Update 2/14/08: Some reports on which stations must be spun-off. The Houston Chronicle states that 101.1 KLOL and either 94.5 KTBZ or 96.5 KHMX will be sold. John Kiesewetter of the the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the pair of 700 WLW and 107.1 WKFS or the pair of 92.5 WOFX and 94.1 WNNF will be sold in Cincinnati. We’ve also heard that 101.9 KWID will be the Las Vegas station, but nothing out of San Francisco that seems conclusive.
Original Post 2/13/08: Another step towards completion of the Clear Channel Privatization plan will require the company to spin-off stations in four additional markets. The Department of Justice announced that in order for them to approve the buyout by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, Clear Channel must sell off stations in the San Francisco, Cincinnati, Houston, and Las Vegas markets. Bain and Lee hold shares in Cumulus Media and Lee holds a share in Univision, which operate stations in the aforementioned markets. The DOJ fears that the mutual ownership could lead to higher advertising rates due to lack of competition.
Clear Channel owns the following stations in the affected markets:
San Franciso:
910 KNEW Talk “Talk 910”
960 KKGN Liberal Talk “Green 960”
94.9 KYLD Rhythmic CHR “Wild 94.9”
98.1 KISQ Urban AC “98.1 Kiss-FM”
101.3 KIOI Hot AC “Star 101.3”
103.7 KKSF Smooth Jazz “Smooth Jazz 103.7”
106.1 KMEL Urban “106 KMEL”
Clear Channel also owns three stations in neighboring San Jose that were previously required to be sold.
Houston:
740 KTRH News/Talk “Newsradio 740”
790 KBME Sports “The Sports Animal”
950 KPRC Talk “Mojo 950”
93.7 KKRW Classic Hits “Arrow 93.7”
94.5 KTBZ Modern Rock “94.5 The Buzz”
96.5 KHMX Hot AC “Mix 96.5”
99.1 KODA AC “Sunny 99.1”
101.1 KLOL Spanish CHR “Mega 101”
Cincinnati:
550 WKRC Talk “55KRC”
700 WLW Talk “The Big One”
1360 WSAI Sports “ESPN 1360″
1530 WCKY Sports “1530 Homer”
92.5 WOFX Classic Rock “92.5 The Fox”
94.1 WNNF Modern AC “Radio 94.1”
102.7 WEBN Rock “WEBN”
107.1 WKFS CHR “Kiss 107”
Las Vegas:
93.1 KPLV Rhythmic AC “93.1 The Party”
95.5 KWNR Country “New Country 95.5”
101.9 KWID Spanish AC “La Preciosa 101.9”
106.5 KSNE Soft AC “Sunny 106.5“
