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Max Media

American radio broadcast company

Max Media is an American media company that owns radio stations throughout the United States and is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The company also operates under the name River Radio for stations in their Illinois and Missouri Markets with offices in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Carterville, Illinois, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

01History

Max Media was founded in 2001. Prior to this, some of the company's management had run the TVX Broadcast Group from 1979 until its sale in 1991 to Paramount Communications (which renamed it the Paramount Stations Group), and had also run Max Media Properties (similarly named to the current company) from then until its sale in 1998 to the Sinclair Broadcast Group (which owned some former TVX stations).

In December 2003, Max Media would gain a handful of radio stations in Southern Illinois and Missouri after the Zimmer Radio Group sold 17 of their stations to Max under the name River Radio for an estimated $43 million.

On September 30, 2013, the Cowles Publishing Company acquired Max Media's Montana television station cluster for $18 million.

On October 31, 2013, Sinclair acquired the non-license assets of WPFO, Waterville, Maine, for $13.6 million; the deal made it a sister station to WGME-TV, Portland, Maine, which already produced a newscast for the station. On November 20, 2013, it was announced that Cunningham Broadcasting was to acquire the license assets for $3.4 million. The sale of the license assets was approved on June 23, 2017.

On August 21, 2013, Max Media announced that it would sell its six Arkansas-based radio stations to Bobby Caldwell's East Arkansas Broadcasters for $3 million. The sale was completed on January 9, 2014.

On August 12, 2015, Max Media announced that it would sell its four Pennsylvania-based radio stations to Kristin Cantrell's Seven Mountains Media LLC for $3.8 million. The sale was completed on November 5, 2015.

On April 5, 2017, Max Media announced that it was selling NBC affiliate WNKY in Bowling Green, Kentucky to Marquee Broadcasting for $5.6 million. The sale was completed on June 30, 2017.

All television stations either directly or indirectly owned by Max Media were sold off by 2019, leaving the company with a portfolio consisting solely of radio stations.

River Radio serves as Max Media's midwest division
River Radio serves as Max Media's midwest division

02Current stations

Radio

AM Station FM Station
City of license / Market Station Owned since Current format
Cape Girardeau, Missouri KGIR 1220 2004Sports radio
KZIM 960 2004News/talk
KCGQ-FM 99.3 2004Active rock
KEZS-FM 102.9 2004Country music
KGKS 93.9 2004Adult hits
Marion, Carbondale, IL WCIL 1120 2004News/talk
WJPF 1340 2004News/talk
WCIL-FM 101.5 2004Contemporary hit radio
WOOZ-FM 99.9 2004Country music
WUEZ 95.1 2004Adult hits
WXLT 103.5 2004Sports radio
Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, VA WGH 1310 2005Sports radio
WGH-FM 97.3 2005Country music
WTWV-FM 92.9 2005Yacht rock
WVBW-FM 100.5 2005Urban adult hits
WVSP-FM 94.1 2005Sports radio
Poplar Bluff, Missouri KWOC 930 2004News/talk
KJEZ 95.5 2004Active rock
KKLR-FM 94.5 2004Country music
Sikeston, Missouri KMAL 1470 2004Sports radio
KSIM 1400 2004News/talk
KLSC 92.9 2004Adult hits

03Former stations

Television

City of license / Market Station
  • Years
  • owned
Current status
Bowling Green, KY WNKY 40 (16) 2003-2017 NBC affiliate owned by Marquee Broadcasting
Waterville, Portland, ME WPFO 23 (23) 2003-2017 Fox affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
Traverse City, MI WGTU 29 (29) 2003-2008 ABC affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
Sault Ste. Marie, MI WGTQ 8 (8) 2003-2008 ABC affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
Billings, MT KULR-TV 8 (11) 2004-2013 NBC affiliate owned by Cowles Company
Butte, Bozeman, MT KWYB 18 (19) 2001-2013 ABC affiliate owned by Cowles Company
Great Falls, MT KFBB-TV 5 (8) 2004-2013 ABC affiliate owned by Cowles Company
KTGF 16 (45) 2001-2004 MeTV affiliate, KJJC-TV, owned by PetroMedia Corporation
Helena, MT KHBB-LD 21 (21) 2004-2013 ABC affiliate owned by Cowles Company
Missoula, MT KTMF 23 (23) 2001-2013 ABC affiliate owned by Cowles Company
KYTX 19 (18) 2003-2008 CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Christiansted, USVI WVIF 15 (15) 2003-2009 defunct, went dark in 2009
Arecibo, PR WMEI 60 (14) 2007-2017 defunct, went dark in 2017
Mayagüez, PR WOST 14 (20) 2007-2019 ShopHQ affiliate owned by HC2 Holdings
Ponce, PR WQQZ-CD 14 (24) 2005-2019 ShopHQ affiliate owned by HC2 Holdings
Quebradillas, PR WWKQ-LD 14 (34) 2005-2019 ShopHQ affiliate owned by HC2 Holdings

Radio

AM Station FM Station
City of license / Market Station Years owned Current status
Morrilton, AR KVOM 800 2003-2014Owned by East Arkansas Broadcasters
KVOM-FM 101.7 2003-2014Owned by East Arkansas Broadcasters
Russellville, Dardanelle, AR KCAB 980 2003-2014Owned by East Arkansas Broadcasters
KCJC 102.3 2003-2014Owned by East Arkansas Broadcasters
KVLD 99.3 2003-2014Owned by East Arkansas Broadcasters
KWKK 100.9 2003-2014Owned by East Arkansas Broadcasters
Denver, CO KFCO 107.1 2009-2024Owned by Pillar of Fire International
KJHM 101.5 2009-2024Owned by Pillar of Fire International
Ahoskie, NC WQDK 99.3 2003-2015Owned by Augusta Radio Fellowship Institute, Inc.
Elizabeth City, NC WGAI 560 2003-2014Owned by Gregory Communications License, Inc.
WCMS-FM 94.5 2003-2018Defunct, went silent in 2024
WCXL 104.1 2003-2018Owned by East Carolina Radio
Selinsgrove, PA WVSL 1240 2003-2013Defunct, went silent in 2013
WFYY 106.5 2003-2015Owned by Seven Mountains Media LLC
WVSL-FM 92.3 2003-2015Owned by Seven Mountains Media LLC
WWBE 98.3 2003-2015Owned by Seven Mountains Media LLC
WYGL-FM 100.5 2003-2015Owned by Family Life Network
Watch videos about Max MediaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Max Media, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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