Radio Online reports that Classical WBNI 94.1 in Roanoke IN is on the auction block. It’s being offered for $2.5 million. The owner is Northeast Indiana Public Radio. The station itself is actually classified as a commercial station even though it is treated mostly like a public station. WBNI is a sister station to the NPR affiliate WBOI, which is NOT for sale, and WBNI’s classical programming is also carried on the non-commercial frequency 91.3 WCKZ in Orland. It’s all a little confusing. Both WBNI and WCKZ are for sale, as is the FM translator in Fort Wayne that is associated with them.
Want to buy a classical broadcast service? If so, you can contact Bob Heymann at Media Services Group in Chicago.
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Marty, what sort of potential connection is there – if any – to this and the efforts by the Milwaukee Symphony to acquire a license?
I’ll butt in here, Drew, to say that I don’t think there’s any relation between this and the MSO’s efforts. The MSO applied for its frequency to the FCC in 2007, when the agency accepted applications for new noncommercialm, full-power FM stations for the first time in years. I checked recently with the MSO, and they’re still waiting for the FCC to resolve a huge logjam that has ensnared their application and many others that all conflict with each other.
Thanks Mike, is the opportunity to purchase a station like the one Marty featured here a way to obtain a frequency (I’m assuming the one associated with the station)? Granted, this station is likely not what the MSO has in mind but if something like this popped up in their area (or any station in the same vicinity as a professional orchestra), would that be an option?
Oh, definitely — it’s always an option, as long as the interested party can afford it, of course. Part of the appeal of the FCC filing window was that it was far cheaper to file an application than to buy a station.
In this case, I’m curious as to whether the station is classified as a reserved or nonreserved frequency. Because it’s in the commercial band, it could be nonreserved, meaning that commercial broadcasters could be eligible to buy it. If that’s the case, it’s likely to drive the purchase price way up and could possibly exclude noncommercial broadcasters from competing.