Pump Up The Jam: A New Entrant To Radio Ownership

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A Form 314 filing with the FCC made Thursday confirms what has been widely reported across the radio industry: Max Media has agreed to sell four FMs along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Additionally, two other stations are being purchased in a separate deal with a different seller.


The buyer is a company led by pastor who launched the operation in June 2015 as a full service agency focused on “delivering results through endorsement radio.”

He’s got some great experience, including serving as GSM for Citadel and Cumulus Media in the nation’s No. 1 market.

Introducing JAM Media Solutions, not to be confused with jingle producer JAM Creative Productions.

This JAM is based out of the East Orange, N.J., home of Jonathan A. Mason, the President and 100% owner. And, this JAM is buying WCXL-FM 104.1 “Beach 104” in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., and WCMS-FM 94.5 in Hatteras, N.C.

The purchase price in this transaction is $1.75 million.

A $92,500 initial deposit has been made with escrow agent Southern Bank & Trust Company.

Serving as JAM’s legal counsel in the Max Media deal is John Garziglia of Womble Bond Dickinson LLP.

The broker in this transaction, representing JAM, is Mahlman Company.

In a second concurrently drafted transaction, JAM is purchasing Class C2 WVOD-FM 99.1 in Manteo, N.C., serving Nags Head and the Outer Banks; and Class C3 WZPR-FM 92.3 in Nags Head.

The seller is Hengooch Licensee, a subsidiary of Max Media.

The purchase price for WVOD and WZPR is $100,000, with $92,500 already paid via an initial deposit, as the asset purchase agreement filed June 28 with the FCC is dated June 11.

But wait, JAM is buying additional stations, in mid-America: It is also purchasing two Muscatine, Iowa stations from Prairie Communications KMCS-FM 93.1 and KWPC-FM 95.1 — and a newspaper for $965,000.

The asset purchase agreement for this deal has not yet been filed with the Commission.

Before starting up JAM Media Solutions, Mason served as GSM for WABC-AM 770 and WNBM-FM “Radio 103.9” in New York under Citadel and, later, Cumulus ownership. He was promoted to the role, which he held for 4 1/2 years, in December 2010 after nearly three years as LSM of WABC and the Imus in the Morning program.

From 2005-2007, he was an NSM for Cox Radio. Before that, he spent 7 years and two months as an AE and Retail Sales Manager for CBS Radio.

While the New York Tri-State Area is his home, the Tidewater region and North Carolina’s Outer Banks aren’t foreign territory: Mason is a 1995 graduate of Norfolk State University. An endowment for NSU students in the Mass Communications Program was established in his honor in 2016.

Mason is also a Pastor with Northeast Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

In an interview with Outer Banks This Week, a joint venture with North Carolina E-paper — an entity JAM is acquiring from Max Media — Mason said, “Having worked in radio since 1995, let me state for the record that I believe in the power of local radio. Our goal is to unite local on-air personalities, local salespeople and local advertisers together in an effort to deliver a first-rate experience for our local listeners.”

JAM Media Solutions initially began as a strategic media planning and buying agency. This is the company’s first venture into radio station ownership.

“JAM Media Solutions will also be very committed to the local communities in which we exist,” Mason added. “A portion of our income will be donated to non-profits dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the people our stations touch.”

The deal received a seal of approval from Max Media Chairman/CEO Gene Loving. He told the online newspaper, “We believe Jonathan Mason, and his company JAM Media Solutions, will be an important contributor to the Outer Banks community as they invest in the future of these iconic radio stations.”

Loving added that longtime GM and “Beach 104” morning host Mike Smith will stay in his dual roles following the transfer of control of the four Max-controlled stations in North Carolina.


More from Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink: https://radioink.com/2018/06/27/who-is-jonathan-mason/