LOS ANGELES — In July 2019, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that the cornerstone of 95-year-old broadcast ministry Moody Bible Institute was for sale.
Now, this daytime-only AM that shares a signal with a 50kw Class A News/Talker in Cleveland has been sold. The buyer will retain, albeit adjust, the Spanish-language evangelical programming presently on the air.
Chatsworth, Calif.-based El Sembrador Ministries, a growing Hispanic Christian multimedia organization, is agreeing to purchase WMBI-AM 1110 in Chicago.
Importantly, the agreement includes an unbuilt FM translator, W292GB at 106.3 MHz.
The purchase price is $1.6 million, with an $80,000 deposit being held by Griffin Media Brokers as an escrow payment. Beth Griffin is the seller’s broker; Sandi Bergman of MyMediaBroker.com represented El Sembrador.
WMBI, which dates to 1926, is a Class D noncomm with 4,600 watts of power, using 1 tower in suburban Addison, Ill. This allows WMBI to put a city-grade signal over the entire Chicago DMA, and a quality signal over Rockford, Ill., and much of Milwaukee.
Once the sun goes down, however, WMBI must acquiesce to WTAM-AM in Cleveland, the iHeartMedia talker that predates WMBI by three years. Hence, the FM translator is essential for 24/7 over-the-air broadcasting. W292GB is licensed for 250 watts from the Addison facility.
Proceeds from the sale of the AM will be used to further the expansion of Moody Radio and Spanish-language Radio Moody. This, Greg Thornton, Senior Vice President of Media for Moody Bible Institute, said in July 2019 will be done through the addition of digital/online content, new apps in both English and Spanish, and the acquisition of “select” FM broadcast licenses.
— With reporting by Adam R Jacobson in Boca Raton, Fla.
