MUMBAI: The New York Times Co. is selling its classical music station and exiting the radio business.
The Times is selling WQXR-FM in a three-way deal that will see the classical music format become part of public radio, and its 96.3 FM signal broadcast a Spanish language station.
Univision Radio will pay the Times $33.5 million to exchange the broadcast license of WCAA, at 105.9 FM for the 96.3 FM signal.
Related Post
WNYC Radio, the city’s public radio provider, is paying $11.5 million for WQXR’s call letters, and the license for 105.9 FM.The Times has owned WQXR since 1944.
The New York Times said WQXR-FM, a classical music station that serves the metropolitan area, would be acquired by the radio segment of Univision Communications Inc. (UVN). The Spanish-language media company will pay $33.5 million to exchange the broadcast license and transmitting equipment for its 105.9 FM frequency for that of WQXR’s 96.3 frequency, which has a stronger signal. WNYC Radio will then pay New York Times $11.5 million for the WQXR-related assets.
The sale is expected to close in the second half, Times Co. said today in a statement ending the publisher’s ventures into so-called terrestrial radio.
WQXR was founded in 1936 as the U.S.’s first commercial classical station. The FM station signed on in 1939 and both were sold to New York Times in 1944.In April 2007, Times Co. sold its WQEW-AM station to Walt Disney Co. for $40 million.
The deal is one of several New York Times has been looking at or already agreed to in recent months. It settled on a $225 million sale-leaseback of its Manhattan headquarters with an investment firm in March, and has been exploring the sale of its stake in New England Sports Ventures LLC, owner of baseball’s Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park.
