On the morning of August 18, 2022, fire swept through the offices and studios of an AM radio station at 540 kHz licensed for 500 watts of daytime power. It was a blazed deemed accidental, and due to failed electrical wiring in the structure’s attic.
According to a report from Draper-owned WRDE-TV’s news team, the building was a complete less and uninsured by the station’s owner, Sima Birach.
Now, Birach has sold the license to the station, which has yet to return to the air.
Pending FCC approval, Birach Broadcasting Corp. will be selling WGOP-AM 540 and FM translator W293DN at 106.5 MHz in Pocomoke City, Md., to The Waters Group.
Pocomoke City is on the Delmarva Peninsula just north of the Virginia/Maryland state line and within the Salisbury-Ocean City DMA.
And, once reconstructed, WGOP and the all-important FM translator will serve this city under Waters’ control, thanks to its $200,000 purchase of the facilities.
A $10,000 non-refundable deposit has been made to Birach, with the remaining $190,000 to be honored by a Promissory Note. It carries a 10-year term calling for monthly payments of $1,000 and 6.5% interest, with a balloon payment of $310,306.70 at the end of the 10-year term.
A Time Brokerage Agreement will allow Waters to assume operations of WGOP before the deal closes, and it will pay Birach $1,000 a month for the ability to turn the lights on at a new home.
The Waters Group is led by Roger Waters, and is based in Waldorf, Md. Waters, who is African American, notes on his LinkedIn profile that he possesses “a demonstrated history of working in the investment management industry.”
For more than 17 years, he has been associated with Maryland General Hospital as a senior bio-med specialist in medical electronics.
