iHM Inks Strategic Station Exchange with Entercom
| RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, November 1, 2017 |
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iHeartMedia has announced a strategic station exchange with Entercom Communications across four U.S. markets. Under the agreement, iHM will acquire seven radio stations from Entercom in Boston, Seattle and Entercom will acquire ten stations from iHM in Richmond, VA and Chattanooga, TN. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
Under the agreement, WRKO-AM, WZLX-FM, WKAF-FM and WBZ-AM in Boston and KZOK-FM, KJAQ-FM and KFNQ-AM in Seattle will join iHeartMedia. Entercom will acquire WRVA-AM, WRXL-FM, WTVR-FM, WBTJ-FM, WRNL-AM and WRVQ-FM in Richmond and WKXJ-FM, WLND-FM, WRXR-FM and WUSY-FM in Chattanooga. The deal is part of Entercom's divestiture and acquisition package in connectio with the company's pending merger with CBS Radio.
"We're excited to add these stations to iHeartMedia across broadcast, digital, mobile, social and our spectrum of iHeartRadio-branded live events," said iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman. "This exchange is an opportunity for us to expand our presence and further strengthen our position in two markets-Seattle and Boston-even though we have to give up two smaller markets that have been an important part of this company. This was a difficult decision for us, but we think we arrived at the best decision for our company, and we are pleased that we'll continue to have a presence in the Richmond and Chattanooga markets through the iHeartRadio platform, Premiere Networks, the Total Traffic and Weather Network and the Virginia News Network."
Pittman added, "These markets are two of the few where we did not have a full complement of stations; now we will have a full complement in Boston and a full complement of FM stations in Seattle."
