Connoisseur Media has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Alpha Media. The combined company will retain the Connoisseur name and continue under the leadership of Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw.
The post-acquisition footprint will make Connoisseur one of the top 10 largest radio groups in the US by both revenue and station count, including 218 stations in 47 markets such as San Antonio, Portland, Salt Lake City, Nassau-Suffolk, Palm Springs, and San Jose. The new company’s coverage will include roughly 20% of the US.
The deal price has yet to be disclosed, but it is expected to close in the latter half of 2025, pending FCC approval. In the interim, the two companies have entered into a Local Marketing Agreement for Alpha’s 207 stations.
Connoisseur, which already operates digital marketing firm Ferocious Digital, plans to merge its services with Alpha Digital, expanding its capabilities in integrated marketing services. The companies say the integration will enhance their ability to serve both listeners and advertisers at the local level.
Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw said, “We are thrilled to welcome Alpha Media into the Connoisseur family. In getting to know the Alpha team, it has become clear that we share many of the same values — a passion for serving our local communities, a deep commitment to our clients, supporting our colleagues and fostering a culture of integrity, creativity and achievement.”
“This transaction underscores our commitment to the irreplaceable role local broadcasters play in providing news, information and entertainment that truly resonates. Together, we will build an industry-leading platform of broadcast and digital. I could not be more excited to get started.”
Guggenheim Securities is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Wiley Rein is serving as legal counsel to Alpha. McDermott, Will & Emery and Wilkinson Barker Knauer are serving as legal advisors to Connoisseur. Financing for the transaction is being provided by Brigade Capital Management.
This story is ongoing and will be updated.
Here’s hoping Connoisseur keeps the vision of locality alive. Alpha never had any intention of “Live and Local” and every single station under their umbrella was working with the most barebones budget to do any marketing or outreach. It’s sad, but I’m hoping for all of my friends at both companies that they will survive the cuts and have a fresh set of resources with the new merger. The canned programming is never going to survive with every outlet we have available on the internet these days. If CM actually puts their eggs in the terrestrial wheelhouse instead of their digital only assets, this merge might create something lucrative.
Merger?? One crap radio company plus another crap radio company equals a butt load of diarrhea!!!!LOL LARRY squeezing another one out. Losers!!!
Kinda reminds me when The New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads merged. Two bankrupt railroads merged to form one giant bankrupt railroad! Sheeeesh……
I only had one interaction with Connoisseur and that was about 10 years ago. I had a “boys week” few days in western NY. 5 hours from my studio in Philly I had a computer crash and was unable to do several voiceover and content commitments. In a bit of a panic, I called their Erie stations, explained my issue and they couldn’t have been nicer, offering me use of their production studio at no charge as one broadcaster coming to an aid of another. I was very impressed with the whole operation.
I have no dog in this fight, so this is my unbiased opinion. I worked for Connoisseur Media for 10 years as a GSM and ultimately a Market Manager. Warshaw and his team are very employee-focused and fair. After 30+ years in the biz, having worked for Clear Channel, IHEART, and private owners, I’ve found CM to be a great group to work for. Every merger & sale has its casualties, but I can tell you CM loves LOCAL Radio and is unusual in that it’s not ALL ABOUT the bottom line. Hang in there Alpha folks!
After thirty-one on-air years with AlphaMedia and predecessors in Wisconsin and Illinois, I was made to drive 30 miles roundtrip to hear that I was fired as of that moment, told “now leave”, and found myself escorted out with police supervision.
Connoisseur Media has an uphill battle, especially in the smaller markets. The Shepherd Group sold their stations in Missouri (Moberly, Bethany, Cameron, Lebanon, Waynesville, Farmington and Festus) in 2007 to GoodRadio, who became Digity. Then Digity sold to Alpha Media. Alpha Media said they were ‘live and local’, but on May 7, 2024, that all came to a screeching halt for most of the Alpha stations, including Moberly, where I had worked since 1994. The employees that were terminated by eliminating the entire programming department plus those who either retired or quit as a result of the shutdown of the entire programming department, are actually better off. But, what it did to the community was the worst part. Alpha ‘powers-that-be’ were not concerned at all that they had taken away a line of communication to the community that took decades to build (Local news, obits, community news, lots of high school and college sports, and the list goes on and on)….all gone immediately. The Shepherds built a great group of ‘information’ stations that Alpha Media literally tossed away. The damage done will never be able to be repaired, especially if Connoisseur Media keeps any of the staff at the corporate level.
Alpha’s ‘Live and Local programming philosophy’? I worked for Alpha, and they torpedoed the live and local programming we aired. Fired the whole programming department in one fell swoop – 10:25 am, they were employed, 10:30 am, they were called in for a meeting and at 10:35 am, they were cleaning out their desks. That was May 7, 2024, and the station is still feeling the repercussions today.