WXLO (104.5 FM ; "104.5 XLO") is a hot adult contemporary radio station owned by Cumulus Media , licensed to Fitchburg, Massachusetts , and serving the Worcester and Boston markets. The station broadcasts on the FM band on a frequency of 104.5 MHz. The studio is located in downtown Worcester, and its main transmission tower is located in the Leominster State Forest in Leominster ; three other repeaters boost the signal on the same frequency throughout Greater Boston .
135-499: The station has been running an adult contemporary format since 1979, and the call sign WXLO was chosen in January 1984 by station management in tribute to the former New York station (which is now WEPN-FM ). In 1991, the call sign was modified to WXLO-FM when its then-sister station WFGL (960 AM) became WXLO as part of a maintenance simulcast of the FM's programming while its owners looked to sell
270-510: A hot adult contemporary format. Its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building . The station originally began operations as an experimental FM station in 1939, spun off from 710 WOR . It then became one of the first licensed commercial FM stations in 1941. Until 1965, when the FCC prohibited this practice in larger markets, the station served as an FM simulcast of WOR. At that time,
405-473: A joint sales agreement ( JSA ) or shared services agreement ( SSA ). JSAs are counted toward ownership caps for television and radio stations. In Canada, local marketing agreements between domestic stations require the consent of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), although Rogers Media has used a similar arrangement to control a U.S.-based radio station in
540-530: A 47% stake in WLYK's licensee, Border International Broadcasting. In 2022, the principal owners of My Broadcasting Corporation acquired Border International Broadcasting via 1234567 Corporation, and assumed operations in February 2023. Similarly, Entravision Communications Corporation controls XHDTV-TDT , a Tijuana , Mexico-based station owned by Televisora Alco, which operated as an English-language station serving
675-465: A JSA with Citadel Communications to handle advertising sales for the station under a revenue sharing agreement, integrating it with its cluster in nearby Buffalo, New York . In an associated agreement, the station also contracted Citadel employees to produce some of its programming. Due to the structure of this JSA, and because the aforementioned programming was overseen by local producers, the CRTC deemed that
810-622: A Sunday night reggae show with Sting International. The battle between WRKS and WBLS continued into the 1990s, but a major turning point occurred in the spring of 1994, when WQHT changed formats from dance music to primarily hip-hop by luring "Funk Master Flex" away from WRKS, who, at the time, was a fill-in DJ for "DJ Red Alert" when Red Alert was out on tour or making appearances, thus competing directly with WRKS. WRKS responded by adding "The Bomb Squad Mix Show", hosted by "The N.O." (also known as "The Native One") featuring "DJ Enuff", "DJ Ace", and "Supernatural
945-408: A border market . The increased use of sharing agreements by media companies to form consolidated , "virtual" duopolies became controversial between 2009 and 2014, especially arrangements where a company buys a television station's facilities and assets, but sells the license to an affiliated third-party "shell" corporation, who then enters into agreements with the owner of the facilities to operate
1080-483: A call letter change back to WOR-FM, but an FCC challenge from competing crosstown WRFM (now WWPR-FM ) prevented the call letter change from happening. Still, Kelly attempted to make the station the same adult contemporary format he had in Chicago. These changes did not gain any new listeners for WXLO, and ratings sank even lower. Later, Kelly adjusted the music and very slowly and gradually began mixing more disco and soul into
1215-412: A contest in which listeners had to guess the identity of six Beatles songs blended together in a sound montage. The Beatles montage was about three seconds in duration and contained one or two notes of each of the songs. They were "Hey Jude", " Got to Get You into My Life ", "Day Tripper", "Come Together", " Do You Want to Know a Secret ", and "Ticket to Ride". The station announced that the contest winner
1350-545: A digital subchannel of WABM (although the WBMA-LD simulcast was placed on WABM's subchannel instead while MyNetworkTV programming was retained on its main channel). Similarly, in Charleston, Sinclair planned to surrender WCIV's license and move its ABC affiliation and programming to WMMP. In both cases, Sinclair believed that its own stations had superior technical facilities than those of the stations it intends to surrender. Sinclair
1485-520: A format focused primarily on dance music (such as disco ) and R&B ; the format officially launched in August 1981, with the station becoming WRKS-FM, Kiss FM . The new format was immediately successful; in 1983, the station became the first in New York City to regularly play hip hop , furthering its success. For a time, WRKS-FM was New York's highest-rated radio station, and was a prominent outlet for
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#17328559266301620-544: A joint sales agreement pertaining to CHNO-FM in Sudbury , Ontario, but community interests and the lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting presented substantial evidence to the CRTC that in practice, the agreement was a de facto LMA, going significantly beyond advertising sales into program production and news-gathering. In early 2005, the CRTC ordered the agreement to cease. For a time, CKEY-FM in Fort Erie, Ontario had
1755-580: A legal duopoly, Gray proposed the sale of WAGT's broadcast spectrum during the incentive auction, and for WAGT to go silent upon completion of the deal so the company would not be running more than one of the top four stations in the market. Gray also requested special temporary authority for WAGT's signal to be replaced on its existing technical facilities and UHF channel 30 by the co-owned low-power station, WRDW-CD ; low-power stations are not subject to ownership caps and restrictions on duopolies. The FCC, however, required that Gray continue to operate WAGT as
1890-509: A majority ownership in that station's network affiliation, The CW . In March 2024, the FCC fined Nexstar and Mission $ 1.2 million and $ 612,395 respectively, and ordered Mission to sell WPIX within twelve months; the FCC found that Mission's agreements with Nexstar to operate WPIX amounted to an "unauthorized transfer of control" of the station, thus exceeding the FCC's 39% market share limit for broadcasters. Nexstar must either divest other stations so it can legally own WPIX, or Mission must sell
2025-453: A move made to spark development of FM stations as individual entities. On July 30, 1966, WOR-FM began running a freeform -based progressive rock format for most of its broadcast day, though the station continued to simulcast WOR radio's morning program Rambling with Gambling for a time afterwards. Under the leadership of legendary disc jockey Murray "the K" Kaufman , and featuring other notable disc jockeys such as Scott Muni and Rosko ,
2160-446: A new broadcasting company with Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson, and RKO appointed Charles Warfield (former general manager of WBLS) as the new general manager of WRKS. With Vinny Brown as the station's program director, WRKS became the No. 1 radio station in the largest media market in the world for six years right through the mid 1990s. By the late 1980s, however, RKO General was forced out of
2295-554: A new morning show featuring Ken "Spider" Webb and Jeff Foxx along with then-unknown Wendy Williams . (Foxx and Webb would continue on for the next several years, while Williams held various shifts on the station.) For many years, WRKS was number one in the Arbitron ratings due to its hip hop -influenced format. WRKS was also the first radio station in the United States to embrace dancehall and reggae music by adding Dahved Levy to do
2430-717: A passthrough for overflow programming, including the national ESPN Radio weekday schedule. The station's call sign changed to WEPN-FM on May 14, 2012, to match the AM call sign. YMF Media then transferred the WRKS call sign to the ESPN Radio affiliate in the Jackson, Mississippi area. In December 2021, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin -based Good Karma Brands —an operator of ESPN Radio affiliates in other markets—announced that it would acquire operational control of WEPN-FM from Disney/ESPN, with Good Karma assuming
2565-457: A purchase option that "may counter any incentive the licensee has to increase the value of the station, since the licensee may be unlikely to realize that increased value." Under the new provisions, broadcasters must demonstrate in their transaction applications as to how such deals would serve the public interest. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) – which, along with station groups such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, have disapproved of
2700-516: A request for comment on policies to address other agreements, such as shared services agreements. The prohibition on television JSAs had been proposed as early as 2004, a year after the FCC voted to treat JSAs between radio stations as duopolies. Despite this fact, broadcasting companies criticized the ban, accusing the Commission of using it as a move to encourage participation in a spectrum incentive auction then set to occur in 2015, and stating that
2835-482: A result of the FCC's scrutiny on any new station sharing agreements, on October 23, 2014, Meredith would backtrack on this plan and instead sell KASW to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, which would operate the station independently of KTVK and KPHO. Following Gannett's split into independent broadcasting and publishing companies, Tegna, Inc. —the owner of Gannett's stations following the split, bought back
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#17328559266302970-406: A seemingly separate newscast on the brokered station in the duopoly may ultimately consist of repackaged news content from the other station. Alternatively, the stations may consolidate their news programming under a single joint brand. Redundant staff members are often laid off as part of the consolidation process, and the sharing of news content reduces the number of unique editorial voices in
3105-449: A separate station through the end of the auction, and not enter into any joint sales agreements. Upon the closure of the sale, Gray unwound the shared services and joint sales agreements that Schurz had established with WJBF-TV and Media General , and replaced its previous news programs with simulcasts from WRDW. Gray also accused WJBF of "[refusing] to agree to a smooth transition of personnel [from WAGT]", as WAGT's employees fall under
3240-468: A shared services agreement established under Belo ownership, but Gannett would still handle advertising sales for the stations. In December 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice blocked Gannett from using an agreement with Sander Media to operate CBS affiliate KMOV in St. Louis alongside its own NBC station KSDK , and ordered Gannett to sell KMOV. Even though Gannett planned to operate KMOV separately from KSDK,
3375-401: A single company to own more than one full-powered television station in a given market if there are at least eight distinct station owners, and also prohibits the ownership of two or more of the four highest-rated stations (based on total day viewership) in a market. An LMA or similar agreement does not affect the ownership of the station's license, meaning that they do not require the approval of
3510-409: A single company to own two television stations in the same market in August 1999, Sinclair restructured the deal to acquire KOKH outright. In 2001, the FCC issued a $ 40,000 fine against Sinclair for illegally controlling Glencairn. In 1999, the FCC modified its media ownership rules to count LMAs formed after November 5, 1996 that cover more than 15% of the broadcast day toward the ownership limits for
3645-528: A subchannel of WISE-TV due to a reverse compensation dispute, Nexstar (ironically, given its use of similar practices in other markets) filed an antitrust lawsuit against the station's managing partner, Granite Broadcasting, arguing that it had built a monopoly on local advertising sales by having effective control of the outlets for four major networks ( ABC and MyNetworkTV on WPTA , and NBC , Fox, and The CW on WISE-TV ; owned by Malara Broadcast Group and operated under agreements by Granite). The lawsuit
3780-454: A subchannel of WSBT-TV ), in exchange for WHOI's ABC and CW affiliations, which moved to subchannels of WEEK-TV . In 2018, Quincy re-purchased WISE and KDLH, under an assertion that both stations were not within the top 4 of their respective markets. In February 2016, Gray Television acquired Schurz Communications ' stations, including Augusta, Georgia 's WAGT . As Gray could not own both WAGT and its existing CBS affiliate WRDW-TV as
3915-424: A third-party in time-buy, were widespread between the 1970s and early 1990s. These alliances gave larger broadcasters a way to expand their reach, and smaller broadcasters a means of obtaining a stable stream of revenue. In 1992, the FCC began allowing broadcasting companies to own multiple radio stations in a single market. Following these changes, local marketing agreements largely fell out of favor for radio, as it
4050-483: A two-year period beginning in 1987. Two years after WOR-TV went to MCA (and renamed WWOR-TV ), on June 26, 1989, RKO sold WRKS to the Summit Communications Group of Atlanta . Around the same time, WOR radio was sold to Buckley Broadcasting . That same year, WBLS lured on-air personality Mike Love (formerly of the original Kiss Wake-Up Club ) to their morning drive show. WRKS immediately formulated
4185-416: Is a sort of lease or time-buy . Under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, a local marketing agreement must give the company operating the station (the "senior" partner) under the agreement control over the entire facilities of the station, including the finances, personnel and programming of the station. Its original licensee (the "junior" partner) still remains legally responsible for
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4320-434: Is being billed as a " pop-up " station that would be "here... until we're not", with The TJ Show airing twice-daily during morning and afternoon drive. Local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting , a local marketing agreement ( LMA ), or local management agreement , is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it
4455-462: Is to create a "virtual duopoly", where the stations operated under the agreement are consolidated into a single entity. The operations of the stations can be streamlined for cost-effectiveness through the sharing of resources, such as facilities, advertising sales, personnel and programming. Many broadcasters that engage in the practice believe that such agreements are beneficial to the survival of television stations – especially in smaller markets, where
4590-545: The E. W. Scripps Company , Tegna Inc. , and Circle City Broadcasting. The divested stations included Tribune's New York City flagship WPIX ; the station was sold to Scripps, but with a $ 75 million option for Nexstar to buy it back between March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2021. Nexstar transferred this option to Mission Broadcasting, who subsequently exercised it in August 2020 (the following month, Scripps announced its intent to acquire Ion Media , including its New York station WPXN-TV ). In October 2022, Nexstar would acquire
4725-570: The Kiss branding, now focused on R&B. In 2012, the Kiss brand came to an end when Emmis leased the station to The Walt Disney Company under a 12-year local marketing agreement (LMA). The station switched to sports radio as WEPN-FM, the flagship of the ESPN Radio network. In 2021, the LMA was transferred to Good Karma Brands . In August 2024, the LMA with Emmis expired; as a result, WEPN-FM's programming
4860-432: The golden age of hip hop . Amid RKO General's exit from the broadcasting industry in the late-1980s, the station was sold to Atlanta-based Summit Communications Group in 1989. WRKS was, in turn, acquired by Emmis Communications in 1994, forming the first duopoly in New York City radio; prioritizing the urban contemporary format of new sister station WQHT , Emmis flipped WRKS to urban adult contemporary while maintaining
4995-507: The "major" networks, allow the broadcaster to charge higher fees for retransmission consent to television providers for carrying the stations, which could result in smaller cable companies not being able to afford the higher fees imposed. Cable television providers advocated barring sharing agreements between television stations for this particular reason. In the United States, the FCC no longer allows broadcasters to collude with one another in negotiating retransmission consent fees. Although
5130-667: The 1960s and 1970s; after 1996, the station began reintroducing current R&B back into rotation. But in 1999, WRKS switched from a classic soul-based Urban AC format to a mostly current R&B format. That same year, Frankie Crocker was hired as an announcer and a weekend DJ. The station slowly began to reintroduce rap in 2000. When WWPR-FM was launched in March 2002, the station shifted back to classic soul. In 2003, Barry Mayo briefly returned as general manager for WRKS, WQHT and jazz-formatted WQCD (now WFAN-FM ), and WRKS returned to its full-fledged Urban AC format. In April 2001, WRKS became
5265-565: The 98.7 FM frequency on August 31, 2024. GKB had made an offer to acquire WEPN-FM outright, but talks with Emmis were unproductive. The original plan was to consolidate WEPN-FM's local programming onto 1050 AM, and direct users to the ESPN New York digital platform for overflow programming. However, on August 12, 2024, GKB instead announced that it would enter into an LMA with Audacy 's 880 WCBS beginning August 26, replacing its all-news format with WEPN-FM's former programming as WHSQ . After
5400-626: The AM off, which was done in 1994. The station was reassigned the WXLO call sign by the Federal Communications Commission on June 5, 1997. WXLO is often the most listened-to adult radio station in the Worcester market. WXLO also has a substantial audience in the Boston metro area, especially the area known as MetroWest . Outside the station's hot AC format, WXLO airs specialty programming, and
5535-591: The Awesome '80s Saturday Night. WXLO also spotlights that decade of music with an annual event called the "Awesome '80s Prom". WXLO also hosts an annual Acoustic Christmas event at Mechanics Hall in Worcester that has featured artists such as Train , Guster , Lee Dewyze , Daughtry , Delta Rae , Steven Page , Gavin DeGraw , Andy Grammer , and the Goo Goo Dolls . On-air personalities include Jen Carter and Frank Foley in
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5670-536: The Department ruled the agreement to be a violation of antitrust law , as it would reduce competition for advertising sales. Following the closure of the Belo purchase, Meredith Corporation announced a deal to purchase KMOV, along with KTVK and KASW. As Meredith would have a duopoly between KTVK and its Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV , KASW was to be sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting and operated by Meredith under an LMA. As
5805-959: The FCC cannot manipulate its ownership rules without "[in] the previous four years, [fulfilling] its obligation to review [the] rule and determine whether it is in the public interest". On November 16, 2017, under the Trump administration , the FCC voted in favor of no longer having JSAs attributable to ownership. The increased scrutiny being imposed by the FCC regarding local marketing, shared services, and joint sales agreements have led to more drastic measures by broadcasting companies attempting to use them in acquisitions; in 2014, two broadcasting companies declared intents to shut acquired stations down entirely and consolidate their programming onto existing stations through multicasting, rather than attempting to use sidecars and sharing agreements or selling them to other parties that would assume full responsibility of their day-to-day operations. In May 2014, Sinclair informed
5940-531: The FCC that it was unable to find buyers for WABM or WMMP – the company's MyNetworkTV stations in Birmingham, Alabama, and Charleston, South Carolina, that it planned to sell in its purchase of Allbritton Communications. In Birmingham, the company proposed surrendering the licenses of WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV – the two full-powered satellites of ABC affiliate WBMA-LD, converting WABM into a full-powered satellite of WBMA-LD – and moving its existing MyNetworkTV programming to
6075-481: The FCC to establish, and the two stations are still legally considered separate operations from a licensing standpoint. Both Tribune Media and the Gannett Company were required to use shared services agreements as a similar loophole to take control of certain stations in their respective 2013 purchases of Local TV and Belo , as they did not have exemptions to the FCC's newspaper cross-ownership restrictions in
6210-499: The FCC updated its call letter policy to allow FM stations to have call signs similar to those used on the AM band. The station initially chose WOR-FM, but six weeks later changed it on December 14 to WBAM. In 1945 the FM band was moved to higher frequencies, and WBAM was initially reassigned to 96.5 MHz, before moving to 98.7 MHz in October 1947. WBAM changed its call sign to WOR-FM on June 13, 1948. Like most early FM stations,
6345-513: The Freestyle Fanatic". The Bomb Squad began "breaking" hot new hip-hop artists and ushering in the "Golden Era of Hip Hop". The Bomb Squad was the first hip-hop mix show in the country to play the records of The Notorious B.I.G. , Wu Tang Clan , and Mobb Deep . The Bomb Squad introduced its signature "bomb dropping" whistle sound effect as they played exclusive new hip-hop music and produced fresh remixes not heard on other urban stations across
6480-482: The Media Council of Hawaii complained to the FCC about Raycom's Hawaii News Now operation, stating that it would "directly reduce the diversity of local voices in a community by replacing independent newscasts on the brokered station with those of the brokering station." In response, the FCC stated it would begin to investigate into the matter. In 2011, after temporarily losing its Fox affiliation for WFFT-TV to
6615-457: The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council – under the condition that they would operate them independently from other stations in the market, and without the use of any sharing agreements. All six of the stations were owned by companies other than Gray, but their non-license assets are either owned by Gray, or were operated by stations now owned by Gray under agreements. Gray would operate
6750-609: The Morning Show co-host TJ Taormina. The station's on-air imaging and programming was developed in around a week, which would be automated and voice-tracked using the Radio.Cloud platform to integrate localized content. At midnight on August 31, 2024, WEPN-FM abruptly ended its ESPN Radio programming (to the point that it joined " Shut Up and Dance " by Walk the Moon already in progress) and flipped to hot adult contemporary as TJ 98.7. It
6885-587: The Morning, Laura St. James, Rick Brackett, Diana "Lady D." Steele, and Tim Brennan. On January 15, 2019, WXLO launched three boosters , in Boston (with a transmitter at the John Hancock Tower ), Lexington, and Waltham, to help improve its signal in the Greater Boston area. WEPN-FM WEPN-FM (98.7 FM , "TJ 98.7") is a radio station in New York City. Owned by Emmis Communications , it broadcasts
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#17328559266307020-556: The New York home for the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show , as Isaac Hayes chose not to renew his contract with the station; he remained for a few months to host the local segments within the program (known on the station as The Tom Joyner Morning Show with Isaac Hayes ). Joyner's first stint on WRKS lasted only two years. D. L. Hughley was brought on to host The D. L. Hughley Morning Show in July 2009. Emmis planned to syndicate
7155-561: The United States to play rap music in regular rotation. Also that year, non-R&B dance music and disco were phased out, as the station played strictly music catering mainly to an African-American audience. WBLS responded by hiring Mr. Magic to conduct a weekend rap show, which helped WBLS reach number-three in the ratings that year, beating out WRKS. Nevertheless, the station had made such strides in its first two-and-a-half years that it resulted in Barry Mayo being promoted as general manager,
7290-524: The Walt Disney Company. Inner City/YMF also moved WBLS and its AM sister station WLIB into WRKS's former office/studio space at Emmis' New York broadcast facility. The 98.7 frequency simulcast WEPN , the ESPN owned-and-operated AM station until September 7, 2012, when the AM station switched over to ESPN Deportes Radio full-time. After the closure of ESPN Deportes Radio in 2019, the AM station became
7425-484: The affected markets. Both companies have since spun out their publishing arms as independent companies; the Tribune Publishing Company and Gannett Company. Tegna , who holds the former Gannett's broadcasting and digital media properties, re-acquired the licenses for most of the affected stations following the split. On November 16, 2017, under the Trump administration , the FCC voted in favor of removing
7560-480: The affected stations under LMAs until the sales and consolidation are complete. Aside from one, most of the stations involved in these changes were related to Gray's acquisition of stations from Hoak Media . Three of these stations were immediately shut down the same day, while the remainder remained operated by Gray until the sales were completed. Gray announced buyers for the stations on August 27, 2014. The six stations affected by Gray's move included: Following
7695-561: The air for you" a DJ said on that weekend. WXLO evolved to a younger skewing Top 40 format and the "99X" moniker remained until late 1979, when it became "FM 99 WXLO". This iteration had decent ratings for a while, but by the spring of 1980, the ratings fell dramatically. RKO General phased out the Top 40 format, and brought in new program director Don Kelly from successful sister soft adult contemporary WFYR in Chicago in an attempt to duplicate that format's success on WXLO. The station at first attempted
7830-472: The approval of Sinclair's purchase of Allbritton, commissioner Ajit Pai further criticized the FCC's new policies and its endorsement of Sinclair's proposal to shut down stations to comply with them. Describing the three Allbritton stations as being "victims" of the "crackdown" against joint sales agreements, he stated regarding WCIV that "apparently the Commission believes that it is better for that station to go out of business than for Howard Stirk Holdings to own
7965-662: The arrangements were legal, Free Press president Craig Aaron stated that "the FCC shouldn't let Gannett break the rules. Media consolidation results in fewer journalists in the newsroom and fewer opinions on the airwaves. Concentrating media outlets in the hands of just a few companies benefits only the companies themselves." The deal would have given Gannett a virtual triopoly in Phoenix, consisting of its NBC station KPNX , independent station KTVK and CW affiliate KASW . In Tucson, Fox affiliate KMSB and MyNetworkTV affiliate KTTU were already operated by Raycom Media's CBS affiliate KOLD-TV under
8100-524: The ban would place them at a disadvantage during retransmission consent negotiations with pay television providers. On December 19, 2015, as a rider to the federal budget, the grace period for unwinding or modifying existing JSAs was extended to 10 years. On May 25, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit struck down the restrictions on joint sales agreements, ruling that
8235-522: The border market of San Diego . Public interest organizations have disapproved of the use of LMAs for virtual duopolies that circumvent the FCC's rules due to their effects on the broadcasting industry, particularly the results of consolidation through the irregular use of LMAs. In markets where duopolies are not legally possible, a company may elect to form one by purchasing a station's "non-license" assets (such as their physical facilities, programming rights, and other intellectual property ), and selling
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#17328559266308370-542: The broadcasting business when the FCC began revoking its licenses to its radio and television stations in New York, Boston and Los Angeles because of gross misconduct and lack of candor on the part of its corporate parent, the General Tire and Rubber Company. Having already been stripped in 1982 of its license to WNAC-TV in Boston, RKO was left with no choice but to break up its broadcasting unit. In New York City, RKO's three stations were sold to different companies during
8505-459: The brokered station may vary, for example: In February 2001, Clear Channel Communications subsidiary Citicasters was fined $ 25,000 for its use of time brokerage agreements and litigation for unlawfully controlling Youngstown , Ohio area radio station WBTJ (101.9 FM, now WYLR ); the company had also been the target of complaints for using KFJO (FM) to rebroadcast KSJO after it had nominally sold KFJO to minority-owned interests. In 2009,
8640-633: The brokering station's owner. Even still, the related joint sales and shared services agreement structures became increasingly common during the 2000s; these outsourcing agreements proliferated between 2011 and 2013, when station owners such as Sinclair and the Nexstar Broadcasting Group began expanding their portfolios by acquiring additional stations in an effort to drive scale as well as to gain leverage in retransmission consent negotiations with cable and satellite television providers. The most common use of an LMA in television broadcasting
8775-491: The call sign W2XWI. In June 1940 experimental operations were moved to 444 Madison Avenue in New York City, now operating under the call sign W2XOR. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began permitting commercial operations by FM stations in 1941, and Bamberger's New York station was included among the first authorizations made for the original FM band. The station was given the call sign W71NY, which reflected its operation at 47.1 MHz. Effective November 1, 1943,
8910-630: The case of former virtual duopolies in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania between Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate WHP-TV and Nexstar-owned CW affiliate WLYH-TV (which ended in 2015 amid Sinclair's acquisition of Allbritton Communications , which saw WHTM-TV sold to Media General to avoid conflicts with WHP, and WYLH's license sold to Howard Stirk Holdings ), and Rochester, New York between Nexstar-owned CBS affiliate WROC-TV and Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate WUHF (which ended in January 2014 after Deerfield Media acquired ABC affiliate WHAM-TV ). While not to
9045-464: The companies "effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar, which has served as the ringleader of a conspiracy to harm competition and violate the antitrust laws." Local marketing agreements are effectively prohibited under the regulations of the CRTC , which require that all broadcast undertakings be "operated in fact by the licensee itself". Rogers Media and Newcap Broadcasting maintained
9180-511: The continued operation of lower-rated and/or financially weaker stations, especially in smaller markets. In 2014 under chairman Tom Wheeler , the FCC began to increase its scrutiny regarding the use of such agreements—particularly joint sales—to evade its policies. On March 31, 2014, the commission voted to make joint sales agreements count as ownership if the senior partner sells 15% or more of advertising time for its partner, and to ban coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of
9315-526: The country. Leaning towards a younger demographic, the station formulated a new morning show featuring Wendy Williams, who was replaced by "The Native One" during her former 6 p.m.-10 p.m. weeknights shift. Based on WRKS's success, several radio stations in other markets began to use the " Kiss FM " moniker for branding the station itself or its format. In the case of WRKS, the branding was grandfathered even as Clear Channel Communications trademarked "Kiss FM" for its use on its mainstream top 40 pop stations in
9450-625: The deal in March 2014, choosing to sell WHP-TV, WMMP and WABM, and terminate an SSA with the Cunningham-owned Fox affiliate WTAT in Charleston to acquire the Allbritton-owned stations in those markets ( WCIV , WHTM-TV and WBMA-LD , while also creating a new duopoly between the ABC and CW affiliates in Birmingham), as well as foregoing any operational or financial agreements with the buyers of
9585-562: The employment of Media General due to the SSA. On February 26, 2016, Media General obtained a preliminary injunction against Gray for violating the SSA and JSA, which required that Gray return control of WAGT to Media General, and forbade Gray from selling WAGT in the spectrum incentive auction. The company accused Gray of using the spectrum auction and sale of the station to exit the agreements illegitimately, as they were to last through 2020, and apply to any future owner of WAGT. Gray attempted to block
9720-517: The expiration of the LMA, WEPN-FM's operations would be returned to Emmis; it planned to carry a music-based format on 98.7 in the interim, pending the search for a new operator or the outright sale of the station. Shortly before the expiration, Emmis would reach an agreement with syndicator United Stations Radio Networks to provide interim programming for WEPN-FM; plans were made for the programming to be anchored by The TJ Show —a United Stations-distributed show hosted by former WHTZ – Elvis Duran and
9855-432: The family of Sinclair Broadcast Group founder Julian Smith controlled 97% of Glencairn's stock assets (which remains the case under its Cunningham structure) and the company was to be paid with Sinclair stock in turn for the purchases, KOKH and Sinclair-owned WB affiliate KOCB would effectively constitute a duopoly in violation of FCC rules. The Rainbow/PUSH coalition (headed by Jesse Jackson ) filed challenges against
9990-452: The financial aspects of its "sidecar" operations, and warned that in the three aforementioned markets, "the proposed transactions would result in the elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules." It was asserted that the deal might only be legal if the affected stations were operated under shared services agreements. Sinclair restructured
10125-636: The first African-American to hold such a position in the RKO radio chain. WRKS incorporated artists such as Kurtis Blow , Whodini , Run DMC , Fat Boys , LL Cool J , and Public Enemy into the same rotation as such established acts as Ashford & Simpson , Kool and the Gang , and Gladys Knight . In 1986, Indianapolis -based Emmis Communications launched WQHT (then at 103.5 FM), which had an early emphasis on dance music, forcing WRKS and WBLS to add more dance music to their playlists again. In 1988, Mayo left to organize
10260-567: The format. In the fall of 1980, Kelly, in consultation with RKO General, decided to go after WBLS-FM 's urban audience and WKTU's Rhythmic audience by bringing in new music director Barry Mayo . Mayo, shortly before his arrival, suggested a new format for the station to Kelly and then-general manager Lee S. Simonson after he received a surprising lambasting from his idol, WBLS Program Director Frankie Crocker (who would later become his rival). Mayo would later become WXLO's program director when Kelly left to start his own consultancy. By December 1980,
10395-525: The former company's Fox affiliate in New Orleans , Louisiana , WVUE-DT ; while Louisiana Media Company retained the station's ownership and license, other assets were assumed by Raycom, which owns stations in markets adjacent to New Orleans (including Baton Rouge , Jackson , Biloxi , Lake Charles and Shreveport ) but not within New Orleans itself. Benson had received offers from Raycom and others to buy
10530-573: The four highest-rated stations in a single market would also be barred under the proposal. Wheeler also proposed an expedited process to review joint sales agreements on a case-by-case basis, granting a waiver of the rules if a broadcaster can prove a particular joint sales agreement arrangement serves the public interest. On March 12, 2014, the FCC Media Bureau released a notice that it would further analyze television station transactions that include sharing agreements, particularly those that include
10665-470: The freeform format was the first of its kind in New York City radio. Later, Muni and Rosko departed for WNEW-FM , where the same progressive format would become a huge success. Initially, the Drake-Chenault -consulted, Top 40-formatted WOR-FM played new songs but in less of a rotation than WABC , which was then New York's big Top 40 station. Some of the notable early personalities included Bill Brown (who
10800-542: The injunction by arguing that its actions were required in order to comply with the FCC's prohibition of joint sales agreements, but was denied. Media General took back control of WAGT on March 7, 2016. On March 10, 2016, FCC Deputy General Counsel David Gossett announced that the Commission would investigate Media General's actions as possibly being in violation of Section 310(d) of the Communications Act . Gossett argued that by legally blocking Gray's participation in
10935-427: The intellectual property and trademarks of WRKS, primarily the New York City market rights to "Kiss-FM". As a result, Kiss signed off on the 30th with a goodbye show featuring all of the remaining airstaff, and went off the air at midnight, with "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" by Willie Hutch being the last song on Kiss. Immediately after, ESPN Radio began broadcasting on 98.7 FM under a local marketing agreement with
11070-481: The late 1990s, largely based on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, whose "KIIS" name was trademarked by prior owner Gannett Company in 1986. In December 1994, WQHT's parent Emmis Communications took advantage of newly relaxed FCC ownership regulations and agreed to purchase WRKS from Summit, forming the market's first FM duopoly . WRKS subsequently stopped playing hip-hop and flipped to urban adult contemporary format using
11205-429: The license itself to a third-party "sidecar" company (which is often affiliated with the purchaser), which in turn, enters into an LMA or a similar agreement with the senior partner. The FCC only recognizes ownership of television stations by the ownership of their license and facility ID , and not by the ownership of these "non-license" assets; this means that the senior partner becomes the de facto owner and operator of
11340-477: The licenses for WCIV and the full-powered repeaters of WBMA-LD (WJSU and WCFT), and moving their ABC programming to Sinclair's existing stations WMMP and WABM respectively – which would shift their existing MyNetworkTV programming to digital subchannels. After nearly a year of delays, Sinclair's deal to acquire Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014. Nexstar Media Group acquired Tribune Media in 2019; to meet ownership limits, it divested 21 stations to
11475-648: The licenses to the Sander Media stations, placing them back under its full control. As part of its planned acquisition of Allbritton Communications , Sinclair originally planned to sell its existing stations in three markets – Charleston, South Carolina , Birmingham, Alabama and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – where Allbritton already owned stations, but continue to operate them under local marketing agreements. WABM and WTTO in Birmingham and WHP-TV in Harrisburg were to be sold to Deerfield Media , and WMMP in Charleston
11610-558: The majority of LMAs involve the outsourcing of one television station's operations to another, occasionally, a company may operate a station under an LMA, JSA or SSA even if it does not already own a station in that market. One example occurred in December 2013, when the Louisiana Media Company (owned by New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Hornets owner Tom Benson ) entered into a shared services agreement with Raycom Media to run
11745-440: The market, or a low-power station (which are not subject to ownership caps), and then relinquished control over the original stations by selling their licenses to third-parties, such as minority-owned broadcasters. Due to the FCC's limits on station ownership at the time (which prevented the common ownership of multiple radio stations), local marketing agreements in radio, in which a smaller station would sell its entire airtime to
11880-423: The market. This in particular is one of the caveats of pushes to ban outsourcing agreements by media consolidation critics, who also suggest that LMAs result in a decreased amount of local news coverage on the brokered station. Depending on how the outsourcing agreement is structured, as well as how the brokered station is programmed, how the stations are consolidated and the amount of news programming featured on
12015-423: The network while the acquisition pended; independent station WMYD would carry the network for the remainder of the television season, before ultimately returning to WKBD. In response to criticism of the virtual duopolies and sharing agreements, the FCC began to consider potential changes to address these loopholes. In March 2013, the Commission first tabled a proposal that would make joint sales agreements count
12150-425: The new rules on joint sales agreements, believing that they would discourage the ownership of television stations by minority-owned companies . Tom Wheeler, however, proposed the restrictions in the hopes of encouraging more women and minorities to own stations, due to the ongoing consolidation in the television industry through company mergers and sharing agreements. On March 31, 2014, the FCC voted 3–2 to approve
12285-463: The overall audience reach is considerably less than that of markets that are centered upon densely populated metropolitan areas , and the cost savings achieved through the consolidation of resources and staff may be necessary to fund a station's continued operation. Sharing agreements may also be used as a loophole to control television stations in situations where it is legally impossible to own them outright. For instance, FCC regulations only allowed
12420-450: The proposal to ban JSAs – presented a compromise proposal, in which the brokered licensee in a sharing agreement would retain control over at least 85 percent of the station's programming, maintain at least 70 percent of ad sales revenue and "maintain at least 20 percent of station value in the license itself". FCC commissioner Ajit Pai , and Gordon Smith, president of the NAB, were also opposed to
12555-449: The proposed ban on joint sales agreements and voted 5–0 to approve the proposed ban on coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of the four highest-rated stations within a given market; the JSA ban went into effect on June 19, 2014. Under the restrictions, the FCC would rule on waivers to maintain select existing JSAs within 90 days of the application's filing. The FCC also began
12690-534: The remainder of Disney's lease agreement with Emmis Communications; Emmis maintains ownership of the station's license. In the same transaction, Good Karma purchased full ownership of WEPN (AM) and ESPN Radio-owned stations in Chicago and Los Angeles from Disney. On September 19, 2023, GKB owner Craig Karmazin told the New York Post that it would not renew the LMA with Emmis when it expires and would thus relinquish
12825-507: The requirement for a market to still have eight distinct station owners in order to allow duopolies, but the prohibition of owning two of the top four stations in a market remains. Broadcasters could also collect carriage fees for the stations they operate under sharing agreements on behalf of their owner, often bundling its carriage agreements with those of stations they own outright. This could, especially in LMAs between two stations affiliated with
12960-425: The sale with the FCC, citing concerns over a single company holding two broadcast licenses in a single market and argued that Glencairn was masquerading as a separate minority-owned company (Edwards, who served as Glencairn's president, is African American ) when it was really an arm of Sinclair that the company used to gain control of the stations through LMAs. After the FCC updated its media ownership rules to allow
13095-414: The same as ownership. In January 2014 town hall meeting, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler disclosed that he planned to place more scrutiny on the use of LMA-style agreements and shell companies, stating that "there were a couple of references in a couple of recent decisions in which we've said that we're going to do things differently going forward on what were called these shell corporations." Later that month, it
13230-519: The same market, creating a legal duopoly). Sinclair's use of local marketing agreements would lead to legal issues in 1999, when Glencairn, Ltd. (since restructured as Cunningham Broadcasting ) announced that it would acquire Fox affiliate KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma from Sullivan Broadcasting; Glencairn subsequently announced plans to sell five of its 11 existing stations that were operated by Sinclair under LMAs to that company outright. As
13365-479: The same, wide extent as Sinclair and Nexstar, some broadcasters have similar business relationships with specific sidecar companies as partners for these agreements: The stations partnered through a sharing agreement may also consolidate their programming operations: local newscasts on the junior partner in the LMA, if it operated a separate news department before the LMA's formation, may be rescheduled or scaled back to prevent direct competition with newscasts airing on
13500-429: The senior partner sells 15% or more of advertising time of a competing junior partner station in the JSA; the ban applies to both existing sharing agreements under such a structure as well as pending station transactions that include a JSA. Station owners would be given a two-year grace period to unwind or modify joint sales agreements in violation of the policy; coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of
13635-412: The show, but after a dispute between Emmis and a proposed distributor over who would pay his salary, Hughley left the station and the program was cancelled on August 7, 2010. The station picked up Joyner's program again in 2011. In 2003, author and "relationship expert" Michael Baisden became host of the afternoon show, which later became syndicated nationally in January 2005. In early September 2010,
13770-472: The slogan "Smooth R&B and Classic Soul ". The shift in format resulted in notable personalities associated with the previous format, such as Wendy Williams and Red Alert, moving from WRKS to WQHT. The new sound on WRKS was introduced by the station during its annual "Twelve Days of Kiss-mas" promotion during the Christmas holiday, and was fully implemented in January 1995. Soul music legend Barry White became
13905-472: The slogan for the station, "Old School & Today's R&B", changed to "'80s, '90s & Today's R&B", which included dropping most pre-1979 titles. This would later change to "Classic Soul & Today's R&B", which would last until the station's demise in 2012. Following the death of Whitney Houston —who was born in nearby Newark, New Jersey —on February 11, 2012, WRKS dedicated the subsequent weekend to commemorating her career, including tributes by
14040-570: The spectrum auction, Media General had "[sought] injunctive relief that interferes with a licensee's ultimate control of a station". He also stated that the FCC could consider a license revocation hearing against Media General under Section 312 of the Communications Act. On March 23, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia struck down the injunction without addressing the litigation, and Gray took back control of WAGT. On July 13, 2016, Media General
14175-404: The station acting as the senior partner (the latter aspect is less common with LMAs involving only stations affiliated with one of the four largest broadcast television networks ). The stations may share news-gathering resources, but maintain separate news telecasts that are differentiated by their on-air presentation, anchors, and overall format, with varying degrees of autonomy; in these cases,
14310-401: The station and its operations, such as compliance with relevant regulations regarding content. Occasionally, a "local marketing agreement" may refer to the sharing or contracting of only certain functions, in particular advertising sales. This may also be referred to as a time brokerage agreement ( TBA ), local sales agreement ( LSA ), management services agreement ( MSA ), or most commonly,
14445-516: The station and participate in a joint sales agreement with Sinclair. I strongly disagree. And so too, I'll bet, would consumers in Charleston." In September 2014, Sinclair backtracked on its original plans, and reached deals to sell WCIV, WCFT and WJSU's license assets to Howard Stirk Holdings for $ 50,000 each and lease them studio space, pending FCC approval. Unlike Howard Stirk Holdings' other stations, they are operated and programmed independently, and Sinclair did not enter into any agreements to operate
14580-553: The station initially simulcast AM sister station WOR . Macy's/Bamberger sold the WOR stations (which launched a television station in October 1949) to the General Tire and Rubber Company in 1952. General Tire reorganized its broadcasting division into RKO General in 1957. WOR-FM simulcast its AM sister station's full service Talk/MOR format. In 1965, the Federal Communications Commission ordered AM stations in large markets to end continuous simulcasting on co-owned FM frequencies,
14715-563: The station on their behalf. Activists have argued that broadcasters were using these agreements as a loophole for the FCC's ownership regulations, that they reduce the number of local media outlets in a market through the aggregation or outright consolidation of news programming, and allow station owners to have increased leverage in the negotiation of retransmission consent with local subscription television providers . Station owners have contended that these sharing agreements allow streamlined, cost-effective operations that may be beneficial to
14850-508: The station to a third-party. Mission Broadcasting also scrapped its planned acquisition of Detroit's MyNetworkTV station WADL (which briefly became Detroit's new CW affiliate in September 2023 after CBS News and Stations dropped long-time affiliate WKBD ) after the FCC imposed conditions on Nexstar's involvement in the station. WADL had dropped The CW in late-October following demands that it be compensated for its "transitional" carriage of
14985-550: The station to often fall into the bottom half, or out of New York City's top ten stations entirely. In addition, an increasing debt load at Emmis's corporate level which forced the company to sell 80 percent of WRXP to Merlin Media in 2011 was also a major factor. On April 26, 2012, the Walt Disney Company and Emmis Communications agreed to a 12-year-lease of the 98.7 FM frequency for an undisclosed price. YMF Media (which acquired WBLS' parent Inner City Broadcasting Corporation ) acquired
15120-424: The station was classified as " Urban Contemporary " (which today would be considered as a strictly R&B -type format whether Rap or Soul ). In June 1981, the station was known on-air as "FM 99 WXLO making its move to 98.7". By the middle of July, the station had changed its call sign to WRKS-FM (the meaning of which originally referred to its being an RKO Station) and adopted the on-air brand 98.7 Kiss FM , as
15255-415: The station was leaning towards Disco and R&B . The station dropped American Top 40 in January 1981. The evolution was gradual, and by May 1981, WXLO was nearly all rhythmic, playing almost all disco, soul, and rhythmic-friendly pop. Almost all the rock and AC crossovers were gone. By today's standards, this station would be called " Rhythmic CHR ", but that term did not exist back in 1981. Therefore,
15390-512: The station's call sign to WXLO, and starting in April 1974, it became known as 99X , a reference to the WXLO frequency's close proximity on the FM dial to 99 MHz. This was a version of what was known as the "Q" format, so named because it was modeled after station KCBQ in San Diego. The format featured about 15-20 currents, with a heavy emphasis on constant contests and promotions. In 1976, WXLO held
15525-533: The station's imaging voice and promotional face, and would remain in this role until his death in 2003. In September 1995, WRKS hired another deep-voiced bass singer , Isaac Hayes , as its new morning show host, and later added Ashford & Simpson to helm its afternoon drive program. Funk musician Roger Troutman (of the band Zapp ) and former disc jockey-turned-motivational speaker Les Brown also hosted programs on WRKS around this time. WRKS's playlist for its first year consisted almost exclusively of songs from
15660-527: The station's staff and alumni, and listener phone-ins. Notable station personalities during the KISS-FM years included: While WRKS had a long-standing repertoire among listeners in the African-American community alongside WBLS, it suffered an advertising revenue setback in later years. This was due in part to Arbitron switching to the portable people meter system to monitor ratings around 2010, which caused
15795-527: The station's transition to this new urban contemporary format was completed by that August. The first song on "Kiss FM" was Make That Move by Shalamar . Early on, WRKS played a great deal of R&B and dance music , and became an almost instant hit with listeners, as its ratings skyrocketed from 22nd place to third. Notable Kiss FM Mixmasters at the time Shep Pettibone and, later, Tony Humphries , were commissioned to create longer versions of current popular songs. Longtime urban contemporary leader WBLS
15930-680: The station, but the sidecar is still the legal owner. Although the FCC determines a sidecar firm to be an independent entity from the company using it to outsource station operations for licensing purposes, the Securities and Exchange Commission does not make such a designation, requiring reports on sidecars to be included in a broadcaster's financial statements. Both Sinclair and Nexstar became infamous for their frequent use of sidecars as part of their expansion and consolidation tactics, partnering with companies like Cunningham Broadcasting, Deerfield Media , Mission Broadcasting , and even each other in
16065-480: The station, but was not prepared to sell WVUE outright. On April 4, 2017, Raycom acquired the station for $ 51.8 million. LMAs can also allow companies to control foreign stations from outside of their respective country; Canadian media company Rogers Media used a joint sales agreement to operate Cape Vincent , New York radio station WLYK as a station targeting the nearby Canadian market of Kingston , Ontario , where it owns CKXC-FM and CIKR-FM . Rogers owned
16200-576: The stations being sold to other parties. In May 2014, Sinclair disclosed in an FCC filling that it was unable to find buyers for the three affected stations, requiring changes to its transaction. In Harrisburg, Sinclair chose to retain WHP-TV, and divest WHTM to Media General. However, in Charleston and Birmingham, the company proposed to shut down stations entirely (rather than selling them to other buyers that would also handle their operational responsibilities) so it could maintain legal duopolies; surrendering
16335-455: The stations on Stirk's behalf. In Quincy Newspapers' acquisition of Granite Broadcasting's remaining stations, the acquisition was briefly re-structured to have Malara Broadcast Group —which served as a virtual duopoly partner for Granite with WISE-TV (NBC) Fort Wayne and KDLH-TV Duluth (CBS), retain the stations and their current agreements with WPTA and KBJR-TV in lieu of having them sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting. The acquisition
16470-427: The station—by then owned by RKO General —flipped to one of New York's first free-form radio formats , focusing on progressive rock . In 1974, it adopted a top 40 format. Amid declining listenership, the station briefly adopted an adult contemporary format modeled after Chicago sister WFYR in 1980. Beginning in December 1980, after further declines in ratings under the format, the station began to transition to
16605-478: The time had prohibited television station duopolies, Sinclair decided to sell the lower-rated WPTT to the station's manager Eddie Edwards, but continued to operate the station through an LMA (Sinclair eventually repurchased the station – then assigned the call letters WCWB – outright in 2000, after the Federal Communications Commission began permitting common ownership of two television stations in
16740-449: The top four stations in a market. Wheeler indicated that he planned to address local marketing and shared services agreements in the future. The change in stance also prompted changes to then-proposed acquisitions by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group , who, rather than use sharing agreements to control them, moved their existing programming and network affiliations to digital subchannels of existing company-owned stations in
16875-455: Was a holdover from the rock format and would leave for then-rock station WCBS-FM in 1969); Joe McCoy (who would later become general manager of WCBS-FM); Johnny Donovan (who would go to WABC in 1972 and remain there until his 2015 retirement); Tommy Edwards (announcer) , later the longtime midday personality on Chicago Top 40 giant WLS (AM) ; and Al Brady (who would program WABC in 1979), among others. On October 23, 1972, RKO General changed
17010-446: Was able to retain WBMA-LD in any event as the FCC does not impose any ownership limits on low-power stations. On June 13, 2014, Gray Television announced that it would shutter six stations and consolidate existing programming onto subchannels of Gray-owned stations in their respective market. Unlike Sinclair, however, Gray stated that it would sell the licenses of the shuttered stations to minority-owned broadcasters in collaboration with
17145-412: Was caught off-guard by the sudden rise of the new station, which represented its first direct competition in that format. Around mid-1983, the station approached Afrika Bambaataa about an underground hip hop music show. He liked the idea and appointed DJ Jazzy Jay , a fellow member of Zulu Nation . He then passed the gig on to his cousin, DJ Red Alert . In Fall 1983, WRKS became the first station in
17280-417: Was from Tappan, New York . The prize was a Rock-Ola jukebox stocked with Beatles 45s. The station also once held an all- Elton John weekend. Listeners had to count how many Elton songs were played and win his Greatest Hits Vol. 1 album. Another weekend they held a "No Bee Gees" weekend, where they asked their listeners to request Bee Gee songs that they didn't want played. "I'll be sure to not get that on
17415-407: Was issued a $ 700,000 fine by the FCC. WAGT's spectrum sold for $ 40,763,036. In March 2023, DirecTV sued Nexstar Media Group, alleging that it was conspiring with the sidecar companies Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting to manipulate retransmission fees for its stations. The company, which had been in a carriage dispute with Mission and White Knight since October 2022, stated that
17550-659: Was migrated to the former WCBS under a new LMA with Audacy , while WEPN-FM flipped to an automated hot adult contemporary format in the interim. In the late 1930s WOR (710 AM), then licensed to Newark, New Jersey , and owned by the Bamberger Broadcasting Service, Inc., a division of R.H. Macy and Company , became interested in the newly developed technology of FM radio. In the summer of 1939, WOR engineers, working with Bell Telephone engineers, set up an experimental 1,000-watt transmitter in Carteret, New Jersey, with
17685-814: Was now possible for broadcasters to simply buy another station outright rather than lease it – consequentially triggering a wave of mass consolidation in the radio industry. However, broadcasters still used local marketing agreements to help transition acquired stations to their new owners. The first local marketing agreement in North American television was formed in 1991, when the Sinclair Broadcast Group purchased Fox affiliate WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. As Sinclair had already owned independent station WPTT (now MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT ) in that market, which would have violated FCC rules which at
17820-478: Was reported that the FCC had placed all pending acquisitions involving the use of shell companies on hold, so the Commission could discuss changes to its policies. Among the deals affected by this decision included the aforementioned Sinclair/Allbritton purchase. On March 6, 2014, the FCC announced that it would hold a vote on March 31 on a proposal to ban joint sales agreements involving television stations outright, making them attributable to FCC ownership limits if
17955-564: Was restructured in July 2015 to, again, have SagamoreHill Broadcasting acquire the two stations, but have their current SSAs wound down within nine months. Following the end of the SSA, the two stations retained The CW as independently run stations, with their remaining affiliations moved to subchannels of KBJR and WPTA. Quincy similarly wound down an SSA in Peoria, Illinois with Sinclair-owned WHOI by trading its South Bend Fox affiliation (previously held by WSJV-TV ) to Sinclair (where it moved to
18090-723: Was settled in February 2013 via mutual agreement, after which the Fox affiliation was given back to WFFT. Gannett Company's 2013 acquisition of Belo was opposed by organizations such as the American Cable Association and Free Press , due to Gannett's plans to use LMAs and two shell companies owned by former Belo and Fisher Communications executives (respectively, Sander Media and Tucker Operating Co.) to dodge FCC newspaper cross-ownership restrictions in Louisville , Phoenix , Portland, Oregon and Tucson . Although Gannett contended that
18225-466: Was to be sold to Howard Stirk Holdings–a broadcasting company owned by conservative pundit Armstrong Williams . Howard Stirk Holdings was first established in 2013 with its acquisition of two conflicting stations in Sinclair's earlier acquisition of Barrington Broadcasting . In December 2013, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman sent a letter demanding information from the Sinclair Broadcast Group on
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