In late May, a recently formed entity forged in Upstate New York between Ricki Lee and Aaron Ishmael, agreed to acquire a pair of FM radio stations in the Knoxville market.
The deal has now closed, and formally transfers to the business partners assets that once belonged to the late Norm Alpert — also known for his ownership of the last big-watt “B/EZ” FM station in a top 100 market.
As RBR+TVBR first reported, Lee and Ishmael, via what is now called Saratoga Radio LLC and had been branded as “Loud Media” earlier this year, is buying WVLZ-FM 106.1 in Oliver Springs, Tenn., which has a city-grade signal over Oak Ridge, and WTNQ-FM 104.9 in La Follette, Tenn., which best reaches the northern areas of the Knoxville metropolitan area.
The sale price is $325,000, with a Promissory Note drafted by Lee and Ishmael. The note’s interest rate is believed to be at 3%. A $25,000 payment was placed in escrow.
Eddie Esserman of the St. Simons Island, Ga., office of Media Services Group served as the exclusive broker for this transaction.
The seller is Momentum Broadcasting, although the stations were placed in trust in March 2019 following the December 2018 passing of Mr. Alpert; Momentum today is led by Norm’s widow, Donna Alpert,. Saratoga has operated the duo through an LMA since July 2019, with WVLZ taking a Rock format after switching call letters from WJRV.
WTNQ is currently airing all-Christmas music as “Santa 104.9.”
For Ishmael, the Momentum duo gives him a little more momentum in eastern Tennessee. That’s because Ishmael is the head and majority interest holder in Mid-Century Radio Inc., which in September 2018 acquired WVLZ-AM 1180 and its FM translator from John Pirkle‘s Oak Ridge FM Inc. Further, Mid-Century Radio LLC, which sees Ishmael as a 20% interest holder, owns WKCE-AM in Maryville, Tenn.—a 1kw daytimer serving the town of Seymour, Tenn.
“We are extremely excited about strengthening our position in Knoxville,” Ishmael said. “[The FMs] are the perfect companions for our other two established radio stations WVLZ and WKCE.”
Alpert died on Dec. 3, 2018 in Bonita Springs, Fla., at the age of 89 and had resided in Southwest Florida since 1982. He began his broadcasting career in the late 1960s, transitioning from the media rep business in 1971 to radio station ownership. His first property: Class C WHOM-FM on Mount Washington, N.H., with coverage over northern New Hampshire, northeastern Vermont and much of Maine.
Once he moved to Southwest Florida, he built WAVV-FM 101.1 in Naples, taking it to No. 1 with a Beautiful Music format that lasted well beyond other FMs offering similar programming. He later acquired the Knoxville stations, and also owned stations in Greenville, S.C.
Norm and Donna Alpert are the parents of Dave Alpert, who exited as Entercom/Kansas City’s market manager in October and had been associated with the stations since 2007.
