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Entercom Buys 4 CBS Clusters, WILD-F/Boston
August 21, 2006 at 8:21 AM (PT)
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ENTERCOM has purchased CBS RADIO's MEMPHIS, ROCHESTER, AUSTIN, and CINCINNATI clusters for $262 million. The buyer will take over all of the stations except for the ROCHESTER stations in a time brokerage agreement starting in OCTOBER (the company will have to divest two ROCHESTER stations to remain within FCC ownership limits).
In AUSTIN, ENTERCOM gets AC KKMJ (MAJIC 95.5), Modern AC KAMX (MIX 94.7), Top 40/Rhythmic KXBT (THE BEAT 104.3), and Talk KJCE-A. In CINCINNATI, the stations being sold are Country WUBE (B-105), Hot AC WKRQ (Q-102), Oldies WGRR, and Alternative WAQZ (NEW ROCK 97.3). In MEMPHIS, ENTERCOM adds Hot AC WMC-F (FM 100), Alternative WMFS (93X), and Classic Country WMC-A, and in ROCHESTER, CBS is selling AC WRMM (WARM 101.3), Classic Rock WCMF, Top 40 WPXY, and Alternative WZNE (THE ZONE).
ENTERCOM is also purchasing RADIO ONE Urban AC WILD-F/BOSTON and will flip it effective 5:30p (ET) TUESDAY (after a stunt) to simulcast new sister Rock WAAF to provide that station with a better signal in much of the BOSTON market.
ENTERCOM Pres./CEO DAVID FIELD said, "We are very pleased to announce this expansion of our station portfolio. The combination of the CBS and ENTERCOM radio stations in MEMPHIS and ROCHESTER will create terrific opportunities for our listeners, customers, employees, and shareholders. In addition, we are delighted to enter the AUSTIN and CINCINNATI markets with such a great lineup of brands. We look forward to working with the new members of the ENTERCOM team to serve these communities.
"This transaction represents a continuation of our strategy of rewarding shareholders through dividends, share buybacks, and disciplined and selective acquisitions that create shareholder value. We believe the CBS acquisition will be accretive to earnings per share and free cash flow per share. With respect to WAAF, we could not be prouder of the quality of this station and the results achieved over the years despite signal limitations in large portions of the market. The WILD acquisition will dramatically enhance our signal coverage and enable WAAF to boost its performance significantly."

