KDAY-FM Redondo Beach CA and KDEY-FM Ontario CA are linked by their dual presence on 93.5 MHz, with the former tied to a coastal portion of the Los Angeles market and the latter inland in Riverdale-San Bernardino. Back in 2004, a deal was filed to buy them for $120M. Any guesses what they’re going for now?
The buyer is a group of partners with radio interests in the area, going by the name SoCal935 LLC. Among the principals are John Q. Hearne and Warren Chang. They will pay $35M for the duo, with the bulk of that amount — $30M – being paid over time pursuant to terms of a promissory note.
The $120M deal, between seller Spanish Broadcasting System and buyer Styles Media Group, was dated 8/17/04.
The seller is a pair of license companies related to Magic Broadcasting, headed by Michael E. Durden.
According to BIA market reports, both stations are using a Hip Hop format. Magic was represented by brokerage firm Media Venture Partners.
KDAY-FM will join a cluster that includes News-Talk 1380 KOSS-AM and AC 106.3 KGMX-FM, both licensed to Lancaster CA, and Mexican 1470 KUTY-AM, licensed to Palmdale CA.
KDEY-FM will be in a duopoly with CHR 104.7 KQIE-FM Redlands CA.
SoCal935 also noted a quartet of what it called rural stations that BIA had at one time listed in the Los Angeles market. It noted them even though that attribution is no longer effective. They included KCEL-FM Mojave CA, KQAV-FM Rosamond CA, KKZQ-FM Tehachapi CA and KMVE-FM California City CA. The sale of the latter station to a third party is pending.
RBR-TVBR observation: This has been a challenging pair of FM stations to operate. They are both Class As, with a coverage gap between KDEY’s western reach and KDAY’s extension inland. Their combined coverage profiles leave much of the market untouched. However, according to engineering guru David Schutz, their coverage is much better than one would think or than the FCC maps show, thanks in particular to to the advantageous mountainside location of the KDEY antenna. At any rate, they are in a major population center, even if they don’t reach all of it. Maybe the new owners will find the key to making them work.
