from Jackson County, due west of Parkersburg. Soon, an AM, FM and FM translator serving a small city to the northeast of Jackson, Ohio, will be added to the mix, pending FCC approval.

With deals agreed to in October that will give it properties in Tucson and Toledo, Relevant Radio is now heading up I-75 from the banks of the Maumee River to acquire an AM with a collection of FM translators serving the Motor City and its metropolitan area.

It covers Southern New Jersey cities including Vineland and its city of license, Bridgeton, with a Class A signal at 89.3 MHz. At present, the facility has been used as a simulcast partner for an influential NPR Member station serving Philadelphia. Soon, this FM will no longer be part of the WHYY family of FM signals.

Pete Schartel has gained national attention for his decision to air a few hours of programming from Sputnik. Now, he's raised eyebrows for his decision to sell his FM translator in Kansas City to a multicultural broadcasting company founded by Mildred Carter.

He's the head of On The Go Media, and two FM radio stations are poised to go into the asset stable of this Hampton, Iowa-based broadcast company led by Shawn Dietz. The deal keeps ownership of the FM pair local.

They reside in Corona del Mar, Calif., and own a growing group of broadcast television and radio stations in markets such as Zanesville, Ohio, thanks to an April 2022 transaction. Now, Brian and Patricia Lane are adding a property in Lima, Ohio to the Marquee Broadcasting stable.

It has just 250 watts of power and uses a tower atop a hill in Shelley, Idaho, but that's plenty of output to cover all of Idaho Falls for this FM translator. As such, it has value to Sandhill Media Group, which has just filed paperwork with the Commission seeking approval of a deal to buy it from a non-profit broadcast ministry.

In 2021, a deal was struck that saw University of Northwestern-St. Paul agree to acquire a 100kw Class C FM serving Rapid City, S.D., with Worship Music. However, that deal never transpired, with a non-consummation notice filed with the FCC. On November 7, another buyer stepped up. It's an entity Ed Stolz is very familiar with.

The construction permit for a low-power television station serving the largest city in the southern San Joaquin Valley of California has been sold. The buyer is the licensee led by Matt Davidge.

A Class A FM serving the Stroudsburg, Pa., area, and its FM translator boosting that signal in East Stroudsburg, are being spun to the fast-growing Keystone State radio station owner Kristin Cantrell and COO Jim Loftus.