WCNS and WXJX reportedly in LMA
February 6, 2021FROM THE PBRTV GRAPEVINE: PBRTV understands that WCNS (1480 Latrobe) and WXJX (910 Apollo), currently owned my LHTC media, will be sporting a different sound come Monday morning. Seems they have entered into an LMA with Steve Clendenin who owns Havre de Grace, Maryland station WHGM where is popular Gold format has taken off over the last couple of years. That same format is reportedly heading for Latrobe and Apollo at least for the time being. Stay tuned! More as we hear it.
Clendenin, you might recall, also saved the Radio PA Network which had been about ready to completely shut down a few years ago.
I wish Mr. Clendenin the best of luck in this venture. However, this is a very sad footnote to the future of LHTC’s radio arm. WCNS/WXJX GM Brandon Kail, who had acquired several other stations at around the same time, has been battling brain cancer for the past two years, and it has left a lot of damage in its wake. He’s a man of incredible faith and integrity, as is the rest of his family. Please pray for Brandon and his wife, as well as their ten (seven boys and three girls) children.
Oh wow, that’s sad news. We all wish the family all the best.
Was listening to 1480 last night and again today – love the tunes! 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. Wonder if they will continue airing Penn State football and basketball?
RadioInsight had this yesterday …
LHTC Media has sold 1480 WCNS/97.3 W247CX Latrobe and 910 WXJX Apollo/98.7 W254CR Latrobe PA to Steve Clendenin’s Maryland Media One for $475,000.
The sale filing has led to an immediate format change as both stations dropped their Variety Hits “Jack-FM” for Oldies as “Westmoreland Gold” via LMA. The format matches the programming on Clendenin’s 1330 WHGM Havre de Grace MD. Clendenin also owns the statewide “Radio PA” news network.
WCNS had previously been Soft AC “97.3 Lite-FM” until flipping to a simulcast of WXJX last fall. LHTC Media retains its cluster of stations in Morgantown WV.
Oddly enough, two things — it’s the same genre (popular music of the 60s and 70s) found at WKFO in Kittanning, and WXJX still has its towers in Orchard Hills, Kiskiminetas Township, Armstrong County.