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Maranatha gets outs of radio in PA! Sells WEST!

B

blueboy

Guest
From Allaccess:

WEST/Easton, PA Sold

MARANATHA BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC. sells AC WEST-A/EASTON, PA to MATTHEW and MARY BRACCILLI's LEHIGH VALLEY BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION for $1.125 million ($50,000. cash and the remainder in a promissory note).

The seller holds onto independent WFMZ-TV/ALLENTOWN and also owns six stations in the GRAND JUNCTION, CO market; the buyer owns an interest in Spanish Tropical WHOL-A (HOLA 1600)/ALLENTOWN.

Wow! Matt Braccilli once worked as a sales guy for WFMZ FM and was considered a bit of a flake. But he buys WEST for 50 grand and a promissory note. Not bad. Wonder if it will flip to Spanish.
 
WOW! I worked with Matt too, and his wife Mary is a sweet lady. She once helped me out of a winter coat I was trapped in....no joke. The zipper was stuck & I couldn't move it enough in either direction to get enough space to get out of it. Matt was laughing so hard he couldn't even help her.
Matt is a very talented guy who brought a new level of production and jocking to T-102 in about 1990. He produced a couple of song parodies that were used on the CBS comedy service. I'll be very curious to see what Matt does with his new property. You can be assured that whatever he does will be cutting edge and unlike anything else in the Valley. His first hire will probably be Jeff "Air" Jordan. They've been joined at the hip for years. Good luck Matt!
 
that's nice a local guy makes good and the corporare monsters did not grab it up. i started my career in 1979 at whol and it was a hoot! god bless you matt in you new acquisition!!!
 
I hope Matt does the right thing and keeps the Sports on WEST. He worked in that bulding at one time under the old WLEV days, he knows how big the sports are in the Easton-Phillipsburg area and to Lafayette College. The last thing that station needs is to be a Spanish station. Tweak it of course, but please don't destroy the heritage and history of that station. Good luck Matt.
 
He will likely take it Spanish and although I won't like it, it's the right move. There's been a large increase in the Hispanic population in the Easton/Phillipsburg area, and WEST will now give him coverage over almost the entire Valley for his exclusive format. Just wish I were bi-lingual. Matt would be a good guy to work for.
 
You know, I heard Terry Rich doing traffic for the Channel 69 stations (HAWK, FRANK etc.) the other day. It makes me wonder if Maranatha is going to shift him into that position if the new owners of WEST have informed him and Maranatha of a format change. Or perhaps the new owners are going to clean house even without a format change. I guess this means that the job opening on the WFMZ web site for a radio traffic reporter is already filled.
 
Matts, a good guy, a dedicated and passionate radio head, whos done a great job w/ WHOL and its good to see him expanding out. Best of luck to you Matt, good to see ownership staying in the community, and truly serving the community as well. Hope this deal succeeds like WHOL... Hola...
 
WEST sold but will NOT flip format

From this week's Northeast Radio Watch:

Lehigh Valley, owned by Matthew Braccilli, will pay $1.125 million for WEST. Braccilli tells the local papers that he intends to keep WEST live and local (it presently runs an AC/full-service format) and will definitely keep the station's popular Italian show.
Click to expand...

That's "Festa Italiana", which airs every weekend and has a very loyal audience. If you're ever in Easton you'll find a "Festa Italiana" patio on Northampton Street next to the WEST studios.
 
Going Spanish would be a big mistake. However my sources are telling me that DIck Hammer is getting out(not good news for sports) and it would also be a big shame to lose two great talents in John and Pam Richetta. We'll see what happens here.
 
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