Salem Media is adding two more properties from Radio Disney’s portfolio.
Salem’s South Texas Broadcasting subsidiary will pay $2.75 million for 590 WDWD Atlanta. The purchase gives Salem a sixth station in the Atlanta market joining Christian AC “104.7 The Fish” WFSH-FM Athens, Conservative Talk “920 The Answer” WGKA Atlanta, Christian Preaching simulcast “Faith Talk 970” WNIV Atlanta/1400 WLTA Alpharetta and Business Talk “Biz 1190” WAFS Atlanta.
In Pittsburgh, Salem’s Pennsylvania Media Associates adds 1250 WDDZ Pittsburgh for $1 million. WDDZ will become Salem’s third station in the market joining Christian Preaching combo 730 WPIT and 101.5 WORD-FM Pittsburgh.
Salem has been the busiest partner in Radio Disney’s divestitures. Salem paid $1.3 million for 990 WDYZ Orlando in December and acquired stations in Little Rock and San Antonio in a previous sell-off.
Joseph_Gallant 
Marc B 
Dr. Akbar 
Theater of My Mind 
Nathan Obral 
WDDZ Pittsburgh will probably become “The Answer 1250”, with Salem’s conservative-talk format, but what will they do with WDWD Atlanta??
My guess: The Christian preaching will move to the bigger 590 signal, with the 970/1400 combo changing formats.
Might Salem also re-acquire WMKI-1260 Here in Boston (which it once owned)?? I could see them re-acquiring the station and flipping it to “The Answer 1260”.
Although they have since sold it Salem also bought the former RD affiliate in Rhode Island AM 550.
Disney bought Pittsburgh for $5m…sells it to Salem for $1m, or 20 cents on the dollar. Atlanta’s 5-Ninety sells for $2.75m…tough to figure out the price Disney paid as it was spun off as part of the WKHX-AM/FM & WYAY package Citadel purchased from ABC/Disney. WDWD’s daytime coverage reaches a lot of people in a large market that is user friendly for the kinds of programming Salem offers. And in spite of a highly directional nighttime signal, 5~Ninety’s coverage is greater than Salem’s WGKA that operates with 490 watts at night.
The decline of AM radio continues.
The AM dial has been in decline since FM receivers were made standard in car radios back in the 1960s…