WBOB-AM in Jacksonville sold – this station is one owned by Nancy Epperson, the wife of Salem Radio’s. co-founder Stu Epperson. The sales price is about $1.5 million.. The station was sold by Salem Broadcasting to Stu Epperson’s wife in 2006…. *sniff* *sniff*…. Arm’s length transaction?
Here is Salem’s description of the 2006 transaction:
“On December 1, 2006, the Company completed the sale of radio stations WJGR-AM, Jacksonville, Florida, WZNZ-AM, Jacksonville, Florida and WZAZ-AM, Jacksonville, Florida for $2.8 million resulting in a pre-tax gain of $0.1 million. The assets were sold to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation (“Chesapeake-Portsmouth”). Chesapeake-Portsmouth is a company controlled by Nancy Epperson, wife of Salem’s Chairman of the Board Stuart W. Epperson and sister of Salem’s CEO Edward G. Atsinger III.”
WBOB-AM used to be a callsign in Cincinnati Ohio. When Salem sold that station, the callsign was moved to then WJGR-AM in Jacksonville.
Salem is a publicly traded company – one of the important reforms of Sarbanes Oxley was requiring the people who manage a publicly traded corporation to have their audit committee review and to disclose in their SEC filings when the company enters into business transactions with “related parties” that might be a way the management is doing things that aren’t in the best interest of the shareholders.
Local press report indicates the church buying the station plans to switch it from Salem news/talk to religious programming…. and the Salem programming may move to another station