The Educational Media Foundation, which operates the non-commercial “K-Love” and “Air-1” Christian music networks, is getting its first signal in Madison in exchange for a trio of signals in another state.
The deal does not involve cash. Fusion Radio will give W277AE/103.3 (Madison) to EMF, and EMF will give Fusion an AM station and two FM translators in the Toledo, Ohio, market.
Notably, that AM station (WPAY/1520 Rossford-Toledo) is the only AM facility held by EMF among its 850 total stations. EMF had acquired the AM signal in 2009 as part of a deal to buy an FM station in the Toledo area. RadioInsight notes that WPAY and the translators had carried the “K-Love Classics” network until its recent discontinuation.
Fusion is headed by Robert Jamrog, who also heads Dance and Contemporary Hit Radio format creator Jamtraxx Media.
As noted just last weekend in the weekly FCC Monitor report, W277AE recently went off the air citing a transmitter problem. Fusion purchased W277AE from Faith Center, owner of WFEN/88.3 (Rockford, IL), earlier this year.
The application to transfer W277AE’s license lists iHeartMedia’s WZEE/104.1 (Madison) as the station to be rebroadcast. In many other markets, iHeart carries EMF’s networks on HD subchannels to feed translators.