By Inside Radio

The second biggest radio deal so far in 2022 has reached the finish line.

Only days after getting the green light from the Federal Communications Commission, Townsquare Media closed its $18.7 million all-cash deal to buy Cherry Creek Broadcasting.

The deal includes 34 stations in nine markets.

Including the Tri-Cities, markets are in Wenatchee, Butte, Great Falls and Missoula, Montana; Montrose, Colorado; Sierra Vista, Arizona; St. George-Cedar City, Utah; and Williston, North Dakota.

First announced in late March, the deal wasn’t expected to close until third quarter 2022.

The deal gives small and medium market specialist Townsquare Media six stations in the Tri-City market. To comply with FCC ownership limits, Townsquare was required to place CHR 97.5 Kiss FM KOLW into the Allen Blum-led Tri-Cities Divestiture Trust for sale.

Cherry Creek had earlier planned to also put regional Mexican La Super 92.5 KZHR Tri-Cities in the trust for sale, but that plan was scrapped. Instead, Cherry Creek plans to temporarily hold onto KZHR and reduce the amount of the deal Townsquare is paying to Cherry Creek by $80,000.

Cherry Creek said it expects to sell KZHR by Sept. 30, suggesting it has already found a buyer for the station.

In the meantime, Cherry Creek has signed a deal in which Townsquare will provide a variety of back-office services to the station including engineering, information technology, traffic, accounting, website operations and promotions for $2,500 a month plus another $2,825 a month in tower fees.

The spinoffs required elsewhere have been less complicated.

The deal will bring Townsquare Media to 356 stations in 74 markets.

In announcing the purchase in March, Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson said it “represents an excellent opportunity to deploy our digital first local media strategy across a broader footprint, bringing our national scale, strong digital platform, and resources to the local communities and local businesses in these markets, building upon the strong relationships these local teams have already built with their communities.

“We look forward to accelerating the digital growth in these markets as we implement our flywheel of powerful and effective marketing and advertising (digital and radio) solutions and technology platforms, in combination with our highly relevant, localized content on-air and online.”

Will & Emery and Wilkinson Barker Knauer served respectively as transaction and FCC counsel to Townsquare in connection with the deal. Kalil & Co. was the exclusive broker for Cherry Creek.

The deal was the largest radio transaction of 2022 until the sale price for Emmis Communications’ Indianapolis cluster was revealed. Urban One is paying $25 million to Emmis for several stations.

Editor's note: Story courtesy Inside Radio. Full story can be found here.