Newly Acquired Stations Far From Alpha's Home Base

Alpha Media will now operate 68 stations in 12 markets, most far from the Portland headquarters. Alpha now operates in San Antonio, Louisville, Dayton, Savannah, Richmond, Biloxi and other markets in the South and Mid-Atlantic. In Portland, Alpha owns KINK, KUPL, KBFF, KUFO, KXTG and KXL-FM.

ALPHA, L&L MERGE AND WILL ACQUIRE MAIN LINE BROADCASTING:  Click Here

According to oregonlive.com, longtime radio veterans Bob Proffitt, Alpha's president and CEO, and Larry Wilson, the chairman, launched Alpha in Portland in 2009.

Bob Proffitt

Proffitt declined to discuss Alpha's revenues or profitability, but said the company employs about 110 full-time workers in Portland and about another 30 part-timers.

In the announcement, Alpha's Wilson said the merger and acquisition "will allow us to streamline our oversight of all 49 stations to take advantage of the many synergies.” Proffitt said that refers to corporate management functions, not to on-air talent or salespeople. He said the L&L stood for "live and local."

Wilson and Proffitt worked together at Citadel Broadcasting, a 205-station chain that Wilson sold to Forstmann Little & Co. in 2001 for $1 billion in cash, plus the assumption of debt. After Forstmann sold the chain to Disney five years later, the company ran into financial difficulty, and eventually, bankruptcy.

Proffitt said he doesn't expect Alpha to grow to the size of Citadel, nor to flip Alpha to a new buyer.

"We're operators," he said. "We see opportunity."