WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a widely expected move, the radio broadcasting company formed by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder (pictured) has sold a Washington, D.C.-area AM for just over $2 million.
The deal, which saw Greg Guy of Patrick Communications serve as the broker, concludes the spins Red Zebra sought to conduct. The company will now focus on another AM for ESPN Radio coverage in the National Capital Region.
Who’s the buyer? Look to Camarillo, Calif., and across the river to Rosslyn, Va.
In a transaction with a total value of $2.1 million, the Snyder-led Red Zebra Broadcasting has sold Class B WSPZ-AM “SportsRado 570” in Bethesda, Md., to AM 570 LLC.
WSPZ has 5kw during daylight hours and 1kw at night, from a four-tower array off Germantown Road in suburban Gaithersburg, Md. Directional, two-pattern WSPZ sends its signal southeast, giving it full coverage of the Washington, D.C., market and much of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
WSPZ is known by D.C. radio listeners as the market’s first all-Sports radio station, signing on in May 1992 as the original home of WTEM—now at 980 kHz and the lone home for Red Zebra’s delivery of ESPN Radio programming to the D.C. area.
Before its launch as WTEM, the facility was the home of Classical WGMS, simulcasting former sister WGMS-FM 103.5 (now WTOP-FM’s primary FM home).
Just who is behind “AM 570 LLC”? None other than Ed Atsinger III, the CEO and a director of each of Ventura County, Calif.-based Salem Media Group’s subsidiaries—including this newly formed entity—since their inception.
The LLCs allow Salem to operate noncommercial and commercial radio stations under the same corporate umbrella, and this points to WSPZ’s likely use as a home for its Wall Street Business Network. The business talk format currently has a presence in 13 markets, all of them above market No. 63 (Minneapolis, Houston, Sacramento, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas, Honolulu, Boston, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and Denver).
Salem’s presence in the Washington, D.C., market grows to four. It already owns and operates Christian Talk & Teaching WAVA-AM 780 and WAVA-FM 105.1, each with their own unique programming grids; and conservative Talk WWDC-AM 1260 “The Answer.”
WAVA-FM was famously acquired by Salem from Emmis Communications in the fall of 1991, flipping from CHR/Pop during a snowstorm on Feb. 13, 1992.
The Washington, D.C. station group is also the home to the studios and programming hub for Salem-supplied Sirius XM 131 “Family Talk.”
Salem did not state its plans for WSPZ in the asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on Friday (5/19).
The deal sees Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth serve as escrow agent.
Red Zebra’s legal counsel in this transaction were Kathleen Kirby and Jessica Rosenthal at Wiley Rein LLP.
