Reading Radio: Twilight Saves WEEU From Darkness With $88,500 Bid

WEEU's federal broadcasting licenses are being sold for $88,500.

Twilight Broadcasting Inc., which operates two radio stations in Oil City, Venango County, submitted the highest of four bids received for the licenses, according to The Reading Eagle citing court documents filed Thursday.

The sale of the licenses commenced after MediaNews Group, which submitted the lone qualified bid and is in the process of purchasing Reading Eagle Company out of bankruptcy, decided not to purchase WEEU's licenses, according to the documents, which were filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Subsequently, Reading Eagle Company solicited bids for the licenses on a stand-alone basis through Dirks, Van Essen, Murray & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, N.M.

Dirks, Van Essen, Murray & April solicited bids from 27 potential bidders and set a bid deadline for June 10. Four bids were received by the deadline, including a $75,000 cash bid from Twilight, with no contingencies.

The other bids were a $50,000 cash bid that included multiple contingencies, such as approval of its board of directors and an audit of WEEU; a $40,000 cash bid from a recently formed entity, including multiple contingencies; and a $19,000 cash offer from an individual career broadcaster.

The identities of the other three bidders were not revealed in the court documents.

WEEU, through Dirks, Van Essen, Murray & April, entered negotiations with Twilight and subsequently agreed to sell the licenses to Twilight for $88,500, subject to Federal Communications Commission and bankruptcy court approval.

Twilight made an initial payment of $22,125 that will be held in a segregated, non-interest bearing account, and credited towards the purchase price.

An additional sum of $66,375 is to be paid on the closing date.

As part of the deal, WEEU and Twilight have entered into a time-brokerage agreement that allows Twilight to provide programming for the station between MediaNews Group's closing date on Reading Eagle Company — scheduled for June 30 — and the closing date between Reading Eagle Company and Twilight.

WEEU operates with 20 Kw-D and 6 Kw-N.