This transaction may make some school-age children a little Goofy.
The Walt Disney Co. has finally decided to bring its teen-targeted Radio Disney Top 40 format to the FM dial in Southern California.
To accomplish this, it’s acquiring an FM translator and moving it from the Inland Empire to the greater Los Angeles area and will rebroadcast KDIS-AM.
But, Disney’s proposal could cause protests from iHeartMedia – given the frequency that’s been selected for the translator. It just happens to be the same for a big iHeart station in Riverside, Calif.
In a deal valued at $45,000, “ABC Radio Los Angeles Assets” – a Disney subsidiary comprised of Class Bs KDIS-AM 1110 in Pasadena, Calif. and ESPN Sports Radio flagship KSPN-AM 710 in Los Angeles – is acquiring K293BZ, an unbuilt translator in Beaumont, Calif.
The seller is Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, which has already received a $9,000 escrow deposit from Disney placed into an account held by escrow agent Hardy, Carey, Chautin & Balkin LLC.
According to Disney’s filing with the FCC, it has obtained the ability to prepare an FCC modification application that would see K293BZ shift from 106.5 MHz to 99.1 MHz, and broadcast with 200 watts from a transmitter in Irwindale, Calif. adjacent to that of KDIS’s four-tower array.
The 99.1 MHz signal is the same as that of iHeartMedia’s longtime CHR/Rhythmic KGGI-FM, which serves the Inland Empire and the areas surrounding Riverside and San Bernardino. However, the station’s signal reaches much of the San Gabriel Valley and commuting patterns now see many people travel to and from this sprawling area east of downtown L.A. and the Inland Empire.
Should iHeart put up a challenge, it can consider any frequency except for 107.7 MHz and 107.9 MHz, which are listed as prohibited in the asset purchase agreement. That’s because Calvary Chapel owns Class B KWVE-FM 107.9 in San Clemente, Calif., that has nearly identical signal coverage in the San Gabriel Valley as KGGI.
Meanwhile, Calvary Chapel has agreed to cooperate with Disney in seeking a waiver request of the Dec. 6, 2016 construction deadline for the CP, in accordance with the FCC’s AM Revitalization Order – another factor that clouds the translator’s eventual sign-on.
Beth Griffin of Griffin Media Brokers represented Calvary Chapel in this deal.
William B. Schutz of Schutz & Company represented The Walt Disney Co. in this transaction.
