Bonneville International Corp., parent company for KSL Radio and TV, is in the process of trading its FM station in Los Angeles (KZLA) for four new stations in St. Louis.
In an exchange with Emmis Communications Corp. of Indianapolis announced Thursday, Bonneville will receive WIL-FM, WKKX-FM, WVRV-FM and WRTH-AM. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
"We have a long history in the Los Angeles market, and our employees there are among the best in the industry," Bruce T. Reese, president and CEO of Bonneville, said. "However, the cluster operation in St. Louis is more compatible with our growth plans than the stand-alone station in Los Angeles. We look forward to consolidating the four stations in a single operations center."
St. Louis is also a top-20 radio broadcast market. Reese said that also fits well with the company's goals and strategy to concentrate on the nation's biggest broadcast markets.
Bonneville had owned stations in Los Angeles since 1969.
Emmis Communications already has one radio station in Los Angeles. It also has 11 other stations in New York, Chicago, Indianapolis and Terre Haute.
Final transfer dates of the stations are still being determined, but Emmis will take control of KZLA in the future under a management agreement.
WIL and WKKX have country music formats and are the leading country stations in St. Louis. WVRV is modern adult contemporary, and WRTH has big band/nostalgic programming.
"We have learned to appreciate the synergy between a country music format and our community service tradition," Bonneville Executive Vice President Bob Johnson said.
Bonneville International has been concentrating its efforts on clusters of stations in recent years rather than being spread throughout the nation. Besides the new St. Louis stations, Bonneville owns three radio stations in Chicago, four in San Francisco and another six in Washington, D.C.
The new properties give Bonneville a total of 18 radio stations — 14 FM and four AM. KSL-TV Ch. 5 is its only television station. The company also owns the Bonneville Washington News Bureau, Video West Productions, Bonneville Communications and Bonneville Satellite.
Salt Lake City is now the only market where Bonneville has a stand-alone radio station. However, KSL is Bonneville's original and flagship station. The company has also been interested in recent years in purchasing a Salt Lake FM radio station too, but current Federal Communications ownership rules for multiple media have prohibited such an ownership.
Bonneville is owned by Deseret Management Corporation, a holding company for businesses affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Deseret Management also owns other media in the Salt Lake market, including the Deseret News and KBYU-TV and radio. These companies create the multiple-ownership barrier with the FCC on the purchase of any new radio stations here, unless current rules change.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com