iHeart & Connoisseur Swap Stations
• iHeartMedia and the Aloha Trust announced a strategic station exchange with Connoisseur Media across two markets. Under the terms of the agreement, iHeartMedia will acquire seven stations from Connoisseur Media — six in Erie, PA and one in Mina, NY — and in exchange, Connoisseur Media will acquire two stations in Frederick, MD from the Aloha Trust.
According to the official paperwork, current Connoisseur Media properties — Top 40 WRTS (Star 104), Mainstream Rock WRKT (Rocket 105), Adult Hits WXBB (94.7 Bob FM), Country WTWF (93.9 The Wolf), News-Talk WJET-AM and Fox Sports affiliate WFNN-AM (1330 The Fan) in Erie and AC WLTM (95.9 Lite FM) in Mina will be acquired by iHeartMedia. In exchange, Connoisseur Media will acquire Country WFRE (99.9 Free Country) and News-Talk-Sports WFMD-AM (930 Free Talk) in Frederick from the Aloha Trust.
“iHeart is getting a remarkable team and an amazing array of brands,” said Jeffrey Warshaw, CEO of Connoisseur Media. “We have owned the stations for 13 years and have tremendous gratitude for the people of Erie. We are excited to enter the Frederick market with these legendary properties.”
Dan Lankford, Region President of iHeartMedia Allentown-Harrisburg, commented, “We’re very pleased to have the opportunity to expand our reach and establish a presence in the Erie and Mina markets. We can’t wait to add these seven amazing brands to our family of platforms, and we know that Connoisseur Media is looking forward to adding WFRE-FM and WFMD-AM to their company.” The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, subject to FCC consent and other customary closing conditions.
