Radio Training Network has closed on its $900,000 purchase of Brewer Media’s Sports “ESPN Chattanooga” 95.3 WALV-FM Ooltewah/Chattanooga TN and Classic Hits “Big 106.9” W295BI Chattanooga leading to three format changes in the market this morning.
WALV-FM has flipped to RTN’s Christian AC “The Joy FM” network as the organization begins operating in its sixth state and bringing “The Joy FM” to its fourth. W295BI/WALV-HD2 joined the Worship “Joy Worship” network. Another translator was also affected by the sale as Radio By Grace’s 92.7 W224AZ/WALV-HD4 dropped Spanish “Tu Radio 92.7” and flipped to RTN’s Christian CHR “LF Radio“.
Brewer had been operating W224AZ and launched the Spanish brand in September 2022. The company shared a Facebook post on March 13 noting, “For the past two and a half years, Brewer Media had been working on creating what became Tu Radio. The planning began when we got back the programming from 92.7 after our lease with another station ended up giving us a signal to create Your Radio. We’ve enjoyed a lot of success with the format.. We feel welcomed by the community and form many collaborative partnerships within the Chattanooga Latino community. Associations we hope to continue somehow. Earlier this year, Brewer Media entered into an agreement to sell WALV-HD 95.3, which is the source that powers WALV-HD4 92.7. While we tried to negotiate to move the signal we couldn’t come to an agreement with the owners of 92.7 who rent it to us.”
WALV’s “ESPN Chattanooga” format registered a 1.0 share in the January 2024 Nielsen Audio ratings, while “Big 106.9” had a 0.6 share. The flips leave all three impacted formats excluded in the Chattanooga market.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com