Wisconsin-based Civic Media is partnering with a Michigan company to buy five radio stations in the Upper Peninsula.
The deal includes WIMI/99.7 (Ironwood), WJMS/590 (Ironwood), WUPY/101.1 (Ontonagon), WKMJ-FM/93.5 (Hancock), and WMPL/920 (Hancock). WJMS translator W221ES/92.1 (Ironwood) and WMPL translator W297CD/107.3 (Hancock) are also included in the deal.
According to an asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on July 1, Michigan Civic Media Alliance LLC will pay J&J Broadcasting, SNRN Broadcasting, and Jerry and Sherry Hackman $1.55 million for the stations.
Civic Media, headed by Sage Weil, owns 67.7% of Michigan Civic Media Alliance LLC. The other 32.3% is held by Michigan Independent Media Group LLC, headed by Jerry Franklin.
“At Civic Media we believe in the importance of local media, and investing in rural areas where quality news and information is too often hard to come by,” Weil said in a news release.
“MIMG’s launch was inspired in part by Civic Media’s leadership in sustaining independent media in Wisconsin,” Franklin said. “We’re excited to be formally partnering with them for their first expansion into the great state of Michigan and to work with them to preserve and expand vibrant local media across our state.”
MIMG owns a weekly newspaper in lower Michigan and has no other radio or TV interests. Civic Media owns 22 other full-power stations in Wisconsin and Minnesota and is in the process of buying two others.
WUPY is the only commercial station in its local area, while WJMS/WIMI competes with another local pair of commercial stations and WMPL/WKMJ is one of three commercial radio groups in Houghton-Hancock. The Ironwood stations’ coverage areas have some overlap with Civic Media’s existing two stations in Park Falls, Wis.
In a separate transaction, Civic Media will buy WIMI translator W272AY/102.3 (Park Falls, Wis.) from Kathy Reinhard’s Tea-Visz Inc. for $1. The application states W272AY will continue to relay WIMI.
“These heritage radio stations have served their local communities for years and are strong partners with local businesses and organizations. We intend to continue that legacy of service and add a wider array of products to keep people in touch with their community,” said Kory Hartman, Civic’s vice president of operations.
WIMI carries a Classic Rock format, while WJMS and WUPY carry Country, WKMJ-FM carries Adult Contemporary and WMPL carries Talk and Sports.
In the news release, Jerry Hackman said, “We are very pleased to announce the sale of the stations, and we could not be more pleased with the buyer. We are very comfortable turning over the customer and employee relationships over to Civic Media as they have made great strides in just a short time and they continue to stress the importance of local and small town radio. I’d like to sincerely thank everyone that has supported us in various ways over the last 42 years.”
A previous deal to sell the five stations to BTC USA Holdings Management never closed.
This item was updated July 2 to include the Park Falls translator sale.