Radio and Television Transactions

On Oct. 21, Paul Coates agreed to sell a pair of Texas AMs, each with FM translators associated with their facilities, to a licensee led by Managing Partner William Wachter. Now, Wachter is adding through his One Media Inc. a silent FM in a dusty stretch of southwestern Kansas. The seller is one of the radio industry's most recognizable individuals of the last 30 years.

Travel between Elmira and Binghamton, N.Y., and you'll actually slip into a small slice of Pennsylvania for a mile or two. This is where Sayre, Pa., is located, and it's the home of an AM/FM combo simulcasting as "The Choice." It's now the election of the stations' licensee to sell the stations, leaving it up to the incoming owner to decide whether or not he'll make a change.

Ravi Kapur has gained notice as the owner of a television broadcasting company that began with a low-power digital facility atop Chicago's Willis Tower and in January 2015 officially took control of KRDK-4, the former KXJB, in Fargo, N.D. Now, Kapur's Major Market Broadcasting is growing again. The seller? A 93-year-old L.A. radio station owner.

The HD3 signal associated with a Class C boomer licensed to Tucson is about to lose its FM translator companion that's been giving it a boost in this southern Arizona market. Interestingly, a veteran Hispanic media figure is grabbing the translator, and he's ready to send Toño packing.

The Fort Smith Radio Group until recently has been the home of four radio brands. One of them has offered Sports Talk programming via a Class D AM and its FM translator. Now, the company is selling the AM, the originating facility for the "Sports Hog."

Go over the state line east of Spokane, and you'll reach Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Here, a Class C1 FM has built an audience as "Today's Christian Country." Now, the people behind this FM, led by Karla Lancaster (pictured), have traveled across the country to acquire its second FM.

In Lee County, Fla., the Haitian American community has enjoyed Kreyol programming by way of a low-power FM station with a tiny 43-watt signal from the Edgewood neighborhood of Fort Myers. Now, "Radio Evolution Inter" is set to grow, thanks to the sale of a Class C3 FM and its accompanying FM translator to the south, in Collier County.

In recent months, a Class D FM translator on the commercial band has served as a local outlet for an Indianapolis-based religious broadcasting operation. Now, that programming has been cemented, as the facility is being purchased by this broadcast ministry from its present licensee.

In the San Antonio region, the Guadalupe Radio Network has mainly used a 100kw signal signal and an all-important FM translator beyond the 1604 in the fast-growing northwest side to reach evangelical Latinos. As such, it no longer needs a big AM, and it's been sold to an entity that will convert the station to commercial status.

Don't Cry: The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago is agreeing to sell a Class D AM in the Hoosier State and its unbuilt FM translator. For the buyer, it may just be a ride to Paradise City, as it adds a new vehicle for its South Asian-targeted programming. Growth may require just a little patience.

From the top of a peak overlooking Charlotte Amalie, a Class B FM serving all of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the eastern areas of Puerto Rico has been delivering religious-themed programming since 1985. Now, this "word of God" is being spun. But, will the talk and teaching programming be changing?

Barry Manilow, Carole King, The Doobie Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Fleetwood Mac, and Abba fans rejoice: A radio station that feeds an FM translator offering soft Oldies to New York's Long Island is being acquired by its LMA partner.

Its past involves a run as "Súper Estrella" under Entravision Communications ownership some 18 years ago, and as a Spanish-language religious station under its current licensee. Today, this station is operated by a South Asian media company with a presence in the UAE, via an LMA with the current owner. That LMA will soon end; outright ownership is on the way.

From the heart of the Florida Everglades, a 50kw noncommercial FM has been pumping out Christian Rock programming. However, three years ago the operators said it would be evolving to an internet-only operation. That's now happening, as this facility is being spun.

From January 24, 2018 until October 1, 2020, a Class A FM serving a slice of Illinois between Champaign and Bloomington was a Classic Rocker under the WEXG-FM call letters. So much for saluting the late Eddie Van Halen with "Running with the Devil." This station has new call letters, and is heading to a new owner with a mission to spread the Word.