| Date: |
October 11, 2005 |
| Contact: |
Tristram E. Collins, Executive
Vice President |
| Phone: |
(609) 452-9696 |
NASSAU
TO DIVEST PENNSYLVANIA STATIONS
PRINCETON,
NEW JERSEY – Nassau
Broadcasting Partners, L.P. (“Nassau”) announced today
it has entered into a comprehensive agreement with
Access.1 Communications and its affiliates (“Access.1”),
to sell seven AM and FM radio stations serving the
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
PA radio markets, subject to the consent of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton markets are, respectively,
the 68th and 69th largest radio markets in the United
States.
The
stations being acquired by Access.1 in the Allentown
market are WWYY-FM licensed to Belvidere NJ; WEEX-AM
and WODE-FM licensed to Easton PA; and WTKZ-AM licensed
to Allentown PA. The stations in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
PA market are WVPO-AM and WSBG-FM licensed to Stroudsburg
PA; and WPLY-AM licensed to Mount Pocono PA.
“Allentown
and Stroudsburg are unique markets,” said Lou Mercatanti,
Nassau’s Chairman and President. “Our stations there
represent some of Nassau’s earliest investments in radio.
While it is difficult for us to let them go, we are very
pleased that these seven stations will be in the hands
of the team at Access.1, who are outstanding broadcasters
committed, as we have been, to providing great, local
radio service.”
Nassau
Broadcasting Partners, L.P. is a privately held firm
in Princeton, New Jersey. Pro forma for the sale of the
subject stations and all other pending transactions,
Nassau will own and/or operate 49 radio stations in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts and Maine. It is the 15th largest broadcaster
in the United States in terms of the number of radio
stations it owns. The Company's web site is www.nassaubroadcasting.com.
Access.1,
the buyer, is a privately owned, New York City-based
company who’s Chairman and President, respectively, are
industry veterans Sydney Small and Chesley Maddox-Dorsey.
Effective with the purchase of the Nassau stations, Access.1
will own 29 broadcast stations in New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana, including a radio
station cluster and a television station in Atlantic
City NJ, and radio station WWRL in New York City. Access.1
also owns SuperRadio, a general market syndication company
which distributes 40 radio programs through over 1400
affiliate agreements with more than 725 radio stations.
Of these 725 stations, approximately 150 are located
in the top 50 markets nationwide. The shows are broadcasted
to an estimated 100 million people throughout the United
States.
Access.1
also has a 49% ownership interest in American Urban Radio
Networks (AURN), the only radio network designed to market
to African-American audiences exclusively, distributing
news and information programming to approximately 450
affiliates through over 300 weekly shows. AURN reaches
more African- American consumers than any other media
source, an estimated 25 million weekly, according to
the company.
Glenn
Serafin of Serafin Bros., Inc., a Tampa, Florida-based
media brokerage and financial services company, represented
Nassau exclusively in the transaction.