An individual who gained notoriety as the Trump for President campaign chairman for Virginia in 2016 and 2020 today claims to the third-largest independent News/Talk radio network in America. To bolster that statement, John Fredericks via his Disruptor Radio LLC, is expanding to Music City USA, and has already assumed control of a station until today known as “The Gospel.”
According to a FCC filing posted to the LMS on Monday (11/20), Disruptor Radio is paying $325,000 to Broady Media Group LLC for the right to acquire WENO-AM 760 in Nashville.
WENO is a Class D 1kw daytime-only station, with a signal that during daylight hours blankets the Nashville metropolitan area. When it is dark, however, WENO must sign off so it does not interfere with Cumulus Media’s WJR-AM in Detroit.
That didn’t stop Fredericks and his John Fredericks Media Network (JFMN) from moving forward with buying WENO.
For locals, this wasn’t much of a surprise: an LMA agreement was struck earlier this month allowing Fredericks to assume control of the station as of November 6. As such, the Gospel programming heard on WENO has relocated to AM 790 and FM 104.9, with “760 The Flame” the station’s new identity.
A $16,250 escrow deposit is being held by John C. Trent Esq. of Putbrese, Hunsaker & Trent, representing Broady. Serving as the seller’s broker in this transaction is Beth Griffin of Griffin Media Services.
For Fredericks, the legal counsel in this transaction is Davina Sashkin of Wilkinson Barker Knauer.
Entering Nashville comes following the filing of paperwork for FCC approval in March that sees Disruptor Radio adding Class D WXJX-AM 910 in Apollo, Pa., serving an area to the northeast of Pittsburgh and including Butler, Pa., and W254CH at 98.7 MHz in Latrobe, Pa.; and Class B WCNS-AM 1480 in Latrobe, Pa., and W298DH at 107.5 MHz in Latrobe, due east of Pittsburgh from Maryland Media One LLC for $435,000. These stations are being operated by JFRN via an LMA ahead of closing.
“Our Nashville acquisition gives us a base of operations in the mid-south as we expand along the spine of the Atlantic coast,” Fredericks said. “Nashville is a high-growth city and an important cultural center of our movement. We will be competing there with the biggest talk station conglomerates in the nation, including Cumulus and iHeart. We will offer Nashville listeners a dynamic alternative choice. Our combination of live talk and live major sports have built a very vibrant and loyal audience across our platforms.”
Fredericks hosts a 5am-9am Central program across his network, while Stephen K. Bannon — the White House’s chief strategist in the Trump administration for its first seven months — hosts the War Room program, which debuted on JFRN in October 2019.
“War Room looks forward to doing its role in igniting a new cultural Renaissance that emanates from this great city’s entertainment industry built upon Christian and American Values,” Bannon said.
For John Fredericks, he credits Anne Fredericks, President and Chief Operating Officer of the network, as the primary architect of building the privately held company from “an obscure morning radio show in Norfolk” in 2012. “Our growth and success is based on a relentless desire to serve our listeners and our advertisers,” she said.
