Centennial Broadcasting

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Centennial Broadcasting
GenreRadio broadcasting company
Headquarters,
United States[1]
Area served
Winchester, Virginia[2]
Fredericksburg, Virginia[3]
Key people
Allen B. Shaw (President/CEO)[4]
Total assets1 FM station
2 AM stations[2][3]
WebsiteOfficial website

Centennial Broadcasting is a small market radio broadcasting company based in Clemmons, North Carolina.[1] The company is led by President and CEO Allen B. Shaw.[4] Shaw began his career in 1959, at the age of 15, at radio station WRWB in Kissimmee, Florida.[5]

History

1997-2000

Centennial purchased

KJUL, also for an undisclosed amount.[7] In March 1998, Sinclair Broadcast Group sold three New Orleans-based stations to the company for $16 million.[8] The stations included two FMs, WRNO-FM and KMEZ, and one AM, WBYU.[8] In April of the same year, Centennial purchased Las Vegas station KKLZ from Apogee Companies for $21 million.[9] The company sold all six of its stations to Beasley Broadcast Group in late 2000 for $113.5 Million.[10][11]

2004-Present

The company would re-enter the radio business, this time in Virginia, with the purchase of Lynchburg, Virginia-area stations WZZI (then at 101.5) and WZZU from Travis Media LLC on August 31, 2004 for $4.146 million.[12] In 2005, the company purchased WLNI from 3 Daughters Media for $4.4 million.[13] Centennial filed suit on 3 Daughters Media and owner Gary Burns in 2006 for violating a five-year non-compete agreement.[13] The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.[14] U.S. District Judge Norman Moon ruled 3 Daughters Media "could not operate a station with a Talk format until the five-year non-compete" had ended on August 4, 2006.[13][14] Burns appealed to United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld the previous court's ruling.[13][15] In March 2005, Cumulus Media sold WBWR and translator W247AD-FM to Centennial for $1.9 million.[16][17] The deal closed in April of the same year.[18]

On May 17, 2007, Centennial announced it was buying

Winchester Star interview on the sale, said he had been considering buying the stations for several months.[19] The sale closed in August 2007.[19]

In April 2008, the company agreed to purchase four stations from

Univision Radio in Albuquerque, New Mexico for $24 million.[21] The sale included stations KIOT, KJFA, KKRG, and KKSS.[21] For unknown reasons, the sale was never completed and the stations remain owned by Univision.[22]

On February 1, 2011,

Active Rock format, to WVJT, LLC. for $523,000 on August 27, 2012.[23][24] Mel Wheeler Inc. purchased W247AD-FM from Centennial for $75,000 on April 4, 2012.[25] A year later, Centennial sold WLNI to Mel Wheeler Inc. on January 12, 2013 for $1.025 million.[26] That sale was delayed due to a "petition to deny" filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[27] Gary Burns, owner of 3 Daughters Media, contented the sale would give Mel Wheeler Inc. control of too many stations in one market.[27][28] The FCC disagreed and denied the "petition to deny" in August 2013.[27][29]

On October 6, 2020, Centennial sold WINC-FM operating on 92.5 MHz from Winchester, Virginia, to Educational Media Foundation (EMF) for $1.75 million.[30] WINC-FM's existing music programming moved to the co-owned WXBN (105.5 FM) and WZFC (104.9 FM) ahead of the sale;, and Centennial retained the rights to the WINC callsign and branding.[31] On December 29, 2020, after the sale of the 92.5 FM channel closed, Centennial transferred the WINC-FM callsign to 105.5 MHz.[32] WZFC continued to simulcast WINC-FM's programming.

Stations

Centennial Broadcasting currently owns and operates two stations in Fredericksburg, Virginia:[2][3]

Fredericksburg

Call sign Frequency Format Website Source
WBQB 101.5 FM Adult contemporary www.b1015.com [33]
WFVA 1230 AM
sports
www.wfvaradio.com [34]

Formerly owned stations

Call sign Frequency City of license Years owned Current status
KSTJ 102.7 FM
Las Vegas, Nevada
1997–2000 KVGS, owned by Beasley Broadcast Group
KJUL 104.3 FM Las Vegas, Nevada 1997–2000
KFRH, owned by VCY America
WRNO-FM 99.5 FM
New Orleans, Louisiana
1998–2000 Owned by iHeartMedia
KMEZ 106.7 FM New Orleans, Louisiana 1998–2000 Owned by Cumulus Media
WBYU 1450 AM New Orleans, Louisiana 1998–2000 Defunct, license cancelled in 2012
WZZI 101.5 FM Roanoke, Virginia 2004–2011 WVMP, owned by WVJT, LLC
WZZU 97.9 FM Lynchburg, Virginia 2004–2012 Owned by WVJT, LLC
WLNI 105.9 FM Lynchburg, Virginia 2005–2012 Owned by James River Media, LLC
WBWR 106.9 FM Bedford, Virginia 2005–2012 WLGX, owned by WVJT, LLC
WINC 1400 AM Winchester, Virginia 2007–2021 Owned by Colonial Radio Group[35]
WINC-FM 92.5 FM Winchester, Virginia 2007–2020 WAIW, owned by Educational Media Foundation
WXBN 105.5 FM Winchester, Virginia 2007–2021 WINC-FM, owned by Euclid Avenue Properties
WZFC 104.9 FM Winchester, Virginia 2007–2021 WVRX, owned by Point FM Ministries

References

  1. ^ a b "Centennial Broadcasting". Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Virginia Association of Broadcasters - Member Details". Virginia Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Virginia Association of Broadcasters - Member Details". Virginia Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Allen B. Shaw". MarketWatch. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  5. ^ "RadioYears.com - Allen B. Shaw". RadioYears.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  6. ^ "Assignment of License" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division. May 13, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  7. ^ "Assignment of License" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division. July 22, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  8. ^
    Baltimore, Maryland
    . March 19, 1998. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  9. ^ "Apogee sells radio station". Portland Business Journal. Portland, Oregon. April 13, 1998. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  10. Las Vegas, Nevada
    . December 18, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  11. San Francisco, California
    . December 13, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "New owner coming to Roanoke alternative outlet". Streamline RBR, Inc. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  13. ^ a b c d "Court Rules Against [WBLT] Flip To Talk". All Access Music Group. November 19, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Centennial Broadcasting, LLC v. Gary E. Burns and 3 Daughters Media, Inc. (United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia November 16, 2007), Text.
  15. ^ Centennial Broadcasting, LLC v. Gary E. Burns; 3 Daughters Media, Incorporated (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit August 4, 2006), Text.
  16. ^ "Deals - Broadcasting & Cable". NewBay Media, LLC. April 17, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  17. ^ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. April 4, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  18. ^ "Asset Purchase Agreement". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. March 31, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  19. ^
    Winchester Star. Winchester, Virginia
    . pp. A1, A8. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  20. ^ Carnegie, Jim (May 31, 2007). "RBR's Daily Morning Epaper – Transactions". Radio Business Report. Lake Ridge, Virginia. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  21. ^ a b Kamerick, Megan (March 16, 2008). "Radio veteran with NM ties buys local Univision stations". Albuquerque Business First. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  22. Univision Radio. May 31, 2013. Archived from the original
    on 2013-07-02. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  23. ^ "Centennial Sells Virginia FM Simulcast". All Access Music Group. August 27, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  24. ^ "Robinson expands in Roanoke-Lynchburg market". Streamline RBR, Inc. August 27, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  25. ^ Venta, Lance (April 4, 2012). "Translator Report 4/4". RadioBB Networks. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  26. ^ "Wheeler applies to expand western Virginia radio cluster". Streamline RBR, Inc. January 12, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  27. ^ a b c "FCC Rejects 3 Daughters Media Challenge To WLNI Deal". All Access Music Group. August 22, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  28. ^ "ESPNinVA". Three Daughters Media. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  29. ^ "Media Bureau Grants WLNI (FM), Lynchburg, VA Assignment Application". Federal Communications Commission, media division. August 22, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  30. ^ Venta, Lance (October 8, 2020). "Educational Media Foundation Acquires WINC-FM". RadioInsight/RadioBB Networks. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  31. ^ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2020). "WINC-FM Begins Frequency Move Ahead Of EMF Sale". RadioInsight/RadioBB Networks. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  32. ^ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  33. ^ "FCC public file (WBQB)". Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  34. ^ "FCC public file (WFVA)". Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  35. ^ "FCC public file (WINC)". Retrieved April 13, 2021.

External links