He’s the President of a radio broadcasting company that owns an AM radio station with an FM translator, and the former licensee of a Class C1 FM sibling offering Classic Rock programming to a small city east of Marquette, Mich.
Now, Tood Noordyk and his Great Lakes Media has agreed to hand the AM with the all-important “AM revitalization” perk at 97.7 MHz to an entity that happens to be the second-largest licensee of radio stations in the U.S.
Pending FCC approval, the new licensee of WQXO-AM 1400 in Munising, Mich., and FM translator W249DR in Munising is K-LOVE Inc.
The deal is somewhat surprising, as K-LOVE has mainly been a buyer of FM radio stations over the last several years, acquiring such storied properties as WPLJ in New York; WRQX in Washington, D.C.; and what was once “100.3 The Sound” and “Pirate Radio” in Los Angeles. However, Munising is a small municipality, and a 250-watt FM translator here provides full-market coverage — likely enticing enough for K-LOVE to spread the gospel to this locale on the shores of Lake Superior, below Grand Island.
Handling the filing for Noordyk is Cary Tepper of Tepper Law Firm; K-LOVE Inc.’s legal counsel is Paige Fronabarger with Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP.
For Noordyk, a six-year quest to retire is nearly complete. In May 2019, the longtime on-air personality in Marquette turned station owner shared his desire to conclude his time in Radio. In a deal announced by broker of record Will Cate at the Little Rock office of Media Services Group, Great Lakes Radio Inc. sold three FMs in Marquette to Charles Williams’ MediaBrew Communications for $2 million. That transaction closed on July 31, 2019.
Then, in late August 2022, WRPP, at 92.7 MHz in Manistique, Mich., and FM translator W254AG at 98.7 MHz in Escanaba, Mich. were sold by Great Lakes Media to Aurora Media. That transaction was valued at $200,000.
