Radio Station Sale Raises Static

[SOURCE: Weymouth News, AUTHOR: Ed Baker]
In Weymouth (MA), the town council is concerned about the recent sale of a AM radio station to an out-of-state company. Principle Broadcasting purchased WJDA and WESX for approximately $4.5 million from local resident Jay Aster and his sister Joan. The sale was financed by Mercury Capital Partners III L.P., a private equity fund, based in Amherst, MA. Principal Broadcast President Otto Miller said both stations will be consolidated into a central location in Chelsea. The town council has responded by asking Principal Broadcasting to provide regular news coverage. "I can't say for sure that we won't be able to give local news coverage," Miller said. "We will be involved in local community events and what is happening there. It won't be regular newscasts. That is not the way we are set up. Part of the operation of our station is to tie into the local community. When you have a medium station like ours, it's important for us to be tied into the community." Principal Broadcasting plans to air religious programs and multi-cultural theme broadcasts when it takes to the airwaves in late June or early July. "It's been labeled Christian because a lot of churches are involved with the broadcast network," Miller said. "But we will have health experts and real estate people on the air giving information. We will be helping to address matters of the body, mind and spirit. With respect to ethnicity, we will be reaching out to Spanish speaking people, because of the influx of Spanish people into the country. We will have shows to teach them about the culture of this country. That is the mission of our network."
http://www2.townonline.com/weymouth/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=423962