On a peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan is Door County, Wisconsin. Here, Nicolet Broadcasting operates four FM radio stations and an FM translator.
That’s about to change. Nicolet has agreed to sell the quintet of FM signals serving this picturesque portion of the Great Lakes Region.
The buyer? The cluster’s sales manager.
Nicolet on Sept. 13 signed an asset purchase agreement that will hand control of its stations in Door County to Bryan Mazur, and his Mazur LLC.
Mazur is the Sales Manager for the quintet, and joined the stations earlier this year after serving as a Marketing Consultant for Midwest Communications.
Mazur has also been an AE for Wilks Broadcasting’s Denver stations from September 2015-March 2016, and for Connoisseur Media in Bloomington-Normal, Ill., from 2012-2015.
Mazur began his career in radio as an Asst. PD and morning show host in Springfield, Ill., for a Midwest Family Broadcasting station.
The stations heading to Mazur are:
- Class A WSBW-FM 105.1 in Ephraim, Wisc.
- Class A WRKU-FM 102.1 in Forestville, Wisc.
- Class C3 WBDK-FM 96.7 and Class A WRLU-FM 104.1 in Algoma, Wisc.
- Class D W277BP at 103.3 MHz in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., feeding the HD2 signal of WBDK.
The deal also includes DoorCountyDailyNews.com and DoorKewauneeHighSchoolSports.com.
Mazur is paying $1.5 million for the properties, with an initial payment of $40,000 and a $10,000 earnest money deposit made. A Promissory Note representing the difference will be delivered at closing to Nicolet. The Note holds a 1.5% interest rate, with monthly payments over a 15-year period agreed to by both buyer and seller.
Mazur will lease the studios for the stations from Nicolet owner Roger Utnehmer, a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and a 42-year veteran of broadcasting in the state. He is paying Utnehmer $2,000 a month for the space.
He tells the WBA he will likely retire once the deal closes at the end of 2019. That’s not to say Utnehmer is heading to Southwest Florida and relaxing in an area highly popular with Wisconsin retirees. Utnehmer says he wants to work with radio stations and the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service to create student journalism programs for high school students.
There will be time for fun and relaxation, but perhaps even in Naples or Marco Island.
In a Facebook post made Sept. 14, Utnehmer said, “After 42 soul-expanding, wonderful years of broadcasting in Wisconsin I’m looking forward to retiring by the end of the year. With the sale of these five radio stations and web sites I look forward to being able to spend even more time with Harper and Grayson, the smartest grandchildren in America. We’ll ski Granite Peak after school, run up as many frequent flier miles as their parents allow, travel the world and plunge into experience that will expand the circumference of their lives.”
Representing Utnehmer as the legal counsel in this transaction is David Oxenford of Wilkinson Barker Knauer.
