2 Nashville Radio Stations To Be Sold

Cumulus must divest if deal is approved

Willy Daunic, The Zone

At least two Nashville radio stations are about to go on the sales block as a result of the pending $1.7 billion purchase of Citadel Broadcasting by Cumulus Broadcasting, the No. 2-ranked radio chain in the country.

According to a story by Anita Wadhwami at The Tennessean, which stations get sold, to whom and what other format shifts or on-air personnel changes occur won't be decided until the Cumulus-Citadel deal is finalized later this year.

Among other things, the uncertain prospects affect the city's top-rated sports radio station — 104.5 The Zone, WGFX-FM, which broadcasts Tennessee Titans football games among its programming.

Cumulus, which owns five stations in this market, will pick up two more here when it buys Citadel.

The catch is that Federal Communications Commission rules for a market this size put one company's ownership limit at five outlets.

"We will be divesting two stations in Nashville," said John Dickey, Cumulus' Atlanta-based chief operating officer. "Ultimately, we'll have the same number of stations in Nashville as we do now — five. The mix of those stations might change."

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