On March 8, 2018, “a pioneering Hattiesburg radio icon” died at a local hospital at the age of 96.
Now, an AM radio station and its FM translator in this Mississippi town are being sold from this individual’s estate.
The buyer is getting its third property as a result of this transaction.
With Sports and News/Talk programming, WHSY-AM 950 is the second radio station to serve Hattiesburg. It had been owned by Charles W. “Charlie” Holt, who led Gulf South Communications until his passing 20 months ago.
“Charlie Holt was one of a kind,” Dave Davies, Director of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi, told the Hattiesburg American at the time of his death. “He was a natural storyteller who had made his living in radio from World War II until the 21st century. He had many friends in the Pine Belt and in radio across the country.”
Holt ended up owning 10 radio stations, and some TV stations, across seven decades.
But, it is WHSY, with a daytime signal reaching Laurel, Miss., and its 64 watts at night plenty to cover Hattiesburg, that stayed with Holt the longest.
Now, the AM — and W290DQ at 105.9 MHz — are being sold by Gulf South under the direction of Sherry Ashley, executrix of Holt’s estate.
The buyer is Sunbelt Broadcasting Corp., led by Timothy D. Lee.
He’s paying $12,000 for the AM and translator.
With WHSY, Sunbelt will grow its stable of fully-licensed stations to three, as it already owns WCJU-FM and WJDR-FM in Prentiss, Miss.
