2-13-2013
SummitMedia picked up the majority of Cox markets that were announced in the sale yesterday, including: Birmingham, Greenville S.C., Hawaii, Louisville, and Richmond. Twenty-four stations in all from the five markets. Until yesterday, SummitMedia did not own any radio stations. The company is a partnership between former Heftel executive Carl Parmer and Cox Birmingham Market Manager David Dubose. Palmer and Dubose are not strangers. They owned WBHK and WBHJ in Birmingham before they were sold to Cox in the 1990s.
Carl Parmer worked for Heftel Broadcasting, founded by Cecil Heftel. When HBC went public, Clear Channel Communications invested, taking in several steps up to a 20 percent interest. In 1996, Clear Channel tendered the shares owned by Heftel management. This got them about 62 percent of the company. They struck a deal to merge the new company with Tichenor Media, to be run by the Tichenor management. The deal closed in early 1997 and made for the first national Spanish-language broadcasting company.
Here is the full roster of stations that SummitMedia will be purchasing from Cox:
- Birmingham (WAGG-AM, WBHJ-FM, WBHK-FM, WENN-AM, WZZK-FM, WZNN-FM, WBPT-FM, and CMG?s contract rights for WALJ-FM)
- Greenville, S.C. (WJMZ-FM, WHZT-FM)
- Hawaii (KRTR-AM/FM, KPHW-FM, KCCN-FM, KINE-FM, KKNE-AM)
- Louisville (WRKA-FM, WVEZ-FM, WSFR-FM, WQNU-FM)
- Richmond (WHTI-FM, WKHK-FM, WKLR-FM, WURV-FM)
