From 1998 to 2003, he served as an Oregon State Representative for Grants Pass and Josephine County. As of July 2020, he was back in the state house in Salem when his Grants Pass Broadcasting welcomed a Class A FM scraping the Medford market, adding it to his AM and FM already serving Grants Pass.
Now, Carl Wilson is selling the stations. But, the buyer is someone wholly familiar with the operation and will likely make very few, if any, changes.
According to an asset purchase agreement submitted for Monday (11/13) on the FCC’s LMS, Wilson’s Grants Pass Broadcasting has agreed to sell KRRM-FM 94.7 in Rogue River, KLDR-FM in Harbeck-Fruitdale, Ore., and KAJO-AM in Grants Pass, plus FM translators K259AE in Williams, Ore., K251AX in Medford, and K283AE in Cave Junction, Ore., to Brian Diatte and his wife, Shanua.
They’ll hold 50/50 ownership in the stations, effective January 2, 2024; the stock purchase agreement was executed on October 4. The transaction value also reflects the purchase the real estate associated with the stations from Wilson Brothers LLC.
That could explain the $3.03 million transaction price. To help pay for the property and the stations’ assets, a Promissory Note has been agreed upon. Monthly payments will commence in January 2024 at a value of $19,979.16, due on the 25th of each month; a 5% interest rate is in place. With one balloon payment in January 2027, the whole sum, principal and interest is considered payable in full on Christmas Day 2043.
The Diattes are 21-year veteran employees of KAJO and KLDR. Brian Diatte serves as General Manager and is a former Sales Manager who began as an account executive.
Wison’s father Jim founded KAJO in 1957. By the 1980s Carl Wilson had taken over as Station Manager, and with his help KLDR-FM was purchased in 1991. This experience helped him to become a politician.
