The paperwork was drafted nearly a month ago, and signed on December 19, 2023. On Wednesday, a filing was made with the FCC seeking its approval of the proposal.
Once the OK is given, Educational Media Foundation — parent of the donation-based KLOVE and Air1 Christian-music networks — and iHeartMedia will have traded two FM translators between one another.
For no cash consideration, the following iHeartMedia FM translators are being assigned to EMF:
- W233AV at 94.5 MHz in Gulfport, Fla., serving the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla., market
- K251AU at 98.1 MHz in Albuquerque, N. Mex.
In exchange, EMF is assigning to iHeartMedia:
- W279AQ at 103.7 MHz in Mascoutah, Ill., serving a significant segment of the St. Louis market
- W266CJ at 101.1 MHz in Beachwood, Ohio, serving a portion of the Cleveland market’s eastern communities
The deal essentially converts a lease agreement into ownership of W279AQ for iHeartMedia, as it has been using the facility as the home of BIN: Black Information Network in St. Louis.
W266CJ, fed from adjacent-market WKDD-FM 98.1 in Akron, is presently the home of Air1 in Cleveland. This will likely change, with iHeartMedia gaining an opportunity to bring a commercial presentation to the facility. Possibilities include a second FM translator for News/Talk WTAM, allowing it to better serve Shaker Heights on the MHz band.
While iHeart readies the future for 101.1 MHz in Beachwood, Ohio, EMF is poised to gain a Pinellas County, Fla., FM with W233AV. At present, it has been a part of the WFLA NewsRadio series of FM translators boosting the venerable AM’s coverage of the Tampa Bay region. This will undoubtedly change, as EMF enters the market for the first time.
In Tampa-St. Petersburg, the major Christian broadcaster is WCIE-FM, a member of The Joy FM network that scored a 5.0 share in the December 2023 Nielsen Audio ratings.
Lastly, “98.1 The Bull” will be disappearing in New Mexico’s largest market, as EMF gains a frequency in a market where Christian radio has included KLOVE member station KQLV-FM 90.7 and Air1 Worship Music member station KQRI-FM 105.5. As such, it is unclear as to what EMF will do with the 98.1 MHz translator.
