Roger Holler is known across the Sunshine State for his ownership of MARC Radio. Until now, MARC operated six radio brands in the Gainesville-Ocala market and three stations in the fast-growing Space Coast region between Titusville and Melbourne.
Now, it can count five audio brands serving the Treasure Coast of Florida as owned-and-operated properties.
MARC announced late Monday that it has closed on its $6 million purchase of the following properties from Vero Beach Broadcasters:
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WTTB-AM 1490 and W298CF at 105.7 MHz in Vero Beach, branded as “NewsRadio”
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WGYL-FM 93.7 in Vero Beach, airing a Hot Adult Contemporary format
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Country WPHR-FM 94.7 in Gifford
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Adult Hits WJKD-FM 99.7 “Jack FM” in Vero Beach
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WOSN-FM 97.1 in Indian River Shores, with a gold-based Adult Contemporary presentation as “Ocean”. It is licensed to Treasure & Space Coast Radio but is commonly owned and operated with the other properties
With Anthony T. Lepore serving as the seller’s legal counsel, Mitchell Rubenstein signed off on the deal as President of VBB.
“As a Florida-based company, we’ve had our eye on this market’s potential,” said MARC Radio Chief Revenue Officer Scott Miller, “Growth is spreading north up the coast from congested Fort Lauderdale and Miami. This purchase makes sense from every possible economic angle. We’ll be making the investments necessary to serve and grow all five stations and leverage its potential to the benefit of both our listeners and advertisers. We are thoughtful and strategic in our acquisitions, focusing on stations we feel strongly will contribute to our company’s growth.”
At closing, $5 million in cash was paid. The remaining $1 million will be honored by a Promissory Note bearing 6% interest. That is payable quarterly in $100,000 installments. The note is risky: the sellers’ position in the Secured Promissory Note will be collateralized against a second lien on the assets, subordinate to no more than $4 million of bank financing if obtained by the buyer for this transaction.
According to BIA data for the market, the Vero Beach Broadcasting stations had roughly 30% of the radio revenue in the market. Of the $10 million seen in 2024 for Market No. 98, some 54% was attributed to iHeartMedia, which is the chief competitor to the stations MARC Radio is obtaining.
Serving as the seller’s broker is Mark Jorgenson of Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage.
