CBS Corp. announced Friday completion of the split-off of its troubled CBS Radio Inc. unit and its merger with a subsidiary of Bala Cynwyd-based Entercom Communications Inc. The merger makes Entercom the nation’s No. 2 radio operator.
As a result of the merger, participating CBS stockholders will receive one share of Entercom Class A common stock in exchange for each whole share of CBS Radio common stock they received in the exchange offer, CBS said in a statement. The transactions will enable CBS to retire about 17.9 million shares of CBS Class B common stock.
“The separation of our radio business is part of a broader strategy to make CBS even more focused on our content and all the ways we can monetize it,” Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. chairman and CEO, said in the statement. “We started on this path several years ago with the split-off of our outdoor advertising business. And just as we did with outdoor, we believe our radio transaction will allow us to unlock more value for our shareholders and further grow our revenue.”
Entercom has the right to use CBS Radio branding for a year after the deal closes, Field said, adding that Entercom would “reinvest tens of millions of dollars into brand and into our data analytics.”
In all, Entercom-CBS Radio now own and operate 244 radio stations in 47 markets, reaching 100 million listeners.
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In order to gain regulatory clearance for the merger, Entercom was required to divest 14 stations in Seattle-Tacoma and six other radio markets. In Seattle, iHeartMedia receives The Fan KFNQ AM 1090, adult hits JACK KJAQ-FM 96.5 and classic rock KZOK-FM 102.5 (note new web addresses). The three additions join the company’s Seattle cluster. In order to comply with FCC ownership limits, iHeart places Seattle market KUBE-FM 104.9 (now KTDD-FM) and KFOO-FM 102.9 (now KFNY-FM) in the Ocean States Trust.
Our thanks to Gord Lansdell at Northwest Broadcasters for this local detail.
Tune in early next week as I post an article regarding the changes and some of the rumored on air changes across the CBS/Entercom family of stations
The first change so far is Amp radio New York (92.3) is now known as ALT 92.3