EMF’s Quebecois Quest For Cross-Border Anglophones

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TORONTO — At first glance, one may simply believe Educational Media Foundation seeks to fill a gap in its nearly national footprint for its KLOVE and Air 1 Christian music networks by grabbing a pair of commercially licensed FMs in an economic struggling portion of far Upstate New York.


Yes, EMF will be gaining a presence in such small cities as Malone, Massena and Chateaugay. But, more significantly, EMF has gained two facilities that will allow it to reach English-speaking audiences from Cornwall to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and the western suburbs of Montréal.

In a transaction that will appear on the FCC’s LMS as of June 29, EMF has agreed to acquire WVNV-FM 96.5 in Malone, N.Y.and WYUL-FM “Hits 94.7” in Chateaugay, N.Y. from Martz Communications.

Upon closing, WVNV will discontinue its Wild Country programming — including the syndicated Bobby Bones Show offered by Premiere Networks.

For WYUL, Top 40 programming targeting a market where CKBE “The Beat 92.5” dominates among Anglophone pop music listeners will come to an end.

The deal is valued at $2.5 million.

Of the two stations, WYUL has a much-better signal of the greater Montréal area; it is audible in vehicles across much of the city. WVNV’s signal is largely audible west of the downtown care through Valleyfield and out to Cornwall, Ontario.

Richard A. Foreman Associates Inc. was exclusive broker in the transaction, representing Martz Communications.

Until the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the land border between the U.S. and Canada in March 2020, WVNV and WYUL regularly crossed it, and works with Radio Marketing Solutions in the operation of sales offices in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, and in Cornwall. That arrangement will come to a close once EMF takes over the stations.

WYUL has been a Montréal-focused U.S.-based radio station since 1991, and attempted to be a successor to CHTX-AM “Hits 990,” a defunct Montréal-based facility that succeeded the legendary CKGM-AM 980.

Neither WYUL or WVNV appear in Numeris ratings, as they are not Canadian radio stations.

— Reporting by Faith Newton in Toronto; editing by Adam Jacobson in Boca Raton, Fla.