Barry CourterNot too much was made locally of the announcement last week that Entercom/CBS Radio reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that will allow it to swap stations around the country with iHeartMedia.
This is important to you perhaps because it involves several local radio stations. WUSY-FM 100.7, WLND-FM 98.1, WKXJ-FM 103.7 and WRXR-FM 105.5 will now be owned and operated by Entercom.
These represent country, adult hits, Top 40 and mainstream rock stations, respectively, in our market.
Entercom/CBS Radio is looking to grow its footprint in the South and other markets and, as part of the deal, made similar station swaps in San Francisco, Boston and Richmond, Va. Some reports have the swap occurring as soon as next week.
While no changes have been announced to the local stations that I’m aware of, the new owners have a reputation for being aggressive, progressive and not afraid to spend a little money to get what they what. It will be interesting to watch not only what happens at those stations, but what happens at competing local stations.