WEDO on auction block

The owners of McKeesport-licensed WEDO (810) have put the station up for sale, reports Tom Taylor of Radio-Info.com.

The station, which was placed into an irrevocable trust several years ago by owner Judith Baron of Florida, has been listed for sale with a Chicago-based broker, Media Services Group, for $1.75 million.

WEDO, which has studios in White Oak and a transmitter in North Versailles Township, is a 1,000-watt daytime-only station. It broadcasts a mix of ethnic and religious programs, paid infomercials and nostalgia shows.

The asking price of $1.75 million may be overly optimistic; WEDO has never appeared in the ratings in recent memory.

And as Taylor notes, Baron’s decision to sell WEDO comes as the market for radio stations has bottomed out.

Writes Taylor, “several brokers yesterday say they’re hopeful that the glass is half-full on station sales, and that things could turn around fairly soon — though one joked that in the future he’ll tell a disbelieving grandchild about selling stations for 17, even 18 times cash flow.

“That sounds like a fairy tale now, and those salad days probably aren’t coming back for a long time,” he says.

With radio audiences declining and fewer than two out of 10 listeners currently using the AM band, the most likely scenario would be for WEDO to be sold to a national religious broadcaster or one of several low-budget “networks” that run schedules of nothing but paid programming.

(Tip of the PBRTV propeller beanie to two correspondents.)