Radio Row: 104.3 the Fan sold along with 14 other radio stations
“The sale is, according to Denver Post television reporter, Joanne Ostrow, likely to cause dozens of Lincoln Financial employees to lose their jobs.”
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Sports Radio 104.3 the Fan, “your home for the best live and local coverage of the Broncos and the NFL”, is part of a 15-station group owned by the company Lincoln Financial, an insurance and financial services business located in Greenwood Village. Lincoln Financial Media is the subsidiary that controls the stations and it is being sold off to Entercom, one of the largest radio entertainment companies in the USA, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania. This according to a press release issued this morning. A link to the release was retweeted by fan program director Nate Lundy.
The sale is, according to Denver Post television reporter, Joanne Ostrow, likely to cause dozens of Lincoln Financial employees to lose their jobs.
Included in the sale are several Denver market stations such as Comedy 103.1 (which is doing very well), KYGO (one of the top country stations in the USA), KS107.5 (hip hop / rap), AM1600 the Zone, Cruisin’ Oldies AM950 and 104.3 the Fan.
While there’s virtually no doubt that these stations will be forced to get “leaner and meaner” through layoffs I found it encouraging to visit the web sites of Entercom owned sports talk stations around the country. I was afraid that I would see mostly syndicated programming. Instead, I saw lots of local shows on stations like Kansas City’s KCSP, San Francisco’s KGMZ and Boston’s WEEI-FM. It would appear that Entercom won’t blast into Denver tearing the Fan’s programming apart at the seams. Hopefully, as far as listeners are concerned, everything will stay close to normal.
By acquiring Lincoln Financial Media, Entercom will grow its footprint to over 150 radio stations from coast to coast. It will, however, by FCC rule, be forced to divest one of its FM holdings in Denver. You can bet that there are some folks at the Fan walking on pins and needles today. Sports stations, after all, cost a lot more to run than music ones do.
