When Delmarva Broadcasting closes on its acquisition of Urban “Kiss 101.7” WJKS Canton, NJ/Wilmington, DE next week it will flip the station to a simulcast of News/Talk 1150 WDEL Wilmington.
In a release promoting a new Small Business Saturday campaign, Michael Reath, VP/General Manager of WDEL and sister CHR 93.7 WSTW stated, “Delmarva Broadcasting is a huge supporter of shopping locally and it didn’t make sense to us to just promote ‘buy local’ just once a year. We’re also thrilled to roll out this campaign on the new WDEL 101.7 FM, which goes on the air April 2nd, and represents a reaffirmation of our commitment to serve the entire Delaware community.”
The addition of the 101.7 signal will enhance WDEL’s coverage on the eastern and southern sides of the Wilmington market. Delmarva Broadcasting purchased WJKS and Gospel “Faith 1510” WFAI Salem, NJ from QC Communications in December for $3.2 million. WJKS has programmed its soon-to-be defunct Urban format since 1997.
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Whats going to happen to 1510, perhaps Country Classics for the rural area they serve?? Time will tell…
Did the story say anything about a format change at WFAI?
From all accounts, 1510 continues as a gospel station.
Does this station get into Delaware any better than the maps would suggest? The tower looks like it’s closer to Bridgeton than it is to Wilmington.
It gets into “Radio-Free” Newark pretty good.
So I guess Delmarva has finally given up on trying to increase 1150’s power. With a rock solid signal on 93.7 HD3, they could feed a translator or two to fill in the gaps to the west and southwest (assuming the signals could be engineered or procured). $3.2M is a serious pricetag to cover an area where 1150 appears to be okay. Of course migrating to FM will be a requirement for any format that wants to maintain terrestrial relevance beyond the next 5 years or so.
Meanwhile, WDEL is a local for me north of Philadelphia via the HD.