LI Radio: Red Apple To Acquire WLID +Two Translators

Red Apple Media, the growing radio group owned by billionaire John Catsimatidis, is acquiring Spanish-language Christian station WLID 1370 AM (Patchogue, NY), branded “Radio Cantico Nuevo,” along with its two FM translators: W239CY 95.7 FM (Patchogue) and W296EK 107.1 FM (Brentwood). 

The purchase expands Red Apple’s footprint in the New York metro and adds its first full-time Spanish Christian outlet.

The deal, announced Monday will see Red Apple immediately begin operating WLID and the translators under a local marketing agreement (LMA) pending FCC approval and closing. 

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Current owner Cantico Nuevo Ministry, Inc., a nonprofit that has programmed the station with contemporary Christian music and ministry in Spanish for over two decades, confirmed the sale. The station targets Long Island’s large Hispanic evangelical community and has been a staple on eastern Long Island since flipping to the format in the early 2000s.

Red Apple Media already owns New York market talk giants 77 WABC and WLIR-FM 107.1 Talk (Hampton Bays). Adding the Cantico Nuevo signals gives the group new reach into Suffolk County’s Spanish-speaking audience and provides additional FM coverage for the 1370 AM facility, which is limited to 500 watts daytime/48 watts night.

The acquisition continues Catsimatidis’ aggressive expansion of Red Apple Media, which has acquired multiple stations on Long Island and in New Jersey over the past five years. No programming changes have been announced during the LMA period, and “Radio Cantico Nuevo” is expected to continue its existing Christian format until closing.