Several radio stations in West Palm Beach are about to get a new owner.
CBS Corporation announced today that it has signed an agreement to sell its five radio stations in West Palm Beach for a total of $50 million to local broadcaster Palm Beach Broadcasting. The deal comes in the aftermath of other radio station sales CBS completed in Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado. The transactions fall in line with CBS' strategy to specifically focus on larger markets. However, even after the sale is completed, CBS will still own 125 radio stations, making it one of the nation's biggest radio conglomerates.
After the sale, Palm Beach Broadcasting LLC will acquire three stations from CBS. To comply with FCC rules that limit the number of properties any one broadcaster can own within one specific market, Palm Beach Broadcasting will also have the right to sell the other two stations to third parties.
The sale will pair CBS' top rated adult contemporary WEAT-FM and second place country station WIRK-FM with the market's number three station, hot adult contemporary station WRFM, which Palm Beach Broadcasting already owns. And owning the top three stations in the market gives Palm Beach Broadcasting a rare cache.
The other properties involved in the transaction are the Urban-formatted WHFS-FM, the number five station in the market, top 40 station WMBX, and rock station WPBZ. All five stations are broadcasted on FM radio. It's not known which stations Palm Beach will opt to sell, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that they'll keep those that consistently reap the highest ratings.
"It is extremely gratifying to add these excellent stations to our community-focused radio service in the Palm Beach market," said Dean Goodman, CEO of Palm Beach Broadcasting. "Radio broadcasting is experiencing a renaissance in the digital age, and we are pleased to be a part of that effort."
As they say in the biz, "Stay tuned..."
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