Northern Christian Radio buys WLJN/Good News Media

[ChrisWL1980]

Looks like a little less competition in the crowded Jesus music field is coming up north. The "Promise FM" folks are buying the Good News Media stations (89.9 WLJN-FM and 1400/104.1 WLJN Traverse City, 1370/100.7 WLJW Cadillac, 95.9 WLJW-FM Fife Lake/105.5 WSRJ Honor, 107.9 WLJD Charlevoix) for $1.
I'd expect 89.9 and 107.9 at least to flip to Promise. Not sure if NCR would want to retain the AM talk and Fuel FM stations (they did do a Christian CHR/Rock format years ago in the Tawas area, but it wasn't sustainable).

[TC Talks]

Maybe I should call them about the studio building. That's some prime real estate.

[ftballfan]

A $1 sale price???

There's something more going on here than meets the eye.

$1 is a price to indicate that some value changed hands. There's likely some donations going on.

The Promise FM will finally have a good signal in TC! For years, they've covered most of northern Michigan well with the exception of the immediate Traverse City area. Now, not only will they have a signal in TC, they will have the (current) most powerful station on the ridge (the two other 100kW stations in TC both broadcast from towers in Wexford County).

89.9 and 107.9 will likely end up as The Promise FM. If they keep the Fuel FM brand, I would expect 100.9 to flip to it as it overlaps both 90.5 and 107.9. However, I could see 95.9/100.9/105.5 go full time praise and worship (similar to Air1's format).

[ChrisWL1980]

Wasn't WLJN-AM the first Christian radio station in northern MI, if I'm not mistaken? I know Promise's flagship station, WPHN, didn't sign on until 1985. IIRC WLJN-AM took over the former WTCM-AM frequency when WTCM-AM moved to 580.
I hadn't thought about the possibility of a P&W format. I don't know how profitable Fuel FM is, but they may figure Worship music will get more donations despite the overlap in the playlists. I hope Fuel stays around, as it's at least something different in the sea of Chris Tomlin/MercyMe praise choruses.

[audiophile]

Source?

[Colonel Flagg]

Source?

It was in the trades.

Try to keep up.