Iorio Flips Butler Stations

Less than three months after its current owner closed on the purchase, the radio stations of the Butler Radio Network have been sold again.

According to the Butler Eagle, St. Barnabas Broadcasting purchased radio stations WBUT (country; AM 1050, FM 97.3), WISR (classic hits/talk; AM 680, FM 107.5) and WLER (active rock; FM 97.7) from Pittsburgh Radio Partners, which closed on its purchase of the stations from the Butler Radio Network right before Labor Day.

Pittsburgh Radio Partners – a company headed by veteran broadcaster Frank Iorio – agreed to purchase the stations for $1.8 million in July from the four principal owners of the Butler Radio Network, as three of them are at retirement age.

The Butler Radio Network, originally known as the Butler County Radio Network, was first formed in 1997 as a company headed by the late Bob Brandon and his brother Ronald C. “R.C.” Brandon, who had owned WBUT and WLER since 1978 and acquired WISR in 1997 after ownership rules limiting holdings to one FM and one AM in a single market were relaxed. The Brandons and their other shareholders gradually sold their holdings in the company over the next couple years to the four successors that would control the stations until this past September, upon its acquisition by Pittsburgh Radio Partners.

St. Barnabas Broadcasting is no stranger to the broadcasting business, having acquired Pittsburgh-based WJAS from Pittsburgh Radio Partners in January of 2021. Later that year, St. Barnabas acquired Beaver Falls-based stations WBVP (talk; AM 1230 and FM 99.3) and WMBA (talk; AM 1460 and FM 95.7) from Sound Ideas Media. LLC.

Sound Ideas Media, LLC was formed by longtime WBVP/WMBA general manager Mark Peterson and his wife Cyndi. They purchased the stations in 2014 from Iorio Broadcasting, another company headed by the Carnegie native. Peterson remained with the stations after the sale.

St. Barnabas Broadcasting is acquiring the Butler-based trio of stations for $2.55 million. J.D. Turco, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for St. Barnabas, says there are no immediate plans to change the stations’ programming or talent.