Updated at 4:05pm Eastern
COCOA BEACH, FLA. — As RBR+TVBR first reported on September 2, a booming Top 40 station, along with its Classic Rock and Country siblings, are poised to leave the Cumulus Media stable.
Information including the price Cumulus agreed to sell the trio of FM radio stations for are now known.
MARC Media Group, led by Roger Holler, is purchasing WAOA-FM 107.1, WHKR-FM 102.7 and WROK-FM 95.9 “The Rocket,” with operation of the stations via Local Marketing Agreement coming ahead of the sale’s expected closing and regulatory approval by the FCC.
This gives MARC a five-station cluster in the Space Coast of Melbourne-Cocoa Beach-Titusville, as it acquired WSBH-FM 98.5 from the Smith family in November 2022 for $3.25 million and in November 2023 added WIXC-AM 1060 and W288DZ in Titusville, Fla., in a deal with Bruce Maduri and his Genesis Communications for $650,000.
On September 3, the “strictly confidential” asset purchase agreement was submitted to the FCC for its review and hopeful regulatory approval. In it, it is revealed that a $2,073,000 purchase price was agreed to by the parties. A $103,650 escrow deposit is being held by Frank A. Hamner P.A. The agreement was signed on August 19, with a stipulation that MARC within 45 days of that date may execute the LMA putting the stations in its operational control.
Once the deal is complete, MARC will own 22 stations — all in Florida.
Acting as MARC’s broker of record is Mark Jorgenson of Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage Inc.
MARC in February acquired a total of 9 stations, including properties in Lakeland-Winter Haven and along the Treasure Coast.
“As planned, our signals now pretty much cover a majority of the central Florida peninsula,” said MARC Chief Operating Officer Scott Miller. “We’ve remained true to our objective to bring community-focused, meaningful on-air programming to our growing listener and advertising bases. And we’re just getting started. MARC intends to provide each station with the tools needed to grow those audiences even further. We are very selective when it comes to bringing stations into the MARC fold, applying a formula we’ve fine-tuned for growth and profitability.”
WAOA in Melbourne, a 100kw Class C1 facility audible from Titusville to Sebastian, Fla., was obtained in 2001 after an aborted October 1999 sale of the FM by Gem Broadcasting to Southern Broadcast Group soured, resulting in a legal dispute that allowed Southern to sell it to Cumulus in a $9.5 million arrangement.
For 50kw Class C2 WHKR in Rockledge, Fla., reaching all of Brevard County, its history involves Capstar ownership and was acquired by Cumulus Media in 2000.
WROK, a 25kw Class C3 FM licensed to Sebastian with coverage of Indian River and south Brevard Counties, signed on as WINT-FM in 2001.
In related news, company spokesperson Lori Booker confirmed to RBR+TVBR that Zayne Rose has joined MARC Media Group to serve as General Manager of its new Melbourne-Cocoa-Titusville trio. “He brings an incredibly high level of earned respect at both the national and market levels,” Booker said of Rose, whose first priority is “the forging of two formerly competitive radio teams into one enthusiastic group of colleagues to the benefit of the community, listeners and advertisers. He’s a terrific fit into our unique culture and we look to him to guide us even further in this industry.”
