WJAS being sold
November 21, 2020Dealing with other business this week, somehow I missed the RadioInsight report that WJAS (1320) is being sold to the entity known as St. Barnabas Broadcasting (yes… the nursing home organization) for $2.05 Million.
Frank Iorio’s Pittsburgh Radio Partners has owned the station since 2014 and put its FM translator (W256DE 99.1) on over the last few years. Before that it had been owned by Renda Broadcasting since 1985 as a nostalgic/standards station.
Sure enough, the application was filed earlier in the week and the sale is pending FCC approval. I don’t see why it wouldn’t happen, but there’s an owner one never thought of!
The sale will be a good deal for Iorio who paid $1 million for it when Renda sold it in 2014. The station’s main transmitter site remains on Renda (Springhill Group) property near Shuman Center. The lengthy sales agreement seems to indicate that the sale is just that and the format and staff will remain in place.
It appears that the buyer and seller at the top of the contract versus the signature pages of the contract are juxtaposed. The top has St B as they buyer, the signatures St B as the seller.
An interesting turn, and the price tag gives me hope for radio, that a station is worth that amount of money, especially if they’re renting the land or tower, a situation that’s been problematic for many stations. At 7000 watts day, I think it is the third most powerful AM station in town.
They have a good line-up of top hosts, like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and George Noory, and Bloomdaddy is the morning show, with a simulcast on WWVA in Wheeling, so I guess they’re billing well.
Boomer
SECOND most powerful in the day. When Renda had to move the sticks a few years back, they were able to raise the day power. So KHB and WJAS (originally sisters you know) basically swapped daytime power rankings.
That seems like it, I always heard that WJAS was 5 kw. I remember them as 13Q and being the strongest signal on a tiny crystal radio I got from Spencer Gifts. It had no tuner, just picked up the strongest signal in the area, which was 13Q.
I didn’t know that about 1320 and 620 being sister stations!
I hope the WJAS format does not change however some upgrades on the weekends would be welcome…I just hope 1320 does not turn into KDKA 1020 AM. The closed minded fear mongering and left leaning hosts like Chris Moore, Lynn Freeland and Mangeno are difficult to listen to on a regular basis. These hosts will angrily turn on callers who disagree with them.
Don… I seem to notice that everyone – no matter what side of the aisle they agree with – tends to do that. The listeners who agree with them are happy they hung up and those who don’t agree with them are angry when they hang up. Nothing new…
St. Barnabas has studio naming rights and provides content for the weekly Jim Roddey show airing on Beaver County’s WBVP-WMBA (1230, 1460, 99.3 translator.) Interesting their upping their radio presence.