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Report: WDRQ To Be Sold

VCY purchased 103.3 in DFW from Cumulus not long ago. It would be very sad to see a station sporting the heritage WDRQ calls land in the hands of a fringe broadcaster.

I think EMF is certainly in the running, and I won't even rule out Salem or one of the Catholic broadcasters.

The question then becomes - will Cumulus look to shop WDVD? There are few synergies between WDVD and WJR.
 
The “as part of a multi-market deal” sure got my attention. Where would those be? I’m in Houston where Cumulus has a stand-alone FM (KRBE) which has been the target of speculation, though such a move would be a Richter 10 earthquake here.

I see EMF’s Air1 is on several translators in Detroit metro. Perhaps consolidating that onto a full signal?
 
MarkW said:
VCY purchased 103.3 in DFW from Cumulus not long ago. It would be very sad to see a station sporting the heritage WDRQ calls land in the hands of a fringe broadcaster.
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VCY tends to change the calls of stations it purchases, working in a reflection of the network name.
 
I wonder if the junk pile known as 93.3 in Dallas will be part of this deal?

I cannot see them ditching KRBE in Houston; that station generates strong cash flow. If that station were involved in the deal at hand, it by far would receive top billing in the rumor headline.
 
MarkW said:
I wonder if the junk pile known as 93.3 in Dallas will be part of this deal?
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If DFW is involved, that is the station that will go…but EMF would first have to solve the K-Love branding issue with Audacy’s KLUV. Speculation was flying earlier this year that Audacy would sell the DFW K-Love branding rights along with one of its DFW stations (not KLUV.)
MarkW said:
I cannot see them ditching KRBE in Houston; that station generates strong cash flow. If that station were involved in the deal at hand, it by far would receive top billing in the rumor headline.
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Maybe not enough rumbling yet. Would be a HUGE get for EMF, turning the Houston market upside down, this as we await format flips on KROI and KTHT here.
 
MarkW said:
The question then becomes - will Cumulus look to shop WDVD? There are few synergies between WDVD and WJR.
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The problem there is selling WJR. Cumulus has been stuck with a bunch of the former ABC AMs that no one wants. So they'll probably never get rid of it. My understanding is they have a national sales office in Detroit that handles automotive advertising. So unless they get a crazy offer for WDVD, I expect them to hang onto it. They can rationalize that grouping of properties in an office.
 
If I was a betting man: Cumulus sells WDRQ to EMF and trades WDVD to Audacy.

What do they get in return? Not so sure, but I would guess (some of) their Buffalo stations are in play.
 
MarkW said:
VCY purchased 103.3 in DFW from Cumulus not long ago. It would be very sad to see a station sporting the heritage WDRQ calls land in the hands of a fringe broadcaster.
Click to expand...
VCY purchased 103.3 Dallas from Disney. Cumulus had previously operated the station via LMA.
Mediafrog+ said:
Maybe not enough rumbling yet. Would be a HUGE get for EMF, turning the Houston market upside down, this as we await format flips on KROI and KTHT here.
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Don't expect Houston to be in this deal.
 
My mistake regarding KESN in north Texas. I thank you for the info.

Inside Radio purports it has "confirmed" the impending sale of WDRQ and expects closing to occur by late summer. No further info was given.

Of course, R-I broke the story first (as usual).
 
My understanding is they have a national sales office in Detroit that handles automotive advertising. So unless they get a crazy offer for WDVD, I expect them to hang onto it. They can rationalize that grouping of properties in an office.
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I agree that they are stuck with 760 WJR for the long haul. I don't think they need an FM stick in Detroit to promote automotive ad sales on a national level. One has little to do with the other, I believe. That said, I don't think they're going to be in a rush to ditch 96.3. They'll wait until they get an attractive offer for it.

Here's an interesting thought - might we see a Cumulus - Beasley marriage some day? Detroit might be the only market (unless one counts WXLO as a Boston market station) where both companies currently own stations. In all other instances that come to mind to me, the markets in which they operate are mutually exclusive.
 
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Buyer confirmed - it is Family Life Radio. They own 100 kW blowtorch WUGN in Midland, MI.

Now we know why they dumped their daytime AM and FM translators in Metro Detroit and sold them to Relevant Radio late last year. This deal evidently has been in the works for a while.

www.insideradio.com

Cumulus Media Sells WDRQ Detroit To Family Life Broadcasting System.

Continuing to part with major market signals to raise cash, Cumulus Media has cut a deal to sell “New Country 93.1” WDRQ Detroit to non-commercial religious broadcaster Family Life Broadcasting
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Terrestrial radio in America remains on its trajectory of death by a thousand cuts.
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Anyone can buy a radio station. It doesn't have to be a big corporation. Stevie Wonder owns a radio station in LA. Imagine if a musician from Detroit bought a radio station. How good would that be? I bet the sale price here is less than $8 million. Berry Gordy spends more than that on his landscaping. That's how easy it would be to improve the quality of radio.
 
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