Forum Communications is exiting the radio business, turning over its Fargo radio station to a former competitor to focus on its other businesses.
“AM 1100 The Flag” (WZFG Dilworth-Fargo) announced Monday that its owner, Flag Family Media (known as Bakken Beacon Media on FCC licenses), is now operating Forum’s WDAY/970 and K226CL/93.1 (Fargo). The announcement says the agreement “provides an eventual path to ownership.”
Though both stations fall into the broad category of News/Talk, WZFG focuses on Conservative Talk while WDAY runs more general interest News/Talk format that includes some political talk. WDAY’s current lineup includes simulcasts of newscasts from WDAY-TV/6.1, which is not included in the deal.
Neither Flag Family Media nor Forum owns any other radio stations in the market, which is dominated by groups owned by Midwest Communications and members of the Ingstad family. Both compete with Midwest’s KFGO/790 (Fargo), which was the top-rated station in the market in Nielsen Audio’s spring survey (ratings for WDAY and WZFG were not publicly released).
WDAY signed on in 1922 and is the oldest station licensed in North Dakota, though it now transmits from Minnesota after moving from its longtime West Fargo site in 2013. Forum has had full ownership of the station since 1960.
Forum owns more than two dozen newspapers and cut its dailies to semi-weekly print schedules earlier this year amid the economic collapse. Forum CEO Bill Marcil, Jr. said in WZFG’s announcement that the deal will allow Forum to focus on its print, digital, and TV properties.
Besides WDAY-TV, Forum owns ABC affiliates in Grand Forks, Bismarck, and Minot that relay WDAY’s newscasts.