Looking At The Salem/EMF Deal

It took until nearly the end of 2024 for one of the biggest deals of the year to go down with Educational Media Foundation literally going fishing to acquire the majority of Salem Media Group’s Christian AC stations that mostly operate under the “Fish” brand. The deal will allow EMF to bring its “K-Love” network into many of the remaining large markets it had been either completely absent or relying on small translators or rimshots to serve or introduce or upgrade its “Air 1” and potentially recently acquired “Radio Nueva Vida“.

From its launch of the first “Fish” KFSH in suburban Los Angeles in 2000 followed by the subsequent acquisition of KLTY Dallas later that year, Salem quickly established itself as one of the largest players in the Christian AC format with the company expanding it to nearly a dozen markets at its peak until the company began selling off the stations in 2023. By the late 2000s, EMF began its rapid expansion nationally, while other regional players such as Way-FM, both Family Life’s, Northwestern Media and Radio Training Network would grow as well. With Salem exiting the space, very few commercial Christian AC multi-market operators will remain. Pillar Media operating in Cincinnati, Denver, and suburban New York City being perhaps the largest.

This is the third deal between the groups in the past seventeen months. EMF previously acquired three stations in Greenville/Spartanburg SC from Salem in August 2023 and then stations in Nashville and Honolulu in March. Another “Fish“, KKSP Little Rock was sold to the unrelated Educational Radio Foundation of East Texas that has begun expanding beyond its region.

Here’s how the new acquisitions impact each market?

Atlanta

By way of also becoming the market’s defacto secular Christmas music station, Salem’s “104.7 The Fish” WFSH-FM is one of the jewels of this acquisition. “K-Love” entered the market in 2019 on 106.7 WAKL thanks to its largest single acquisition of stations from Cumulus, but WFSH-FM remained a regular top 10 station in the market year-round and usually #1 in the Holiday monthly.

The deal will allow “Air 1” to gain a full-market signal as opposed to its current home on 92.3 W222AF Marietta, which is one of the best performing coverage-wise translators in the city.

The loss of local programming on the Fish will likely open the door for someone else to claim the Christmas music mantle in 2025. In a market without a full-powered Classic Hits or Hot AC station, any audience loss from WFSH to a secular station could lead to further changes in the market in a way that is doubtful in most of the other markets.

Cleveland

Both of EMF’s primary brands are currently on translators in Cleveland and adjacent Akron. Now the organization adds what an in-market PD calls the best signal in the market for “K-Love“.

Colorado Springs

“Q102.7” KBIQ predates Salem’s acquisition launching on 96.1 in 1993 before moving to 102.7 a few years later. “K-Love” is currently on rimshot 106.9 KLCX mostly covering Pueblo and area south, translator 103.1 K276GG in the city proper, and 90.1 KLDV Denver covering areas to the north. “Air 1” is on one of the few AMs owned by EMF 780 KJME as well as its translator 96.5 K243AM.

Dallas

This is the big fish nabbed by EMF and it doesn’t even use the “Fish” branding. Since acquiring the KLUV call letters and the rights to the “K-Love” brand in the Dallas area from Audacy, it has been a matter of when, not if the organization enters the final top 10 market it does not operate in.

In 94.9 KLTY Arlington, EMF gets the a brand that is one of the regular top performers in any format in the market. KLTY originally debuted on 94.9 in 1985 before its format would be relaunched and moved to 94.1 KOJO the following year before being able to claim the KLTY calls back in 1989. Salem would acquire the brand in January 2000 and first moved it to its rimshot on 100.7 before it moved back to its original home in December 2000.

Dallas is also the most crowded market for Christian AC. In the just released December 2024 monthly, KLTY was eighth in the market with a 3.7 share. EMF’s “Air 1” on rimshot 101.7 KYDA has set a record high share for three consecutive months rising to a 3.5. First Dallas Media’s 90.9 KCBI-FM had a 2.4 share, while Hope Media Group’s “89.7 Way-FM” KAWA has slid recently down to a 1.2.

If EMF had acquired any other station in the market, it would have made sense to place the KLUV call letters on it for their legacy in the market. However, KLTY means much more to the audience even if just heard once an hour.

Los Angeles

With its deal to share the “K-Love” brand in Southern California with Univision’s established Spanish AC “107.5 K-Love” KLVE, EMF cannot market 100.3 KKLQ as “K-Love” directly. Instead all advertising says just “Positive & Encouraging 100.3“, while its legal ID calls it “K-Love For Christian Music“.

With its full market signal, KKLQ’s 1.6 share in December outranked “95.9 The Fish” KFSH’s Orange County centered 0.7 share throughout the Los Angeles market. “Air 1” currently airs on a network of signals including trimulcast 92.7 KYLA covering Orange County, KYRA in the northwest San Fernando Valley, and KYZA in the High Desert as well as translators 91.9 K220HC in the San Fernando Valley and 92.7 K224EY in parts of LA proper. Those combined for a 0.6 share. This could lead to a big upgrade for “Radio Nueva Vida” which is on 91.1 K216EM which covers a fair share of the market from Mount Wilson, but not Orange County.

Portland

“104.1 The Fish” KFIS usually gains notoriety for being one of the first stations each year to go all-Christmas as it made the move this year on Halloween. But it doesn’t make much of an impact up against iHeartMedia AC “K103” KKCW as its 1.6 share this month trailed KKCW’s market-leading 10.8 share.

EMF already has “K-Love” on a stronger signal as 97.9 KLVP is a Class C1 to KFIS’s Class 2. “Air 1” operates on rimshot 88.7 KZRI and a pair of translators making it likely to be upgraded. EMF may end up with an extra signal as it already has Radio Nueva Vida and Christian Hip Hop “Boost Radio” on owned translators.

Sacramento

“103.9 The Fish” KKFS Lincoln gives EMF another rimshot in Sacramento. KKFS seems targeted for “Air 1” to pair with northern rimshot 99.1 KARA. “K-Love” is on 99.5 KLVB, which covers more of Sacramento proper, as well as southern rimshot 89.7 KLRS.

What’s Next For EMF

Shockingly there are still markets where “K-Love” has little or no coverage including PPM markets such as Baltimore, Orlando, St. Louis, and Tampa or are on rimshots that could use upgrading such as Charlotte and Miami. Some of those are markets where previously EMF would hesitate from entering due to another well-established non-commercial player in the format, but those days have ended. There’s also room to keep growing the other networks.

However, there is reason to believe that EMF may not be as aggressive as it used to be. After being very quiet earlier this year on the acquisition front, the deal with Salem is the largest use of a promissory note by the organization to spread out payments over time. Is it simply a more corporatized approach by using debt to build equity or to simply spread out the cash outlay following the costly construction of its new Franklin TN headquarters and either relocating or replacing its former Rocklin CA staff.

What’s Next For Salem

The sale of the music stations, new investor, and elimination of debt more-or-less completes Salem’s conversion from a Christian focused media company into a more digital and politically focused one. After selling many of non-core assets in recent years such as its publishing and church products, Salem retains its Conservative Talk stations and mostly time-brokered preaching stations many of which are on AMs that continue to decline in valuation that have brought Salem’s financials down as they took annual write-downs, which is why they are placing more emphasis on its streaming video Salem News Channel, podcasts, influencer marketing, and other digital services targeting Christian and right-wing audiences.

For the past several months, rumors circulated that Salem would consider selling all of their major market FMs to pay down its debt. The new investment on top of the EMF deal brings an end to that necessity, but there are still a few non-core question marks that could still be divested. What happens now to Salem’s “Salem Music Network” division? Many of the programs were based at the stations being sold or its former Nashville cluster. One Christian AC remains with Salem as “95.9 The Fish” W240CX Columbus OH was not part of the deal. And how does owning a pair of Regional Mexican stations in “93.1 El Rey” KRYP and “1640 La Patrona” KDZR in Portland fit in with Salem’s core businesses?

The remaining radio stations at least provide major market clearances for Salem’s syndication units and whose voices power the digital brands the company is emphasizing now so those provide synergy for now. But as more of the audience pivots completely away from the mostly AM signals it is inevitable that the remaining properties could by divested at some point to end the write-down necessitation.