Salem Media Group is leaving Music City and taking its “Fish” with it. According to sale documents filed with the FCC, the Christian broadcaster is divesting its three Nashville signals carrying 94 FM The Fish to Educational Media Foundation along with one Honolulu FM.
The $7,000,000 sale comes as another major divestiture for Salem, as they seek to return to the right financial footing.
The Middle Tennessee assets include WBOZ in Woodbury, WFFH in Smyrna, and WFFI in Kingston Springs, which carry the three signals sharing a simulcast of 94 FM The Fish. 4,331 miles away on the island of Oahu, KAIM’s 95.5 The Fish is also a part of the transaction.
Pending FCC approval, WBOZ, WFFH, and WFFI would join EMF’s other Nashville-area station, WLVU, which broadcasts the Contemporary Christian K-Love format. EMF’s K-Love studios and offices are located nearby in Franklin, TN. EMF has yet to reveal how it will use the stations.
The Nashville market sale follows Salem’s shedding its Regnery Publishing arm to Skyhorse Publishing, amid a 17.5% revenue drop in its publishing segment for Q3, influenced by a 19.2% sales decline from Regnery. This sale follows the $30 million divestiture of Salem Church Products to Gloo, LLC, marking another strategic step in Salem’s broader financial restructuring efforts.
Salem voluntarily delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market in January and halted its reporting obligations, aiming to save on financial resources by reducing costs related to compliance and reporting.
This move came shortly after Salem secured a $26.0 million asset-based revolving credit facility with Siena Lending Group, replacing its prior agreement with Wells Fargo Bank.
Salem Media CEO David Santrella stated, “Salem remains steadfast in our commitment to paying down debt and reducing our overall leverage. The sale of these radio stations helps achieve those goals. At the same time, we are focused on the stations staying in mission format. We are happy to be working with our good friends at EMF to continue impacting lives through music. We are grateful for our staff at these stations that have worked tirelessly over the years.”
Salem expects to close on the sale of these stations sometime in the latter half of Q2.
I don’t think they ever figured out their identity. The programming and direction came across as compromising & money grabbing. Too bad – they had a lot of potential.
Another commercial radio station succumbs to the EMF Borg!