In Canada, Shaw Communications is a major, publicly traded company that may not be able to complete its blockbuster merger with Rogers Communications over regulatory concerns about reduced competition.
In Northern Illinois and in Central Iowa, Shaw Media has been the home of “independent local news” since 1851, thanks to its collection of print publications including newspapers and magazines.
And, it is this Shaw, helmed by President/CEO John Rung, that is taking advantage of the erasure of the FCC’s media cross-ownership rule by adding six FMs, an AM and an FM translator — all in the Land of Lincoln — through an associated entity under the Shaw Local Radio Co. name.
For $1.8 million, with an additional $75,000 payment due upon certain conditions at closing, Shaw Local Radio — an Illinois corporation linked to Delaware-based Shaw Family Holdings Inc. — is acquiring the following stations:
- WGLC-FM in Mendota, Ill.
- WALS-FM in Oglesby, Ill.
- WBZG-FM in Peru, Ill.
- WIVQ-FM in Spring Valley, Ill.
- WSPL-AM, WSTQ-FM & WYYS-FM and W253BX in Streator, Ill.
The seller is Mendota Broadcasting Inc. and Laco Radio Inc., owned by the Studstill family’s Studstill Media.
The stations operate within the LaSalle-Peru, Ill., radio market, measured by Eastlan Research. Last measured in March 2022, WALS was No. 1 with its Country format, with a 10.7 share. Top 40 WIVQ ranked third with a 7.1 share, while Classic Hits WYYS was No. 4 with a 5.8 share.
LaSalle and Peru sit on the banks of the Illinois River and are bisected by Interstate 80 and Interstate 39. The small cities are a 90-minute drive from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
For Shaw, the radio properties will join AgriNews, and the News-Tribune newspaper.
A $150,000 escrow deposit has been made to the seller, which is exiting radio ownership with this transaction.
Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group served as the exclusive broker for the seller in this transaction.
