Update 5/27: The sale has been filed with the FCC showing that Connoisseur Media will pay $50 million for 1370 WALK/97.5 WALK-FM Patchouge.
Additionally, one of the Qantum stations will be sent to the Brunswick Divestiture Trust. Urban “B92.7” WBGA St. Simons Island, GA will be spun-off to keep the cluster under the ownership limits as it loses its grandfathered status. The trust will be run by Jeannette Tully, who also operates the Aloha Stations Trust.
Original Report 5/15: Qantum Communications, Clear Channel, and Connoisseur Media have announced a three way deal involving 31 stations.
Qantum, led by Frank Osborn, will swap its 29 stations in five markets to Clear Channel for the Aloha Station Trust held Standards 1370 WALK and AC 97.5 WALK-FM Patchouge, NY. Qantum will then turn around and sell the two Long Island stations to Connoisseur Media. They will join a cluster that already includes Rock “94.3 The Shark” WWSK, AC “K98.3” WKJY, Classic Hits “B103” WBZO, and Standards 1100 WHLI.
The stations Clear Channel will acquire in the deal are:
Auburn, AL/West Point, GA: Hot AC “Mix 96.7” WMXA, Country “97.7 Kicker-FM” WKKR, Country “100.9 The Bull” WCJM, Urban AC “The Touch” 910 WZMG/1310WPLV, and Standards “Timeless 1520” WTLM
Brunswick, GA: Urban “B92.7” WBGA, Country 102.5 WYNR, CHR “103Q” 103.3 WQGA, Rock “107.7 The Fox” WHFX, News/Talk 1440 WGIG, and Oldies 1490 WMOG
Cape Cod, MA: News/Talk 95.1 WXTK, Sports 96.3 WEII, Classic Hits “Cool 102” 101.9 WCIB, and Hot AC 106.1 WCOD
Florence, SC: Country “Eagle 92.9” WEGX, Urban “Swagga 94.1” WRZE/970 WJMX, Urban AC “102.9 The Flo” WZTF, Hot AC “103X” WJMX-FM, Christian AC “Sunny 105.5” WDAR-FM, Gospel 800 WDSC, News/Talk 1400 WWRK
Myrtle Beach, SC: AC “B93.5” WLQB, CHR “Mix 97.7” WWXM, Variety Hits “104.9 Bob-FM” WYNA, Rock “Rock 107” WRXZ, and Country “Gator 107.9” WGTR
Qantum Communications Corporation announced today that it has agreed to swap substantially all the assets of its 29 radio stations to Clear Channel Media and Entertainment in exchange for substantially all the assets of Aloha Trust (of which it is the beneficiary) radio stations WALK-AM/FM serving Long Island, NY. Qantum has also agreed, in a simultaneous closing, to sell the assets of WALK-AM/FM to Connoisseur Media. Both transactions are subject to Federal Communications Commission approval and other customary closing conditions.
Qantum’s radio stations include WCOD-FM, WCIB-FM, WXTK-FM and WEII-FM serving the Cape Cod, MA market; WWXM-FM, WGTR-FM, WRXZ-FM, WYNA-FM and WLQB-FM serving the Myrtle Beach, SC market; WEGX-FM, WJMX-FM, WDAR-FM, WZTF-FM, WRZE-FM, WJMX-AM, WWRK-AM and WDSC-AM serving the Florence, SC market; WYNR-FM, WQGA-FM, WBGA-FM, WHFX-FM, WGIG-AM and WMOG-AM serving the Brunswick, GA market; WKKR-FM, WMXA-FM, WCJM-FM, WZMG-AM, WTLM-AM and WPLV-AM serving the Auburn, AL and West Point, GA markets.
Qantum President Frank Osborn said, “We are very proud of all that our clusters have achieved. Each cluster is the leader in its respective market and reflects the talent, dedication and hard work of local management and staff. We will miss working with them, but felt this unique transaction was in the interests of our stockholders. It is rare when you find an instance where cooperation among three companies results in higher value for all.”
“We are honored to add WALK to our rapidly growing group of terrific properties,” says Jeffrey D. Warshaw CEO of Connoisseur Media. “We look forward to continuing WALK’s heritage of commitment to Long Island.”
Media Venture Partners acted as broker on the transaction.
Qantum Communications was formed by Mr. Osborn along with partners Michael Mangan and Frank Washington to acquire and operate radio stations in medium and smaller sized markets throughout the United States.
Connoisseur Media owns/operates 39 stations and is in the process of acquiring stations in Hartford, CT. Connoisseur owns WKJY (K 98.3), WBZO (B-103), WWSK (The Shark) and WHLI in the Nassau-Suffolk metro.
Jeff Lehmann 
Joseph_Gallant 
Marc B 
secondchoice 
Nathan Obral 
Bizzle 
raccoonradio 
Wow, bad news for the ever changing Cape Cod market. I’m sure this will mean the WEEI simulcast on 96.3 WEII will come to an end.
And probably run Fox Sports Radio.
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out. Maybe they’ll sell some (or all) of the stations on The Cape.
I thought CC was trying to rid of the sub 100 market stations.
That’s what I thought. And it’s probably still the case, that these acquired stations may be nothing more than swap bait. I cannot in any way see these stations staying in the CC fold for any length of time.
If these stations are what it took to finally rid themselves of WALK AM and FM, though…
I could see WCOD becoming Kiss of 96.3 becoming Kiss in Cape Cod. I can also see WJMX-FM becoming 103.3 Kiss FM in Florence and Mix 97.7 in Myrtle Beach becoming Kiss 97.7.
Or WCOD becoming Radio 106.1 as Alternative and 96.3 in Cape Cod becoming Kiss 96.3 or vice versa.
Cape Cod’s demographics (the oldest median age of any region in New England) likely won’t support an alternative rock station on a primary signal.
But I could see an alternative rock format (and a simulcast of EDM-formatted WEDX-101.;7 Lynn/Boston) on an HD subchannel of one of their new Cape stations.
And a “Kiss” format on Cape Cod might well become a simulcast of WXKS-107.9 Medford/Boston.
Why does Cape Cod need two CHR stations? CodCom’s Y-101 is already doing CHR, but if CC were to do CHR, they would probably yank Elvis Duran from Y-101.
The way this deal was set up suggests that CC will be unloading these stations, and soon. Nothing will change, especially if the WEEI simulcast deal with WEII is set in stone for a multiyear deal.
I forgot they have Y 101.
Or, nothing may happen (at some or all of their stations). If WEII is making money with the simulcast of WEEI–including its Red Sox contract–it may stay the same. I don’t know if 95.1 would change from talk. Already running some Premiere shows, though who knows, could substitute Beck for Ingraham late mornings.