It makes sense now
June 1, 2014
When the news was, for lack of a better term, LEAKED on Thursday that WJAS had been sold, I couldn’t get around why it was the only station of the two remaining Renda properties (WSHH 99.7 being the other) being sold. After all, the move leaves Renda with a stand alone FM in a major market and Iorio with a stand alone AM in a major market. That’s not something you see much of nowadays. But as we’ve learned more information – such as the WJAS staff not learning of the sale until Friday – the move makes sense.
When Renda Broadcasting donated WMNY (1360 McKeesport) to Pentecostal Temple last year, Renda retained ownership of the station’s daytime tower site. Renda’s real estate subsidiary is known as The Springhill Group. Pentecostal Temple pays a monthly rent to The Springhill Group for use of the tower site for 1360. Reading Pat Cloonan’s column from Saturday shows that a similar thing will happen once Iorio takes over operation of WJAS. The tower site in Highland Park will be rented for $4500.00 per month with a 3% increase happening every 30 months.
What makes me wonder if this has been in the works for some time is that Iorio sold his Beaver County properties in December. Although that came with a no-compete within 25 miles clause, the clause apparently did not include Pittsburgh licensed stations. Could the sale of WBVP and WMBA been the first step to purchase WJAS? Things to ponder although we may never see an answer.
Still no official word on whether the format or the staff will change, although I would expect there to be some difference in the overall operation of the station. No studio location has been announced either. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, speaking of official words…
All radio and television companies show know by now that just about anything can be found on the Internet – including their filings with the FCC. PBRTV picked up the news of the sale through Lance Venta’s RadioInsight and AllAccess.com late Thursday morning. We’ve long maintained that we only publish facts (with a hint of confirmed and reaffirmed rumor sprinkled in) here at PBRTV, but this time it seemed we knew more than the ‘JAS staffers. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to report. Or maybe owners should alert their staffs a little faster.
Is it really a leak if we get the info directly from the FCC database? The fault should be on Renda for not notifying staffers before the sale entered a publicly accessible federal database.
You have nothing to apologize for by knowing about the sale and sharing the report of it before the employees did. Renda and Iorio should’ve issued a memo on Wednesday when it was submitted to the FCC.
Lance, that was my point in the final paragraph. I published assuming that not only was the paperwork filed, but the staff had been notified. I was shocked that they had not been at that point in time. My thoughts are that many still run along with the assumption that even if the paperwork is filed that the general public is not going to see it or hear about the transaction until it’s announced. That has not been true in many years in the Internet world where, even with a limited audience, someone is going to see the posting and act from there!
In 1982 when Tony got jas and shh was a feather in his cap. now in 2014 he’s dumped stations in ok. rather than go on his motto is cheaper….cheaper…. cheaper me myself and I….screw the employees. he hates the programing side because they cost him money, and loves the sales side because they make him money. looks like sales are being tossed into they same dumpster. Tony couldn’t find the word loyalty in the dictionary if you spotted him the L and Y.
Eric and Pat were being good journalists. They followed through on reports in two industry newsletters by verifying with the FCC audio section website.
Is the sale finalized or is this just the filing for a licensee change?
Frank, the reality is that it’s in the filing phase right now.