Last week Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said he was getting bites on the stations. Yesterday the deals were announced. Emmis will sell all of its Terre Haute station’s, WTHI-FM 99.9 FM, WWVR-FM 105.5 The River, WFNB-FM B92.7, and WFNF-AM 1130AM/99.5FM The Fan for $5.2 million.
Emmis will sell the assets of WTHI-FM and the intellectual property of WWVR-FM to Midwest Communications, for $4.3 million. Because Midwest is currently at FCC ownership limits in the Terre Haute market, Midwest is also selling one of its stations, WDKE-FM, to DLC Media, owned by Dave Crooks. Emmis will also sell the assets of WFNF-AM, WFNB-FM and WWVR (other than the IP for that station) for $0.9 million to DLC Media. DLC also owns and operates radio stations in other Indiana markets.
Emmis has owned WTHI and WWVR since 1998, adding WFNB and WFNF in 2012. The transaction is subject to FCC approval and is expected to close after the first of the year.
Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said, “The sale of our stations in Terre Haute, while difficult, will help us further our goal of de-levering our balance sheet. We are thrilled the buyers value radio and have long traditions of success in smaller markets, like Terre Haute. I’d also like to thank our people at these stations. They have been tremendous stewards of their brands and wonderful ambassadors of Emmis’ culture. We wish them continued success.”
Kalil & Co., Inc. served as the broker in the transaction.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated there were only three Emmis stations in Terre Haute
