In November 2023, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that Mr. Steven Kushner, professionally known as Steve Kingston, had agreed to a $75,000 purchase of an Annapolis, Md.-based FM translator. Then, in January 2024, came the acquisition of WYRE-AM, a move that ushered the return of the longtime Adult Alternative WRNR brand to local airwaves.
Now, a new partner has been added to the ownership mix as Kingston has stepped aside.
As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, Kingston has departed WYRE-AM parent Cortona Media to focus on other ventures.
It marks the conclusion of a relationship with the WRNR brand that started with the former Grasonville, Md.-licensed facility at 103.1 MHz serving Annapolis, which is today WRHS-FM and a sibling to longtime non-secular operation WRBS-FM “Bright FM” in Baltimore. Kingston engineered the $1.54 million sale of WRHS (formerly WRNR-FM) and following the deal’s closing shifted WRNR to an online-only operation in late 2022.
In May 2024, following the acquisition of WYRE-AM, Kingston’s ownership stake in Cortona was reduced slightly from one-third to 30%, as the remaining two-thirds ownership held by Kirk Litton and the man professionally known in radio as Jason Kidd, a.k.a. Jason Strovel, was transferred to an entity known as Triple M Broadcasting LLC, with Kidd exiting and his shares going to FinLinSide — a 50/50 partnership between Edwin McDonnell and Tracy Donnelly.
Now, Litton is adding Jay Stevens as a partner. If that name is familiar, it is because he rose to national prominence as the Program Director of Rhythmic Top 40 WPGC-FM in Washington, D.C., at a time when its hip-hop and “Go-Go Music” ruled the Arbitron ratings, leading Stevens to label his format “Top 40 for the Nation’s Capital” at a delicate time for Contemporary Hit Radio. Following his stint overseeing the programming at WPGC, he was promoted to VP of Programming for CBS Radio, overseeing its Washington, D.C., stations and all R&B-formatted properties across the organization. In 2007, after 16 years with CBS Radio, he joined Radio One as Sr. VP of Programming, pitting him against WPGC in a role involving rival WKYS-FM. In July 2018, Stevens departed the company.
Stevens commented, “My dream has always been to own a radio station and appreciate Kirk offering me this opportunity. I still believe in live and local radio, and now have my chance with the legendary, highly respected WRNR.”
With Stevens in the ownership mix and Kingston exiting, WRNR — today at Class D WYRE’s 810 KHz daytime-only signal (to protect WGY-AM in Schenectady, N.Y., and a facility in the Bahamas) and W228ER at 93.5 MHz in Annapolis — is welcoming its first on-air personalities. For mornings, Dave Ziemer will take the mic. In afternoons, it is Neci. Both were associated with the previous incarnation of WRNR.
It marks a new chapter for a brand that was born in September 1994 under market icon Jake Einstein and his Encore Broadcasting of Maryland. Kingston, a radio industry management veteran whose resume includes roles as a SiriusXM Senior VP; Program Director of WHTZ (Z100) and, later, WXRK (92.3 K-Rock) in New York; and Asst. PD in 1980 at WPGC Radio under Scott Shannon, acquired WRNR in May 1997 for $2.3 million.
Kingston continues as CEO of Kush Connection LLC, parent of a Montclair, N.J., cannabis dispensary.
