sister station sold to Nashville firm|[03/12/08]

Two Vicksburg FM radio stations formerly owned by Holladay Broadcasting of Louisiana have been sold to Nashville-based Debut Broadcasting. WBBV River 101.3 and KBYO Sam 104.5, which both operate from Post Plaza on North Frontage Road, are set to change hands Monday.

“Listeners will not notice much, if any, change in the stations’ programming,” said Steven Ludwig, CEO of Debut. “We’re very excited to be adding River 101 and Sam to our lineup of stations in Mississippi.”

River 101 is a country station while Sam 104.5 plays a variety of classic and modern rock hits.

“River 101 is without question one of the most listened-to stations in Vicksburg,” Ludwig said. “We think it’s a great team — (announcer) Ron Anderson is a Vicksburg institution — and so we really don’t foresee any changes. Sam hasn’t been in town long, and it’s difficult to say what the impact of that station has been in Vicksburg. We are going to evaluate that, but it’s way too early in the game to know exactly what will happen.”

Sam 104.5 has been on the air in Vicksburg since 2003, at that time going by the call letters KBYO and operating from Tallulah. The station went off the air in 2004 following a lightning strike at its Tallulah tower, sat idle for a time and eventually moved into the River 101 headquarters in Vicksburg in 2008. River 101 has been broadcasting in the city for a decade.

Deloris Evans, sales manager for both River 101 and Sam 104.5, said employees at the stations have been notified of the sale, and have thus far not been informed of any staffing changes.

Ludwig said the stations’ Web sites and the manner in which listeners can contact the stations will change.

“Our company is very active in new media, so we’re planning on having a much more robust Internet presence and adding features like being able to text message in song requests,” he said. “Those are enhancements listeners can expect to be implemented over the next few months.”

The purchase of River 101 and Sam 104.5 brings the total number of stations owned by Debut Broadcasting to seven. The company purchased its first five stations throughout the Delta in June and July of 2007. They include WNLA-FM 105.5 and WNLA-AM 1380 in Indianola; WBAQ-FM 97.7 and WNIX-AM 1330 in Greenville; and WIQQ-FM 102.3 in Leland.

Ludwig would not disclose the financial terms of the sale. Technically, the sale is an operational agreement between Holladay Broadcasting and Debut Broadcasting pending Federal Communications Commission approval, which is standard in a radio station sale and will take about three months.

Bob Holladay, managing member of Holladay Broadcasting, could not be reached. However, in a news release he said, “This deal makes a lot of sense for both Holladay and Debut since it allows Holladay to focus our resources and energy on stations in larger markets, and lets Debut apply its proven model to smaller, rural markets, too. We’re confident Debut will do good things with these stations in Vicksburg.”