NEPA Radio: Seven Mountains To Acquire Joe Reilly Stations

Radio WHLM owners Joe and Nancy Reilly have agreed to sell their radio network for $450,000 to Seven Mountains Media, reports The Press-Enterprise.

That’s the corporate owner of Bigfoot Country stations here and in other Pennsylvania markets.

Joe Reilly said the decision to accept the offer made by Seven Mountains earlier this year came at the right time for his family, who plan to stay in Bloomsburg for now.

‘“I turned 70 two weeks ago,” Reilly said. “Our shareholders, me and my wife, are very happy.”

The deal includes the purchase of Columbia Broadcasting network of AM and FM stations. It also includes four translator frequencies running the same programming at 94.7 FM in West Hazleton, 96.3 FM in Berwick, 104.3 FM in Bloomsburg and 105.5 FM in Danville.

The deal also featured a non-competitive agreement that Reilly would not own or manage any radio station within 60 miles of here for the next five years.

Reilly, who with his wife has other local business interests, will keep ownership of the WHLM studio property at 124 E. Main St.

He also hopes a handful of his longtime employees and contract workers, led by operations manager Ben Willis and engineer Bob Wright, will continue working at the station.

WHLM listeners won’t notice any change in on-air programming, at least through the summer, while FCC licensing and broadcast red tape is being finalized, Reilly said.

Reilly and his wife formed the Columbia Broadcasting Company in 2001 with an initial investment of $45,000 for a radio station that was owned by Press Enterprise and had been temporarily off the air.

Seven Mountains Media is a diverse multimedia marketing and advertising company that has expanded its broadcast market with purchases of 28 signals from six owners in recent years.

It considers the Columbia FM network led by WHLM 930 AM in Bloomsburg and 1280 WBWX in Berwick as part of its Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market, according to a company press release.

In addition to Bigfoot Country radio at 106.5 FM here, Seven Mountains Media owns and operates Country Bigfoot 103.1 FM in Stroudsburg and Bigfoot Legends 107.7 FM in Dallas.

It also owns WARM 590 AM in Scranton along with Classic Hits Hanna 92.3 FM WHNA in Riverside and 97.5 FM in Bloomsburg.

WHLM began as WCNR radio in 1947. It changed its call letters in 1951 to the initials of Harry L. Magee, the late owner of Magee Carpet Co. and Magee Industrial Enterprises.

Its on-air format largely has consisted of “oldies” and classic rock music along with live broadcasts of local high school and college sports.

“We’re not going anywhere.... except to the shore. We still have a lot of friends down there we can visit now when we want to.”