Christian network VCY America is entering New York City with the purchase of Cumulus Media’s Conservative Talk 103.9 WFAS-FM Bronxville for $7.25 million.
The Wisconsin based group has been focusing its growth in recent years onto larger markets in the sunbelt with the 2021 acquisition of 103.3 Dallas from ESPN, and its 2020 attempted purchase of Ed Slotz’ stations in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. WFAS-FM will be the group’s first station on the east coast and will be converted to non-commercial status.
The station dropped its Adult R&B “Radio 103.9” WNBM format at the start of this year to simulcast the digital only Conservative Talk programming of sister 1230 WFAS White Plains full of programming from Cumulus’ Westwood One subsidiary. A longtime Adult Contemporary station focusing on suburban Westchester County, Cumulus moved the station to a tower in the Bronx in 2014 flipping it to Adult R&B attempting to make it part of its then New York City cluster along with Country 94.7 WNSH, Hot AC 95.5 WPLJ, and Conservative Talk 770 WABC, all have which been sold. The 980w/162m Class A signal on 103.9 covers the northern parts of New York City with its coverage best in the Bronx, Northern Manhattan, parts of Queens, Westchester County, Bergen and Hudson County NJ, and extreme western Long Island.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com