They Meant Toledo Radio

With the hat tip to long-time friend and colleague Scott Fybush and this week's Radio Journal, we're passing along word that the Toledo market could be getting a new FM radio station.

The proposed move-in is no surprise: BAS Broadcasting AC WPFX-FM/107.7 North Baltimore has filed with the FCC to move to a very Luckey city of license. (Sorry, Scott...we couldn't resist the pun, either.)

Luckey, Ohio, that is...and a quick look at the map puts that small town just north of Pemberville in extreme northern Wood County...right on the border with Lucas County. Pemberville, of course, is where Clear Channel country WCKY-FM/103.7 landed on the COL Map after "moving" from its original home of Tiffin.

The application for WPFX specifies a 5.2kW facility along I-75 just north of Bowling Green, with a 60 dBu city grade signal that cuts off just north of downtown Toledo, and just south of the suburb of Oregon. The resulting signal should prove to be a serviceable class A rimshot for the Toledo market.

You can take a gander at the predicted city grade signal on this map from the FCC application.

The station recently returned to the air after signing off... and BAS is now keeping the signal warm by simulcasting co-owned AC WFRO-FM/99.1 Fremont "Eagle 99".

Ah, but BAS has no plan to operate WPFX in Toledo.

Long-time readers will recall that BAS sold the station to Toledo Radio, LLC, a group headed by former Toledo market owner Dan Dudley and attorney Phil Dombrey. The sale was approved in 2008, but has not yet closed.

Fear not, says BAS in the application to move 107.7 to Luckey, Ohio:

THIS APPLICATION IS BEING MADE FOR THE BENEFIT OF A PREVIOUSLY APPROVED ASSIGNEE (TOLEDO RADIO LLC) OF THE LICENSE OF WPFX OF WHICH NONE OF THE PRINCIPALS HAVE ANY OTHER MEDIA OWNERSHIP INTERESTS.

THE FCC HAS GRANTED APPROVAL OF THE ASSIGNMENT AND THE CLOSING OF THE
ASSIGNMENT/SALE SHOULD BE WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THIS FILING.

That's 30 days from September 14th, so presumably, the closing by Toledo Radio should happen soon.

The move will obviously not be approved by then, so the station will continue to operate from the North Baltimore facility...our guess as a continued simulcast of BAS' WFRO-FM through some sort of short term reverse LMA, much like BAS continues to operate WTTF/1600 Tiffin for its new owner, syndicated talk radio host Doug Stephan's Tiffin Broadcasting LLC.

Again, as noted by the subject header here, it's no surprise that Dudley and Dombrey want to move WPFX north...based solely upon the company name they used to make the acquisition. It's not North Baltimore Radio, LLC, after all...