Cumulus Media, former owner of Chattanooga’s largest radio station, will soon be back in town thanks to its $2.5 billion acquisition of rival 4,000-employee Citadel Broadcasting, which controls four local stations.
The merger should be completed by the end of 2011, Cumulus indicated.
Chuck Wilkins, market manager for Citadel’s local WSKZ, WOGT and WGOW stations, said listeners wouldn’t notice any changes in the near term.
The proposed merger first has to go through an FCC review and must be approved by shareholders, he said.
“There are no other Cumulus stations in this market, so we won’t really have to worry about cases where there are too many stations and there has to be some sorting out,” he said.