INDIANAPOLIS–Employees at Emmis Communications learned Monday that Emmis radio properties WIBC; Hank-FM; The Fan; B105.7 and Network Indiana, will be sold to Urban One, which already owns and operates several radio stations in the Indianapolis market.
The deal will be final once it is approved by the Federal Communications Commission, which could take several months. Until then, the stations will still be owned and operated by Emmis.
The sale is in line with Emmis’ actions over the past several years that have taken the company away from the terrestrial broadcast business. The company, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, will continue to operate other non-broadcast endeavors such as Diginex and The Indianapolis Monthly.
“When Emmis launched our first station, WENS now HANK FM, in 1981, I never could have envisioned the journey we would go on. Indianapolis is my hometown, and I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish – we’ve become an invaluable contributor to the Indianapolis community, a leader of radio industry initiative and innovation, and a trusted resource for Central Indiana listeners and businesses,” said Jeff Smulyan, founder and CEO of Emmis.
Urban One will sell WHHH 96.3 FM and WNOW 100.9 FM, in anticipation of acquiring the Emmis properties.
“These are terrific general market formats and will be a great addition to Urban One in a transaction that is accretive and deleveraging,” said Alfred Liggins, President and CEO, Urban One.
Urban One is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.
