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Centennial Broadcasting

Company type	Privately owned
Industry	Radio
Genre	Radio broadcasting company
Headquarters	Clemmons, North Carolina, United States
Area served	Winchester, Virginia Fredericksburg, Virginia
Key people	Allen B. Shaw (President/CEO)
Total assets	1 FM station 2 AM stations
Website	Official website

Centennial Broadcasting is a small market radio broadcasting company based in Clemmons, North Carolina. The company is led by President and CEO Allen B. Shaw. Shaw began his career in 1959, at the age of 15, at radio station WRWB in Kissimmee, Florida.

History

1997–2000

Centennial purchased Las Vegas–based KQOL from American General Media for an undisclosed sum on May 13, 1997. Two months later, on July 22, 1997, the company bought another Las Vegas station, KJUL, also for an undisclosed amount. In March 1998, Sinclair Broadcast Group sold three New Orleans–based stations to the company for $16 million. The stations included two FMs, WRNO-FM and KMEZ, and one AM, WBYU. In April of the same year, Centennial purchased Las Vegas station KKLZ from Apogee Companies for $21 million. The company sold all six of its stations to Beasley Broadcast Group in late 2000 for $113.5 million.

Since 2004

The company would re-enter the radio business, this time in Virginia, with the purchase of Lynchburg, Virginia-area stations WZZI (then at 101.5) and WZZU from Travis Media LLC on August 31, 2004, for $4.146 million. In 2005, the company purchased WLNI from 3 Daughters Media for $4.4 million. Centennial filed suit on 3 Daughters Media and owner Gary Burns in 2006 for violating a five-year non-compete agreement. The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. U.S. District Judge Norman Moon ruled 3 Daughters Media "could not operate a station with a Talk format until the five-year non-compete" had ended on August 4, 2006. Burns appealed to United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld the previous court's ruling. In March 2005, Cumulus Media sold WBWR and translator W247AD-FM to Centennial for $1.9 million. The deal closed in April of the same year.

On May 17, 2007, Centennial announced it was buying WINC, WINC-FM, WWRT, and WWRE in Winchester and WBQB and WFVA in Fredericksburg from Mid-Atlantic Network Inc. for $36 million. Later reports had the price of the sale at $35.972 million. Shaw, commenting in a Winchester Star interview on the sale, said he had been considering buying the stations for several months. The sale closed in August 2007.

In April 2008, the company agreed to purchase four stations from Univision Radio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for $24 million. The sale included stations KIOT, KJFA, KKRG, and KKSS. For unknown reasons, the sale was never completed and the stations remain owned by Univision.

On February 1, 2011, WVMP was sold to CityWorks Community Broadcasting LLC for $500,000. Centennial sold WZZU and WZZI (now on 106.9 MHz), then airing an Active Rock format, to WVJT, LLC. for $523,000 on August 27, 2012. Mel Wheeler Inc. purchased W247AD-FM from Centennial for $75,000 on April 4, 2012. A year later, Centennial sold WLNI to Mel Wheeler Inc. on January 12, 2013, for $1.025 million. That sale was delayed due to a "petition to deny" filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Gary Burns, owner of 3 Daughters Media, contented the sale would give Mel Wheeler Inc. control of too many stations in one market. The FCC disagreed and denied the "petition to deny" in August 2013.

On October 6, 2020, Centennial sold WINC-FM operating on 92.5 MHz from Winchester, Virginia, to Educational Media Foundation (EMF) for $1.75 million. WINC-FM's existing music programming moved to the co-owned WXBN (105.5 FM) and WZFC (104.9 FM) ahead of the sale;, and Centennial retained the rights to the WINC callsign and branding. On December 29, 2020, after the sale of the 92.5 FM channel closed, Centennial transferred the WINC-FM callsign to 105.5 MHz. WZFC continued to simulcast WINC-FM's programming.

Stations

Centennial Broadcasting currently owns and operates two stations in Fredericksburg, Virginia:

Fredericksburg

Formerly owned stations

References

1. ^ "Centennial Broadcasting". Retrieved April 10, 2014.
2. ^ "Virginia Association of Broadcasters - Member Details". Virginia Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
3. ^ "Virginia Association of Broadcasters - Member Details". Virginia Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
4. ^ "Allen B. Shaw". MarketWatch. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
5. "RadioYears.com - Allen B. Shaw". RadioYears.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
6. "Assignment of License" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division. May 13, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
7. "Assignment of License" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division. July 22, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
8. ^ "Sinclair to divest certain New Orleans radio stations to Centennial Broadcasting". Baltimore Business Journal. Baltimore, Maryland. March 19, 1998. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
9. "Apogee sells radio station". Portland Business Journal. Portland, Oregon. April 13, 1998. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
10. "Beasley renegotiates deal". Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas, Nevada. December 18, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
11. "Beasley Broadcast Group Renegotiates Acquisition of Six Radio Stations From Centennial Broadcasting; Revised Purchase Consideration Totals $113.5 Million". Business Wire. San Francisco, California. December 13, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
12. ^ "New owner coming to Roanoke alternative outlet". Streamline RBR, Inc. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
13. ^ "Court Rules Against [WBLT] Flip To Talk". All Access Music Group. November 19, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
14. ^ Centennial Broadcasting, LLC v. Gary E. Burns and 3 Daughters Media, Inc. (United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia November 16, 2007), Text.
15. Centennial Broadcasting, LLC v. Gary E. Burns; 3 Daughters Media, Incorporated (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit August 4, 2006), Text.
16. "Deals - Broadcasting & Cable". NewBay Media, LLC. April 17, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
17. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. April 4, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
18. "Asset Purchase Agreement". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. March 31, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
19. ^ Mangino, Stephanie M. (May 17, 2007). "SOLD! $26M for WINC's corporate parent". Winchester Star. Winchester, Virginia. pp. A1, A8. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
20. Carnegie, Jim (May 31, 2007). "RBR's Daily Morning Epaper – Transactions". Radio Business Report. Lake Ridge, Virginia. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
21. ^ Kamerick, Megan (March 16, 2008). "Radio veteran with NM ties buys local Univision stations". Albuquerque Business First. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
22. "Annual EEO Public File Report". Univision Radio. May 31, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
23. "Centennial Sells Virginia FM Simulcast". All Access Music Group. August 27, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
24. "Robinson expands in Roanoke-Lynchburg market". Streamline RBR, Inc. August 27, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
25. Venta, Lance (April 4, 2012). "Translator Report 4/4". RadioBB Networks. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
26. "Wheeler applies to expand western Virginia radio cluster". Streamline RBR, Inc. January 12, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
27. ^ "FCC Rejects 3 Daughters Media Challenge To WLNI Deal". All Access Music Group. August 22, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
28. "ESPNinVA". Three Daughters Media. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
29. "Media Bureau Grants WLNI (FM), Lynchburg, VA Assignment Application". Federal Communications Commission, media division. August 22, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
30. Venta, Lance (October 8, 2020). "Educational Media Foundation Acquires WINC-FM". RadioInsight/RadioBB Networks. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
31. Venta, Lance (November 17, 2020). "WINC-FM Begins Frequency Move Ahead Of EMF Sale". RadioInsight/RadioBB Networks. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
32. "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
33. "FCC public file (WBQB)". Retrieved April 13, 2021.
34. "FCC public file (WFVA)". Retrieved April 13, 2021.
35. "FCC public file (WINC)". Retrieved April 13, 2021.

External links

• Centennial Broadcasting Online

• Companies based in North Carolina
• Radio broadcasting companies of the United States
• Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Winchester, Virginia