The $15.5 million sale of Hot AC “Star 102.5” WTSS Buffalo NY and Country “94.1 The Wolf ” WLFP Germantown/Memphis TN will have effects in those markets well beyond those frequencies.
Educational Media Foundation specifically sought out WTSS in Buffalo not only to expand in that city, but also across the border into Southern Ontario and Toronto. With “K-Love” currently heard on rimshot 89.9 WBKV Buffalo, the grandfathered 110kW/355m signal of WTSS will give EMF coverage over most of Western New York, the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, and rimshot both Hamilton and Toronto in much the same way EMF acquired 94.7 Chateaugay NY in 2021 to reach Montreal.
As of now we do not see any concrete indication that Audacy will relocate WTSS to one of their other FM signals in the market, but that cannot be completely ruled out yet. Otherwise sister CHR “Kiss 98.5” WKSE could shift in a more adult direction to absorb some of the audience overlap between the stations. Such a scenario would also help Townsquare Media AC “96.1 The Breeze” WMSX as it will remain the only AC in the Buffalo market.
In Memphis, this sale looks to be the first step in a game of dominoes.
EMF’s programming is already heard in the market with “K-Love” on Class C3 94.9 WKVF Bartlett and “Air 1” on the combination of 96.7 W244BY Memphis via WKVF-HD2 and Flinn Broadcasting’s 96.1 WIVG Tunica MS.
Audacy has begun the game of dominoes with a memo to staff and advertisers first shared by Country Aircheck indicating that the “Wolf” brand will remain within Audacy’s holdings writing, “While it is true that EMF is purchasing the 94.1 frequency, we are NOT getting out of the Country Business in Memphis. WLFP has been performing very well for Audacy Memphis, and we just recently added market veterans Duane and Abby to afternoons. Audacy Memphis is actually doubling down on the Country business, and we will be moving WLFP to another larger frequency reaching all the outlying areas in the Memphis Metro area. We have a lot of big plans for The Wolf moving forward, including adding a local live midday host to our already stellar lineup.”
WLFP is the lowest rated of Audacy’s four FMs in the Memphis market tied for thirteenth in the Memphis market with a 2.7 share. The note in the memo about moving to a larger frequency eliminates Sports “92.9 ESPN” WMFS-FM, which simulcasts on 680 WMFS leaving either heritage Hot AC “FM 100” 99.7 WMC-FM and its 6.0 share and AC “104.5 The River” WRVR with an 8.8 share as the brand likely being eliminated.
Editor’s Note: With Audacy confirming the move, this is what we wrote earlier regarding the move of the Wolf to 99.7:
Moving into DomainInsight mode, Audacy registered domains on Friday for TheWolf997.com and TheWolfMemphis.com. That would point to the end on the frequency of the “FM 100” brand which has evolved over its history from Progressive Rock to Top 40, and for the past 30 years Hot AC. Noting that WMC-FM is currently the top biller in the Audacy Memphis cluster and highest rated in 25-54, everyone we have spoken to expects another shoe to drop.
Would Cumulus Media, whose Conservative Talk “NewsTalk 98.9” WKIM-FM currently has a zero share, acquire the intellectual property of WMC-FM? Does Audacy have more moves in play? Or like Buffalo, do they seek to combine the Hot AC and AC brands on 104.5 hoping to be left with one stronger brand overall?