Entercom and Urban One have announced a multi-city station deal, involving Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., St. Louis and Charlotte. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.
Entercom will receive Urban WPHI/Philadelphia, Sports WTEM-AM (The Team 980)/Washington, D.C., Urban WHHL (HOT 104.1)/St. Louis and the intellectual property of Adult R&B WFUN (95.5 The Lou)/St. Louis. Radio One receives Entercom’s Charlotte, NC cluster of News/Talk WBT-AM/WBT-FM, Sports WFNZ and Hot AC WLNK.
As of November 23, WPHI will flip to an FM simulcast of Philadelphia’s long-running News station KYW 1060 and WFUN’s format will displace CHR Now 96.5 on KNOU/St. Louis.
David Yadgaroff, SVP/Market Manager for Entercom-Philadelphia, said, “In this critical time for our community and country, simulcasting the iconic KYW Newsradio on FM will greatly expand the reach of important, credible local journalism and enhance the listner experience on the crystal-clear FM dial. This station is the heartbeat of the community and we’re really excited about serving more listeners while providing additional access on top of 1060 AM, RADIO.com and smart speakers.”
Becky Domyan, SVP/Market Manager for Entercom-St. Louis, commented, “Adding HOT 104.1, a well-recognized brand with an established connection in St. Louis, to our cluster allows us to further engage our community and expand advertiser offerings with a leading urban property in the market. Leveraging the strong assets of The Lou on our own 96.3 FM will allow us to craft a revamped listening experience and enhance the content we deliver to our audience.”
Ivy Savoy-Smith, SVP/Market Manager for Entercom-Washington, D.C., said, “For years, WTEM has established itself as the go-to home for everything surrounding the Washington Football Team, and we’re proud to enhance our position as unrivaled leaders in sports radio by addition the station to our portfolio. The Washington Football Team is a pillar in the D.C. sports community, and we look forward to providing our listeners a home to tune in to all the action on game days and stay up-to-date throughout the year.”
Urban One President/CEO Alfred Liggins added, “By adding three best in class general market formats (Adult Contemporary, Sports, News and Talk) to our existing cluster of stations (WPZS-FM, WOSF-FM, and WONC-FM) that super-serve the Black and Urban consumer, Urban One will be a dominant player across all segments of the growing Charlotte market. The ability to build scale with a complete market offering in multiple genres is what makes this deal so exciting. Rationalizing our portfolio of radio stations in this manner also helps us continue our strategy of de-leveraging the business.”
