Bonneville Sells KOIT/1260 To Immaculate Heart

Bonneville International's final remaining Bay Area broadcast property, KOIT/1260, has reportedly been sold to IHR Educational Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Immaculate Heart Radio, which describes itself as a "non-profit umbrella organization that operates a 24-hour Catholic Radio Network on the West Coast."

The reported sale price for the station is $14-million.

The station presently simulcasts KOIT/96.5's Lite Rock programming via the 1260 AM 5000-watt daytime, 1000-watt nighttime signal that was once the beloved KYA.

IHR also operates Catholic-programmed stations elsewhere in California, Nevada and New Mexico, including KWG/1230 in Stockton and KSMH/1620 in Sacramento. IHR may take over operation of the station in the next few weeks with an LMA in advance of final FCC approval of the sale.

Bonneville Trades S.F. Stations To Entercom

According to a breaking bulletin in Radio & Records, Bonneville International and Entercom have executed a multi-city, multi-station swap that will move KOIT-FM (96.5), KDFC (102.1) and KMAX (95.7) into Entercom's stable.

Bonneville will gain KIRO, KBSG and KTTH in Seattle and WKRQ, WSWD, WUBE and WYGY from Entercom in exchange for the San Francisco cluster, the report claims. R&R also notes that both ownership groups will be seeking a time brokerage pact (LMA) to operate their new stations by the end of this quarter, and are hoping to close on the deal by the end of 2007.

"We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of this terrific group of stations in San Francisco, one of America's greatest markets," Entercom president and CEO David J. Field said in a press release quoted by R&R. "[T]he opportunity to enter the fourth largest market with a station group led by KOIT, one of America's strongest radio brands, was incredibly compelling."

The press release also notes "KOIT is an award-winning Adult Contemporary station, a perennial market ratings leader and one of the nation's most respected radio brands. KDFC is one of the nation's leading Classical stations while KMAX is a newly formatted station that debuted an Eclectic Hits format in 2006."

ADDENDA: In the original bulletin from Radio & Records, no mention was made of Bonneville's KOIT/1260. The report was updated to include the following: "The company [Bonneville] will be keeping its KOIT-AM (1260), which is a simulcast of KOIT-FM. Not word yet on what will become of KOIT-AM's format."