The owners of WWLG-AM in Towson expanded their nascent broadcast chain this week by agreeing to buy a second, 5,000-watt radio station, WASA-AM of Havre de Grace.
And both stations are scheduled to add new recruit Stan "The Fan" Charles as part of an expanded sports-talk segment that will run evenings. Mr. Charles is set to begin work April 3, it was announced last month.
The group, led by attorney Michael Hodes, agreed to pay $200,000 to former owner KME Broadcasting Corp. for WASA. Mr. Hodes said the station has not been profitable, but would begin making money after its administrative overhead was merged with that of WWLG and its parent Legends Broadcasting LLC. The Harford County station should also be helped after it adopts WWLG's big-band nostalgia format, he said.
"Our goal is in the next five years to add at least three to five more stations," Mr. Hodes said. He said the addition of WASA would let his stations reach listeners from Baltimore to Lancaster, Pa., and suburban Philadelphia during daytime hours, as well as part of the Eastern Shore.
The sale is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission, Mr. Hodes said.
His partners include three partners in his Towson law firm, Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, as well as radio entrepreneurs Harry Shriver and Anthony Brandon.
Mr. Shriver is former president and general manager of WFBR-AM 1300 in Baltimore, and Mr. Brandon is chief executive of American General Media, a locally based company that owns 15 stations in New York, California, Taxas and Alabama. Mr. Shriver said the pair jointly own 20 percent of Legends Broadcasting.
Mr. Hodes said WASA will change its format effective March 15. It has been a country music station, he said.