Future Vision Entertainment Buys Two FM Translators for $3.5M

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, August 27, 2018

Windy City Broadcasting has sold two translators to Future Vision Entertainment, an urban format broadcaster based in Chicago, in a $3.5 million deal. The co-channel translators, W236CG and W236CF, are located atop Willis Tower and in the Elmwood Park neighborhood to support the Future Vision Entertainment's new FM station, heard locally on 95.1.

The translators have been redeployed as a MaxxCasting solution from GeoBroadcast Solutions (GBS). Using GBS' patented technology, the co-channel translator architecture effectively extends coverage to approximately 2.5 million more potential listeners. Importantly, the signal will reach many additional Nielsen Portable People Meter (PPM) encoders than what would have otherwise been possible with a single translator.

Windy City Broadcasting, the previous translator owners, sold the two translators to Future Vision Entertainment owner Lamont Watts. The signal now penetrates the entire south and southwest sides of Chicago - important target neighborhoods for Future Vision Entertainment's urban format, "Clubsteppin'". Launched 12 years ago by Watts, Clubsteppin' was previously a streaming-only radio service.

"We were confident and bullish about the effectiveness of these two translators to deliver a clear signal in these very important city neighborhoods for Future Vision Entertainment," said John Bridge, owner of Windy City Broadcasting. "We worked closely with the GBS team through the transaction to ensure that its careful software modeling would eliminate the multipath and interference concerns of using two co-channel translators. The results are quickly proving that effectiveness."

"This deal has established the signal coverage and geo-targeting requirements we sought for Clubsteppin' in Chicago, and are now reaching more than 95% of the city's African-American population," said Watts. "As the first terrestrial FM broadcast for the Clubsteppin' format, it was important to get this right from the first day. Working closely with Windy City Broadcasting and GBS has ensured that we are serving our regional audience in the best and most effective manner."