Radio News

Since November 2007, following a 26-month silence due to Hurricane Katrina flood damage, WBOK-AM in New Orleans has remained a voice for African Americans. Now, its owners -- locals who also own the Los Angeles Sentinel African-American publication in Los Angeles -- are selling the venerable station.

Five months ago, a Class A FM in Michigan found itself in a tussle over its future ownership. A family trust filed an objection with the FCC against the station's transfer from its licensee to a new 50/50 partnership driven by the station's manager. "Misrepresentations" were noted by the trust. A Court Order has negated the deal proposed in August, handing this FM to a receiver.

Since 1997, Jamie McKibbin has been an ubiquitous presence in the Jackson, Mich., community thanks to his weekly outdoors show on the ESPN Radio affiliate and as GM of a group of stations he just purchased from the Goldsens. Now, McKibbin's newly formed station group is growing again.

It's hardly a surprise that auto insurance specialists dominate the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report. But, the brand that sits atop the latest report isn't necessarily the one that is one of the top spenders of 2019 on broadcast and cable media.

It's not often that Educational Media Foundation, the noncomm giant that operates sibling networks Christian Pop KLOVE and Worship Music Air1, sells a station. But, that happened in October, and the deal just closed. As a result, something also rare has occurred: an institution of higher learning is buying an FM, rather than saying goodbye to it.

The last full trading week of 2019 is underway. For those tracking radio industry stocks, two companies stick out for their strong performance as the clock winds down to 2020. For a third company, its shaky health in the second half of the year -- punctuated by a sharp drop on Monday -- is attracting the attention of industry observers and investors.

On September 9, Entercom Communications suffered what EVP/CFO Rich Schmaeling described during the media company's Q3 earnings call as a "cyberattack" that cost the company $400,000 in lost revenue. It now appears Entercom's IT services have been hit again, albeit on a much smaller scale.

The Mitten State is what some affectionately call Michigan, and in the northern part of the state is a collection of nine radio stations owned by a company led by President Ross Biederman. Now, Biederman's company is adding a 10th property to its holdings. At the same time, the seller is spinning another property to a regional institution of higher learning.

An AM/FM combo, along with an FM translator, serving a small Illinois city to the southwest of Peoria is being spun. For the buyer, it adds to an AM radio station with an FM translator with a Farm and Agricultural format serving Danville, Ill., in the eastern part of the state.

For the last several years, Brenda Egger has been known across the Rocky Mountain States for her leadership role at a group of radio stations owned by Stan Kroenke. Now, Egger has exited KSE Radio's top role in Denver and has surfaced at the nation's No. 1 owner of radio stations, becoming Region President for the Denver region.

On December 9, a House Republican from Texas who sits on the Energy & Commerce Committee introduced legislation that would require the FCC to approve, or deny, a license transfer application within six months of submission. It has two co-sponsors. Does this "modernization" effort, courtesy of a Congressman who is not seeking reelection, have any legs?

Nearly one year ago, Bruce Mittman and Jim Leven agreed to cash out of the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York by selling an AM/FM combo in Olean, N.Y., and three FMs and two AMs to the east in the Corning-Elmira, N.Y. to Seven Mountains Media. Now, Seven Mountains is growing again along the Route 17 corridor.

As RBR+TVBR first reported Dec. 17, Mary Quass' NRG Media LLC is selling three radio stations in Wisconsin to Dave Magnum's Magnum Communications. We now know how much his company is paying for WFAW, WSJY and WKCH, thanks to the filing of an asset purchase agreement with the FCC dated November 4.

Entercom has handed the SVP/Market Manager role for its Washington, D.C., station group gained from its tax-free merger with CBS Radio to its cluster VP/Director of Sales. She's a longtime cluster sales pro, and before the Reverse Morris Trust-fueled merger was Director of Integrated Sales and Special Events for CBS Radio in Washington.

The FCC on Thursday issued a series of Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture for the failure by five licensees to timely file a license renewal application for their respective radio stations.