Radio Notes

And now, ladies and gentlemen, a little thing we like to do known as “catching up”.

• “Clear Channel” can go back to referring to a strong AM radio station. The company now formerly known as “Clear Channel Media + Entertainment” will now be called “iHeartMedia, Inc“. The outdoor advertising division will retain the “Clear Channel” name and subsidiaries like Premiere Networks, and Total Traffic and Weather Networks will retain their names. The name change brings more of a familiar feel to the general public who use the iHeartRadio app to listen to company-owned (and other) stations.
• Meanwhile, up in the State College region, it seems that everything is being sold. Last week First Media LLC, owned the Marriott (yes that Marriott) family, sold off four properties to Kristin Cantrell of Seven Mountains Media. WZWW (95.3 Bellefonte), WMRF (95.7 Lewistown) and WLAK (103.5 Huntingdon), and WIEZ (670 Lewistown). Cantrell is the daughter of Kerby Confer who owns Forever Broadcasting in turn owning several stations near State College. That was last week. This week Cantrell (still as Seven Mountains) and her mom Judith (d/b/a Southern Belle LLC) are buying three FMs from 2510 Licenses and Nick Galli. Galli being a long-time partner with Kerby Confer. These stations include WEMR (98.7 Pleasant Gap), WOWY (97.1 University Park) and WBHV-FM (94.5 State College). The down payment for this $2 million deal is $100,000 with a seller note for the remainder at 5 percent interest annually. Both companies will make $200,000 principal payments annually for the next for years. The final payment is to be made in 2019. (Thanks to Tom Taylor for the tips.)
• Moundsville, West Virginia’s WYJK (96.5) became WRQY last week with a sports/active rock format. The ratings for WYJK dropped significantly over the last year. The format change goes up against two of iHeartMedia’s Wheeling area stations – WEGW (107.5) and WBBD (1400)