RadioInsight

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VCY America To Begin LMA Of Three Stations From Stolz' Receivership

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 02:14 PM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2...-receivership/



With Judge Jesus Bernal denying Ed Stolz most recent attempt to overturn
the sale of his stations to VCY America, an LMA has been reached allowing
VCY to begin operating them.

VCY America will pay receiver Larry Patrick $5000 plus expenses per month
to begin operating the former CHRs “Rev 92.7� KREV Alameda/San Francisco,
97.7 KRCK-FM Mecca/Palm Springs, and “104.3 Now� KFRH North Las Vegas. The
LMA will run for 12 months starting on Monday, March 15 giving the deal
plenty of time to close.

Judge Bernal dismissed Stolz motion to have the receivership ended and
return the stations to him last week and that the pending sale to VCY
America should be completed. Stolz has taken his arguments that he has
successfully satisfied the terms of the ASCAP judgment to the FCC through
petitions to deny. The most recent petition is pending although precedent
is that the FCC acquiesces to court rulings in these cases.



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Delmarva's Bridge Expands Into South Jersey

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 06:17 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2...-south-jersey/



The Bridge of Hope has completed the acquisition of the former 105.5 WAIV
Cape May Court House NJ and relaunched the station this morning as part of
its Christian AC “The Bridge� heard on 88.7 WKNZ Harrington DE and 92.5
WNKZ Pocomoke City MD.

Now WNJH, the Bridge of Hope paid $65,000 to acquire the station from
Equity Communications last November. The simulcast of CHR 95.1 WAYV
Atlantic City and WAIV call letters that had been heard on 105.5 moved last
month to the former 102.3 WGBZ Cape May replacing that stations simulcast
of Rhythmic CHR 99.3 The Buzz WZBZ Pleasantville.


A Delaware-based Christian radio ministry will begin providing programming
on WNJH, 105.5 FM, covering much of Southern New Jersey, on Tuesday, March
16, 2021 at 8:00 AM.

Formerly WAIV-FM, the station was purchased by The Bridge of Hope, Inc., a
Christian media group already serving Delaware, and the Eastern Shore of
Maryland and Virginia. Known as The Bridge, the non-profit,
community-supported radio station will play contemporary Christian music
with local news, weather, events and information.

WNJH, which stands for New Jersey’s Hope, will feature 24/7 music
programming with artists including Lauren Daigle, Chris Tomlin, MercyMe,
Casting Crowns and many others. Meteorologist Pat Pagano, who has been
accurately forecasting weather for New Jersey for over three decades, is
also part of the team.

The Bridge plans to promote Christian concerts in the area, and other
events, as part of their mission to “connect people to Jesus and each
other, and strengthen their lives.�

Bill Sammons, station manager, says expansion of The Bridge into New Jersey
is a natural evolution for the ministry. “We’ve been serving Cape May and
coastal New Jersey with our original FM signal in Delaware for just over 10
years. The purchase of 105.5 FM will now give our New Jersey listeners a
much better signal and gives us the opportunity to reach hundreds of
thousands of potential new listeners.�

The Bridge is looking to partner with New Jersey churches, ministries and
non-profits. They offer a free online calendar of events and share those
listings on the radio. The Bridge organizes an annual project called Hands
Feet, which is a day of service where listeners volunteer at non-profit
organizations, and the station plans to have at least one New Jersey
location this fall.

One of The Bridge’s benchmark initiatives is The Drive Thru Connection, and
New Jersey residents will soon experience this program. The radio station
asks listeners to pay for the car behind them in the drive thru on the
first Friday of every month, and the results are incredible.

The Bridge is currently testing its new transmitter and other broadcast
equipment, and expects to launch at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, March 16th. You can
listen at 105.5 FM. The Bridge is heard around the world through online
streaming, The Bridge mobile app, and on smart speakers such as the Amazon
Echo and Google Play. Listeners tune in to three FM signals in Delaware and
Maryland. The Bridge can be found online at www.WeAreTheBridge.org



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iHeartMedia Promotes Paul Rogers To North Florida Area President Adding
Jacksonville Oversight

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 06:00 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2...lle-oversight/



Following the promotion of Nicky Sparrow last week, iHeartMedia is filling
its Jacksonville FL leadership role by merging the market into its North
Florida region with Tallahassee and Panama City.

Paul Rogers, who has led those two markets as Area President since 2017,
has been elevated to Area President for North Florida giving him oversight
of all three markets. Rogers has been with iHeartMedia/Clear Channel since
1999, serving as Jacksonville based Director of Cross-Platform Sale and
Vice President of Strategic Partnerships before rising to Region President
in 2017.

Rogers broadcast sales career dates back to the early 1980s at WLAK Chicago
before moving to Jacksonville in 1983 with nine years in multiple roles at
WCRJ/WROO, then moved to Prism Radio Partners as General Sales Manager
before moving to the same role at their Tucson AZ stations. He then worked
as a Senior Account Executive at WJXT-TV Jacksonville before joining Clear
Channel in 1999.

iHeartMedia announced today that Paul Rogers has been elevated to Area
President for North Florida, including Jacksonville, effective immediately.
iHeartMedia Jacksonville has a strong cross-platform presence and includes
a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital —
encompassing eight stations comprised of music formats in both English and
Spanish.

iHeartMedia has the leading consumer reach and influence across multiple
platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company.
As Area President, Rogers will be responsible for overseeing the newly
configured North Florida Area, including Jacksonville, Tallahassee and
Panama City. Rogers will report to Linda Byrd, Division President for
iHeartMedia. He will succeed Nicky Sparrow, who was recently named the
Senior Vice President of Multicultural Sales for iHeartMedia Markets Group.

“I’ve worked with Paul for over 35 years, in many different roles,� said
Byrd. “His integrity, judgment, professionalism and competitiveness are
what any manager would look for in a market leader. He is the perfect
choice as a successor, and I have no doubt that he will take this area to
the next level. I also want to thank Nicky for the great work she has done
in getting Jacksonville to where we are today and congratulate her on this
exciting new opportunity to expand her role in iHeartMedia.�

Rogers has been Market President for Tallahassee and Panama City since
2017, and before that served in multiple local, statewide and national
roles for iHeartMedia while based in Jacksonville for 18 years. He began
his career at WLAK-FM in Chicago and is a graduate of Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale.

“I am beyond excited by this new challenge and to be given the opportunity
to finally lead the Jacksonville market where I have spent so much of my
career and where I still have family, many dear friends, teammates and
customers,� Rogers said. “We have a strong and diverse staff, and so many
of iHeartMedia’s leaders and many of our industry’s greatest air
personalities have come from this area. But mostly, it’s a chance to once
again work with Linda Byrd, who’s been my mentor for my entire career.�




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Cumulus Divests NE Kansas Station For Topeka Move-In

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 04:30 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2...opeka-move-in/



Cumulus Media is selling 96.9 KDVB Effingham KS to Donald and Denise
Shermans Intrepid Companies for $300,000.

The deal will see Intrepid file to relocate KDVB to a tower in Hoyt KS and
upgrade from a Class A to C2 where it will serve the Topeka market. KDVB
currently simulcasts Classic Rock V100 KDVV Topeka.

Cumulus originally won the KDVB license in an FCC Auction in 2004 where it
was originally to operate on 96.7 in Humboldt NE. They applied to move it
to Effingham as a C2 in 2007 but only built out as a low powered Class A
once Cumulus cancelled its plans to move 107.7 KMAJ-FM into the Kansas City
market preventing the company from fitting KDVB within the ownership limits
in its Topeka cluster.

The buyers previously owned a cluster in Wichita KS and operated one in
Wichita Falls TX.



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Report: UK's Global Seeks FCC Approval To Increase iHeartMedia Ownership
Stake

Posted: 15 Mar 2021 07:47 PM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2...nership-stake/



Bloomberg reports that Global Media Entertainment has requested
pre-approval from the FCC to increase its ownership stake in iHeartMedia up
to 49.9%.

Michael Tabors Global Media Entertainment Investments Ltd. through its
Honeycomb Investments Ltd purchased an 8.8% stake in iHeartMedia last
month. In a regulatory filing on Monday, it said it had disclosed its plans
with iHearts counsel and that any further stock acquisition would not be
hostile in nature. iHeartMedia adopted a poison pill provision last year
that prevents any shareholder from owning more that 10% of the company
without Board of Directors approval.

This does not mean any deal is close to fruition. Liberty Media too
previously requested and was granted approval to increase its SiriusXM
Groups stake from then 4.8% up to 50%.

Ashley Tabor-King led Global Media is the largest commercial radio operator
in the United Kingdom with brands that include Capital, Heart, LBC, Classic
FM, Smooth Radio, Radio X and many digital sub-brands of each.