This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Millennium Radio Gives Up 11 Local Radio Stations

Includes NJ101.5, WOBM, The Hawk and more

Changes are coming to local radio dials on the Jersey Shore, but what will it mean for the average listener?

On Monday, Millennium Radio New Jersey announced that 11 local stations would be acquired by investor group Oaktree Capital Management.

The deal affects:

  • New Jersey 101.5 (WKXW FM)
  • 94.3 The Point (WJLK FM)
  • Ocean County's 92.7 (WOBM FM)
  • 105.7 The Hawk (WCHR FM)
  • SOJO 1049 (WSJO FM)
  • Lite Rock 96.9 (WFPG FM)
  • 97.3 & 1450 ESPN Radio (WENJ FM/AM)
  • Cat Country 107.3 (WPUR FM)
  • Good Time Oldies 1160AM and 1310 AM (WOBM &WADB AM)

The agreement, which is subject to required regulatory approvals, calls for Oaktree to recapitalize the company in order to strengthen its balance sheet and position it for continued growth.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Millennium's President and CEO, Bill Saurer, said in a statement that the company is pleased to partner with Oaktree to strengthen their capital future.

“Following the acquisition, we will benefit from a strong financial position and solid cash flow, giving us the flexibility to continue to invest in our operations and execute our strategy. This transaction will preserve Millennium’s unique voice in the state of New Jersey," he said.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Oaktree Capital Management describes itself as an investment manager that
emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investmentsin distressed debt, high yield bonds, convertible securities, senior loans, corporate control (including power opportunities), real estate, emerging market equities and mezzanine finance.

Experts say this move has been inevitable for years. Tom Taylor is a New Jersey radio veteran. He is the former Programing Director of WPST, and he currently writes a daily radio column for Radio-Info.com.

Taylor believes that Millennium's problems started when it bought a lot of its Jersey Shore Properties.

"When Millennium bought these properties in the early 2000's they simply paid too much, and fell victim to the bad economy. NJ 101.5 has tried to be the big bread winner, but it cannot float the whole group," he said in a phone interview. "They've done nothing wrong, but they just started in the hole too far."

Taylor speculates that Oaktree Management will eventually turn the stations over to Connecticut-based Townsquare Media. Townsquare currently operates 170 radio stations across the country. The company's biggest investor is Oaktree Capital.

As for the average listener, locals are concerned about the changes the transaction could have on our radio dials. Shore native Jim George operates Radio-history.com, and says he hopes the stations keep their local identities.

"All I (and the rest of the public) could hope for is that there is still some local 'flavor' left in these stations, when all is said and done," George wrote in an email.

But Taylor says listeners shouldn't worry about drastic changes.

"I don't see any format changes coming. Things don't need blowing up. These are well established brands within the community. Instead they will look to turn the stations into profitable efforts. They'll probably look to widen the station's reach in terms of digital media and social networking," Taylor said in a phone interview.

Oaktree owns and operates it's own digital media company: Triton Digital. Triton Digital provides digital services to traditional broadcast outlets. The company uses tools like mobile applications, video blogging, and digital radio streaming.

As for the Millennium's employees, George says he worries about their job security.

"All I can hope for is that there will be no drastic cuts in the workforce. A lot of radio stations these days are just 'juke boxes' with no local presence or personality. Others are just simply 'voicetracked' meaning that the DJ records their shift ahead of time, and has no interaction with the audience," he said.

But Taylor speculates the current employees should be safe.

"The stations may even need additional resources, but I would say that generally speaking there won't be any severe cuts in terms of employment," he said.

Oaktree did not respond to a request for comment.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?