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It could be announced as early as today that Cumulus will pick up the two Merlin stations in the City of Chicago (market #3) as the company continues to grow its footprint in major markets to compete more with Clear Channel on every level possible. Speculation is that Cumulus will take over the stations in an LMA today. The Alternative rock format of WKQX-FM once heard at 101.1 will return to that dial position from 87.7, which is actually a low-power TV station, whose audio can be heard on 87.7 FM.. The current format at 101.1 (90's from 2K to today) will go away. Also, "Chicago's Classic Rock Station, WLUP-FM (The Loop) will continue as is at 97.9. The legendary WLUP has been carrying the Classic Rock format for nearly 40 years. There had been some speculation that Cumulus would drop the NASH format onto one of the signals if a deal would be worked out, however, that is not the case as of today.
Cumulus owns WLS-AM and WLS-FM in Chicago. Launched in 2011, Merlin Media, run by Randy Michaels with funding from GTCR, has been shedding stations, most recently selling its Philadelphia outlet to EMF for a little over $20 Million. Merlin had purchased WWIQ in Philly one year earlier for $22.5 Million.
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