Salem Media Group has revealed plans to eliminate all of its outstanding debt through a series of strategic transactions. This includes selling seven of its Christian AC stations to the Educational Media Foundation.
EMF will acquire several of Salem’s music stations for a total of $80 million, along with a $10 million advertising and marketing agreement.
The acquisition includes “104.7 The Fish” WFSH-FM Atlanta, GA, “95.5 The Fish” WFHM Cleveland, 102.7 KBIQ Colorado Springs, 94.9 KLTY Dallas, “95.9 The Fish” KFSH Los Angeles, “104.1 The Fish” KFIS Portland, and “103.9 The Fish” KKFS Sacramento.
EMF is expected to take over these stations around February 1.
With the sale, Salem Media Group will no longer operate in the Christian AC format. The company will now focus exclusively on its Christian Preaching and Conservative Talk divisions. For now, Salem will continue to operate 95.9 The Fish (WTOH-HD2) in Columbus.
Salem Executive Chairman/co-founder Edward G. Atsinger said, “We have made a strategic decision to exit the Contemporary Christian Music format in order to pay off all of Salem’s long-term debt. We could not be more delighted that the buyer is EMF. EMF has demonstrated over many years a unique ability and dedication to creating and distributing the highest quality Christian music content to its listeners in a positive and encouraging way. I am confident that their impact on listeners and their communities will be incredibly effective.”
According to EMF interim CEO Tom Stultz, “As Salem has leaned into its talk and information programming, we are honored to carry the torch and keep Christian music flowing over these frequencies. These strong stations expand our coverage area and help us deliver on our mission to reach more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We feel it is an incredible opportunity to continue serving listeners with Christian music in these important markets.”
Mike Blakemore Salem, VP of Programming Christian Music Stations, wrote on Facebook, “Today my company announced that to eliminate debt, they are selling all our Christian Music Stations to EMF, the company that runs KLove. All of us working on the Fish branded stations that I oversee will be looking for new challenges at the end of January, including myself.”
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