Greater Media and Nassau exchange stations WCRB will stay classical

[Tig1150]

Greater Media and Nassau Broadcasting to Exchange Stations in Boston and Philadelphia Markets;

Classical format to remain on Boston airwaves

Press Release

Greater Media and Charles River Broadcasting Sign Definitive Agreement for WCRB-FM

Boston, MA: Greater Media, Inc. and Nassau Broadcasting Partners, L.P. announced today that they have signed an exchange agreement by which Greater Media will acquire Nassau’s 97.5 FM frequency licensed to Burlington, NJ, and Nassau will acquire Greater Media’s 99.5 FM frequency licensed to Lowell, MA. Nassau will also receive cash and classical music assets including the format of WCRB FM in Boston.

In a separate transaction, Greater Media and Charles River Broadcasting Company have signed a definitive agreement for Greater Media to acquire Boston’s 102.5 WCRB-FM. All of the transactions are subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Greater Media will incorporate 97.5 FM into its Philadelphia cluster, which currently includes 93.3 WMMR-FM, 95.7 BEN FM, 102.9 WMGK-FM and Sports Talk 950/WPEN-AM. The call letters and format of the new station have not yet been determined. In Boston, Greater Media plans to move its WKLB country music format to the 102.5 frequency.

Nassau Broadcasting will incorporate 99.5 FM into its existing New England holdings including its other Massachusetts radio stations “Pixy 103” WPXC-FM in Hyannis and “Frank FM” WFQR/WFRQ-FM in Harwich Port/Mashpee. Nassau plans to continue to broadcast the WCRB classical music format in Boston on the 99.5 FM frequency with the heritage WCRB call letters. WCRB 99.5 FM will also add to Nassau’s existing classical music network of radio stations, the WBACH network that broadcasts in coastal Maine.

"We worked very hard to identify a company that would protect the classical music format in Boston,” said Peter Smyth, Greater Media's President and CEO. “I am both happy and proud that classical music will continue to have a home on the Boston airwaves. This is a great deal for all three companies, and for Boston's radio listeners and advertisers."

“Nassau has spent the last three years building a network of 37 radio stations in New England and we are extremely pleased to be able to add WCRB in Boston on its new home at 99.5 FM to our growing family of stations,” said Lou Mercatanti, Nassau’s Chairman and President. “WCRB has a heritage of broadcasting one of the premiere classical radio formats in the US and we welcome WCRB as the new flagship of our classical network of stations throughout New England.”

“We are delighted that Greater Media and Nassau Broadcasting have reached an agreement under which Nassau will continue to broadcast classical music in Boston,” added Mary L. Marshall, Chairman of the Board, Charles River Broadcasting. “We wish both companies tremendous success and would like to congratulate Peter Smyth and Lou Mercatanti for working together to achieve a great result.”

Nassau’s Mercatanti added, “This transaction is also bittersweet for us as the 97.5 FM frequency was the first radio station that Nassau acquired in 1986 from local radio pioneer Herb Hobler. 97.5 FM was originally our station WPST and in anticipation of the potential to move the 97.5 frequency into Philadelphia, we migrated our heritage format of WPST to 94.5 FM in early 2005. Having the ability to create a full market Philadelphia radio station while preserving WPST in New Jersey represented a truly unique opportunity for the Company. WPST on 94.5 FM, which now has a superior New Jersey based signal, continues to lead the market both locally and regionally. We congratulate both Charles River Broadcasting on their heritage of success and Greater Media on the addition to their portfolio of 97.5 FM as a new radio station for the Philadelphia market.”

Both transactions are expected to close in the fall.

Greater Media, a family-owned company based in Braintree, Massachusetts, is the ultimate parent company of 19 AM and FM radio stations in Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The company, through its subsidiaries, also owns a modern printing plant and a group of weekly newspapers in central New Jersey, and several telecommunications towers throughout the United States.

Nassau Broadcasting, a privately held firm in Princeton, New Jersey, currently owns and/or operates 53 radio stations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine. It is the 15th largest broadcaster in the United States in terms of the number of radio stations it owns. The Company's web site is www.nassaubroadcasting.com.

Charles River Broadcasting Company owns WCRB in Boston, WFCC and WKPE on Cape Cod, WCRI and WCNX in Rhode Island, along with the World Classical Network and various real estate holdings. WCRB has been broadcasting classical music in Boston since 1950.

 

[raccoonradio]

>>expected to close in the fall.

still no exact date for switch...that's kind of a broad window. Labor Day? November? somewhere in between?
We'll have to stay tuned for when they do the big switcheroo (and having the deal "closed" isn't necessarily when the freq switch will happen, but who knows.)
.
Looks like the station GM is picking up lic. to Burlington NJ is "The Hawk", classic rock http://www.975thehawk.com/

The Philly board has a newspaper article link: "Assuming the deal meets FCC approval this fall, Greater Media should take over 97.5 in about five months" (so are we looking at a similar timetable here? will WKLB 102.5
take more than a few months to happen?)

 

[MoLarryMoLarry]

So, what happens to WFCC on Cape Cod? CRB fed FCC with most of its broadcast programming - will Nassau maintain that synergy? And while we're at it, what about WKPE? Since both FCC and KPE are in the same building, it would seem odd to have GM still owning/running KPE. Will Nassau acquire that classic rocker as well? Again, great synergy as Nassau owns the other classic rocker in the market - sorry, couldnt resist - PIXY 103.

Let's say synergy one more time......SIN-NER-GEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[JustinT]

Finally, the press release originally slated for February 1 is out!

We'll have to stay tuned for when they do the big switcheroo (and having the deal "closed" isn't necessarily when the freq switch will happen, but who knows.)

Using time-brokerages in one way or another would seem to be the only way that the whole thing could come together; as GM has to dump 99.5 before any official ownership changes can happen. Here's my guess: Geater Media will first need to set up a time-brokerage agreement with Charles River. Under the terms of the time-brokerage, GM could then move the WCRB intellectual property to 99.5 Lowell, while moving the WKLB intellectual property to 102.5 Waltham. Once the sale of 99.5 WCRB to Nassau closes, GM can then close on the acquisition of 102.5 WKLB.

Looks like the station GM is picking up lic. to Burlington NJ is "The Hawk", classic rock http://www.975thehawk.com/

The Philadelphia situation is going to be interesting: a format change is almost guaranteed as Greater already owns classic rocker WMGK. You have to wonder, could GM bring FM Talk back to the city?

And lastly, regarding Cape Cod: WCRB's World Classical Network was set to become property of Christopher Jones; if that's still the case, there shouldn't be a problem retaining the programming of WFCC for the time being. At this point, the new owners of WFCC/WKPE are yet to be announced; Nassau taking over the duo wouldn't be much of a surprise, nor would a format change at the low rated WKPE.

 

[raccoonradio]

Some may wonder why WKLB is shifting to 102.5, since they moved from 96.9 to 99.5 years ago to get a more suburban audience and give what was then smooth jazz at 99.5 a more urban/Boston signal (it later became
all-talk). Well:
They're getting some half decent ratings if the 12 + is any indication and maybe figure we city folks might embrace country
after all... and it's not just Boston but metro West, south of Boston etc.

from radioandrecords: "With the WCRB deal, Greater Media will relocate WKLB to 102.5 FM — a move that greatly increases the station's coverage to the south, toward Cape Cod and the Providence markets.

There are country fans south of Boston. Check out the Prov. ratings at radioandrecords (again, 12 +). What's #1? WCTK-FM. _Country_...
and the recent Kenny Chesney show?

>>Chesney’s show at Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium on Sunday made history: It was the top grossing single-day country music concert ever. “I don’t know about history,” Chesney said in a press release yesterday. “I just know about smiling faces and people having a good time, and there sure were a lot of ’em at Gillette Stadium.”

So to serve these fans...