North Texas Public Broadcasting, licensee of NPR News/Talker 90.1 KERA-FM, is getting a second signal in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. 91.7 KVTT-FM is coming from Covenant Educational Media Inc. Brokerage Kalil & Co. and Public Radio Capital handled the arrangements in what turned out to be an $18M transaction.
NTPB, which used to mix music in on KERA, is thrilled to get a chance to break back into the music business, and plans to install an AAA format. The programming in the works was decribed as “diverse, adult-oriented playlists covering a broad spectrum of music such as folk, acoustic, world music, and alternative and indie rock and country.”
In an era where noncommercial religious stations have been snapping up frequencies on both sides of the reserved band and supplanting secular formats, this deal at least momentarily reverses the trend. Covenant had been running a religious format on the station.
“This acquisition allows KERA to significantly advance its mission and strategic direction by increasing public media services for the people of North Texas,” said Mary Anne Alhadeff, KERA’s President & CEO. “The new station will be a public radio music format programmed with the North Texas audience in mind. It will be a terrific complement to KERA’s news and information station 90.1 FM and a substantial addition to KERA’s overall multimedia services for the public.”
