Sanchez reels in Raleigh-Durham AM

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A 2004 deal sent WETC-AM Wendell-Zebulon NC from Carolina Regional Broadcasting Corp. to Prieto Broadcasting – a deal in which the bulk of the payment was in the form of a promissory note. Now the principal of CRBC is getting the station back in return for debt forgiveness.


The station, a Class B on 540 kHz with 4 kW-D, 500 W-N, DA2, serves the Raleigh-Durham market.

Marta O. Sanchez was the principal of CRBC, but she’s using the licensee name Sanchez Broadcasting for the current filing.

The contract did not specify how much was owed on the station, only that a default had occurred on a note with a principal amount of $1.45M. Prieto, headed by Filiberto Prieto, originally bought the station for a total of $1.8M, $350K of which was paid in cash.

When the transaction closes, it will make a group owner out of Sanchez, who owns WRRZ-AM Clinton NC, serving an area to the east of the Fayetteville NC market.

Not only will Prieto remain a small group as well, it will still be a player in Raleigh-Durham. It owns WDUR-AM Durham, serving the Durham and Chapel Hill portions of the market while failing to put a good signal into Raleigh. Prieto also owns WFTD-AM Marietta GA, serving the Atlanta market.