Some of Jacksonville's best known radio stations are expected to change hands soon.
Cox Media Group, which owns stations that include, "96.9 The Eagle" and "X106.5," has reached an agreement to sell all of its stations to a new broadcasting company that is substantially owned by private equity funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC.
The announcement was made by Atlanta-based parent-company Cox Enterprises, Inc.
Cox Media Group operates more than 60 radio stations across 11 markets, reaching 14 million listeners monthly.
Cox Enterprises will maintain a minority stake in the new company, which will maintain the name "Cox Media Group." The new company will also be headquartered in Atlanta.
The planned radio sale follows an earlier February announcement that Cox was also selling WFOX-TV 30. Cox also operates WJAX TV-47 under a shared services agreement.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reported in February that Apollo Global Management, LLC. was buying a majority stake in the two TV stations.
Although ownership is changing – pending regulatory approval – Cox plans to continue managing the radio and TV stations under operating agreements with the new owners.
"We are happy our Cox Radio and national ad platforms will continue to be operated with our television group," said Alex Taylor, president and CEO, Cox Enterprises.
The radio sale will include the following Jacksonville radio stations and HD Radio-only channels:
- WOKV-HD2 | HOT 99.5
- WAPE-FM | 95.1 WAPE
- WXXJ-FM | X106.5
- WOKV-FM | News 104.5 WOKV
- WJGL-HD2 | Power 106.1
- WJGL-FM | 96.9 The Eagle
- WEZI-FM | Easy 102.9
- WOKV-AM | ESPN 690 AM
HD Radio allows broadcasters to operate multiple channels on the same main station frequency.
As an example, listeners with older radios receive 89.9 FM, Jacksonville's NPR affiliate. Listeners with newer HD Radios also receive 89.9 HD 2 (Classical), 89.9 HD 3 (Relax Radio) and 89.9 HD4 (Jazz), in addition to 89.9 HD 1 (NPR).
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
