NRG spins Omaha outskirt trio

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SoldDean Sorenson, Richard Chapin and other investors are picking up an AM and two FMs in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area, on condition they do not overtly compete with the seven stations the seller will have in the market.


The Sorenson/Chapin group is called Community First Broadcasting of Nebraska LLC. The duo will each hold a 26.67% stake in the company; two other investors, Duane Butt and Jim Butt, will each hold 13.33% and a final pair of investors, Delwin Meyers and Chris Walz, are each in for 10%.

NRG is headed by Mary Quass.

The stations are KBLR-FM Blair NE, and KHUB-AM/KFMT-FM Fremont NE. The deal is valued at $900K, paid in cash, and brokered by one of the buyers, long-time media broker Chapin (who needed only consult a mirror to sell 26.67% of this trio!). Of the three, only KBLR-FM is considered part of the Omaha market for Arbitron local-cap compliance computation purposes.

The deal carries several conditions. CFB promises not to acquire any contructions permits from the FCC that would allow any of the stations to move into the Omaha market; it will refrain from participating in the Omaha competitive market (although members of the CFB ownership group are allowed to have an ownership stake in a company with Omaha holdings as long as that stake is less than 5%); and CFB will pick up the broadcast rights and obligations of the seller’s deal with the University of Nebraska Husters athletic program.

Here’s what CFB is getting:
* KBLR-FM is a Class C3 country station on 97.3 MHz with 25 kW @ 302’. It is situated to the north of Omaha with a primary contour that falls just short of the city.
* KHUB-AM is a Class C news-talker on 1340 kHz with 500 W-D, 250 W-N, ND. It operates to the northwest of Omaha.
* KFMT-FM is a Class A classic hits station on 105.5 MHz with 1.2 kW @ 449’, with a similar contour to that of KHUB.

According to the BIA market report submitted with the transaction application, NBR’s Omaha station cluster includes sports 1620 KOZN-AM, news-talk-sports 1180 KZOT-AM, news-talk 1290 KOIL-AM, Spanish 1020 KMMQ-AM, adult hits 101.9 KOOO-FM, modern AC 98.5 KQKQ-FM and rhythmic 106.9 KOPW-FM.