TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — It’s the end of an era in Westchester County, N.Y., as the descendants of the late Bill O’Shaughnessy, who died in May 2022 at the age of 84, have agreed to sell the Class A FM licensed to New Rochelle that’s served as a home for diverse, multicultural programming.
RBR+TVBR has confirmed that Hope Media Group, the religious broadcast entity created with the merger of the parent of KSBJ in Houston with Way Media, is entering the nation’s biggest DMA with the acquisition of WVIP-FM 93.5.
WVIP’s signal reaches the segment of Westchester County to the south of 1-287, including cities such as White Plains, Ardsley, Elmsford, and Yonkers. It also covers the Bronx, Queens and the north shore of Nassau County in New York; and Bergen County, N.J.
Signing off on the sale for O’Shaughnessy’s Hudson-Westchester Radio is President David O’Shaughnessy, who is represented by Foster Garvey’s Brad Deutsch in this transaction. Hope Media Group’s legal representative in this deal is Davina Sashkin of Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP.
How much is the O’Shaughnessy family earning from the WVIP sale? A $8.15 million price tag was agreed upon. An $800,000 escrow deposit has been made.
Greg Guy of Patrick Communications served as the broker of record for Hudson-Westchester Radio, while Robert Branch was the broker of record for Hope Media Group.
Hope Media Group is led by veteran radio industry figure Tim Dukes, today the Chief Operating Officer for the Houston-based operation.
Hope Media Group’s Way FM could be a possibility for WVIP. However, given the demographics of WVIP’s coverage area, the placement of its Spanish-language religious “Vida Unida” format is highly likely.
