Despite a deal in the works to sell six of the county's
eight commercial radio stations, it's business as usual for now, according to
The Berkshire Eagle.
The transaction to sell the stations to Reed Miami Holdings,
LLC, for an undisclosed price remains pending, according to Peter Barry, vice
president and marketing manager for Gamma Broadcasting, a corporation spun off
one year ago by the Vox Berkshire Radio Group.
A revised application to transfer ownership to Greg Reed,
owner of Reed Miami Holdings, was filed with the Federal Communications
Commission on Sept. 24.
The original proposed agreement, filed Aug. 23, involves
three Pittsfield stations, Hot AC WBEC-FM "Live 95.9", Sports WBEC 1420
AM, and Oldies WUHN 1110AM 1110 / WUPE 100.1 FM based in North Adams. Also to
be sold are WNAW 1230 AM 1230 in North Adams and
WSBS 860 AM 860 in Great Barrington , which
emphasize local information and play adult contemporary music.
"The stations are currently involved in a pending sale
transaction with a buyer," Barry said in a brief statement. He added that
current management and staffers are being retained and that there's no
timetable yet for a closing date on the ownership transfer.
Only WBRK's 1340 AM (AC) and 101.7 FM (Hot AC) signals in Pittsfield remain locally
owned by the Hodgkins family. Willard C. "Chip" Hodgkins III is
president of WBRK, which first went on the air in 1938. Willard
"Huck" Hodgkins, Chip's father, acquired it in 1984 for $625,000.
WBRK, through its Washington ,
D.C.
According to the document, a purchase price has been agreed
upon and "the parties are in the process of formalizing the
agreement."
"We have no problem with the transaction going
through," Chip Hodgkins said, but as a station owner, it's information he
would like to know and it is required by the FCC.
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