Midwest Communications is seeking waivers of ownership caps to buy ten radio stations in north-central Wisconsin from NRG Media, telling the FCC that it plans to change some formats if the sale is approved.
According to an asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on March 19, Midwest’s WRIG Inc. will pay NRG $2.5 million for the stations serving the Wausau-Stevens Point, Rhinelander, and Minocqua areas. They include:
- “Hot 96.7” (WHTQ Whiting-Wausau), Contemporary Hits
- WGLX/103.3 (Wisconsin Rapids-Wausau), Classic Rock
- WYTE/106.5 (Marshfield-Wausau), Country
- “Big Cheese 107.9” (WBCV Wausau), Classic Hits
- “Hodag 97.3” (WHDG Rhinelander), Country
- “100.1 Jack FM” (WRHN Rhinelander), Classic Hits
- “Rock 105.3” (WRLO Antigo), Classic Rock
- “The Game” (WOBT/1240 and W267AF/101.7 Rhinelander), FOX Sports Radio
- “95.9 The Island” (WMQA Minocqua), Adult Contemporary
- “The Lake” (WLKD/1570 and W289CT/105.7 Minocqua), Soft Oldies
Wausau-based Midwest currently has four FM stations and two AM stations in the Wausau-Stevens Point market. The ownership cap for radio markets of that size is six stations with no more than four on AM or FM.
Midwest is seeking a waiver to own a total of ten stations in the Wausau-Stevens Point market, stating, “there is good cause to grant this waiver because allowing WRIG to acquire the NRG Stations while retaining the WRIG Stations will have no material impact on audience or advertisers given the state of media competition in the Wausau Market.”
The proposal represents a test of how far the FCC is willing to go amid discussion of loosening ownership rules.
Among the arguments, Midwest states that several of the Midwest and NRG stations do not reach the entire market and says Wausau and Stevens Point are “essentially two separate markets,” with the Midwest stations based in Wausau and the NRG stations in Stevens Point. It also says WAXX/104.5 (Eau Claire) “enjoys high ratings within the Wausau market” even though it is not officially considered to be part of the market.
The filing implies that Midwest plans to drop one of the existing Country formats, stating “WRIG’s acquisition of the NRG Stations will incentivize it to provide the Wausau Market’s listeners with a broader array of music formats on its stations instead of having to compete for the largest share of listeners in the market that favor Country music.”
Ratings data submitted with the application states that Midwest’s WDEZ/101.9 (Wausau) is the top Country station in the market with an audience share more than double WYTE in most demos.
The document suggests that the News/Talk format of WSAU/550 (Wausau) and/or the Sports format of WRIG/1390 (Schofield-Wausau) could be moved to a full-power FM signal reaching Wausau. (WSAU is currently relayed on WSAU-FM/99.9 Rudolph, which reaches Stevens Point but not Wausau.)
Midwest also states that its news department is more robust than NRG’s, and that the current NRG stations will benefit from better news coverage if the waiver is approved.
Approval of the sale would make Midwest/WRIG as the dominant commercial radio group in the market, competing with nine other commercial stations owned by four companies.
Separately, Midwest is seeking a waiver to buy WHDG (Rhinelander). Rhinelander is not a rated market, meaning contour-based ownership rules are in effect for that area.
The combination of Midwest and NRG’s stations would create an area between Wausau and Rhinelander where Midwest would have five strong FM signals, one more than allowed for a market of that size.
Midwest says a waiver would increase program diversity in the market because it would likely make a format change, stating, “Under common ownership, it is unlikely that these stations will all maintain a Country format as WRIG will not want to compete against itself. Accordingly, the proposed station combination will allow for more programming diversity, and for each programmed ‘brand’ to be available to the entire Rhinelander market.”
Other commercial radio operations in the Rhinelander/Northwoods area include two-station groups in Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Eagle River, and Antigo.
The sale comes as Iowa-based NRG sells groups in Omaha and Nebraska’s Tri-Cities. The company’s remaining groups are in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Ottawa, Ill., and Lincoln, Neb.
The proposed transaction includes a three-near non-compete for NRG in the area.
Midwest began with WRIG in Wausau in 1958 and now owns 81 radio stations in nine states.