COCOA BEACH, FLA. — Since 2007, veteran radio industry executive Jay Meyers has served as the outsourced Chief Operations Officer for Horizon Broadcasting Company, a licensee owned by the Smith family.
Since 2017, the family expressed the desire to retire, and wind down operations. This led to the sale of properties in Tallahassee and the Treasure Coast, followed by the divestment of a Panama City Beach, Fla., station. The Panhandle FM’s sale closed in February.
Now, Horizon is formally exiting broadcasting by selling their top-rated standalone Class A FM, which has a Class C3 CP, in fast-growing Brevard County. The buyer? It’s a Sunshine State operation focused on properties in Gainesville, but also has an operation in both Orlando and Dallas.
MARC Radio, led by Roger Holler, is agreeing to purchase Classic Hits WSBH-FM 98.5, licensed to Satellite Beach and serving such cities as Cocoa, Melbourne and Viera.
The purchase price? MARC is paying $3.25 million for the standalone FM.
That’s an impressive sum, and reflects WSBH’s brand value established under Meyers’ leadership and Smith family ownership. In Fall 2021, WSBH, branded as “98.5 The Beach,” towered over the entire market with an 8.0 share; WSBH’s signal does not reach much of Titusville and Cape Canaveral. Furthermore, WSBH competes against clusters of stations owned by iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media, as well as iHeartMedia and Audacy Corp. FMs based in Orlando.
The Beach has perhaps excelled because of its ability to hyperfocus on Brevard County. “We’ve operated the station as a ‘throwback,'” Meyers tells RBR+TVBR. “We are live and local from 6am-7pm as a single station against clusters. Our staff is always making appearances and they are out in the community.”
It’s been like that at WSBH since Meyers, through his Broadcast Management & Technology consultancy, signed on as the outsourced COO for Horizon.
When it came time to find the right buyer for the station, the Smith company “was looking around for a special company” to sell WSBH to. Acting as Horizon’s broker, MARC Radio emerged as the type of buyer Vernon Smith was seeking.
Paperwork was put together, and a deal was put together. Serving as MARC Radio’s broker of record is Doyle Hadden of Hadden & Associates.
WSBH was born in Christmas 2006, an Auction 37 Class A awarded by the FCC. From the start, the idea was to fill a niche. That mission will continue once MARC closes on the station.
“We have always focused on being local and that goes for the sales effort,” Meyers says. “We have no corporate initiatives pushed through to the clients.”
Meanwhile, the sales team has shown prowess in selling WSBH’s digital assets. As 2022 comes to a close, one-third of the business is digital, Meyers shares.
Thus, there are zero anticipated changes at The Beach once MARC Radio completes the transaction. “They are buying the station in great part due to the staff, and they told them that at a meeting [on Tuesday],” Meyers says.
For MARC Radio, WSBH will be paired with a Christian Talk & Teaching trio in Orlando branded as “The Shepherd” (WIWA-AM in Eatonville, WRZN-AM 720 in Hernando and WTMN-AM 1430 in Gainesville; a five-station cluster of secular FMs in Gainesville-Ocala; and religious KGGR-AM 1040 in Dallas and K295DA at 106.9 MHz, also in Dallas.
The Texas transaction closed in April 2022.
What’s next for Meyers? He says that he is in discussions with MARC Radio about continuing as an outsourced COO for WSBH. But, Meyers says his main focus will be on his consultancy, through which he advises management of radio companies and ancillary radio business enterprises.
