Franklin Avenue, Feb. 20: Radio boards continue to buzz over the eventual fate of Indie 103.1.
That's right, the favorite radio station of Los Angeles blogdom -- and the one named best commercial radio station by Rolling Stone mag -- could be in trouble.
It all has to do with caps on how many radio stations one company can control in a market. As you know, Clear Channel sells ad time on KDLD/KDLE Indie 103.1, which is actually owned by Spanish-language station owner Entravision. Because Clear Channel already owns eight stations in Los Angeles, it appears that the station owner will eventually have to divest of the joint sales agreement, or JSA, it has with Entravision to sell the station's time.
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 25: The future of Indie 103.1 FM, hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as "America's coolest commercial station," may be in jeopardy because a shift in federal regulations will force Clear Channel Communications Inc. to abandon its business partnership with the station's owner.
Indie 103.1 is owned by Entravision Communications Corp., a Santa Monica-based Spanish-language media company. But it went on the air 14 months ago under a so-called joint sales agreement with Clear Channel, the largest radio station operator in the U.S. and the owner of eight stations in the L.A. market.
Revised Federal Communications Commission regulations redefine joint sales agreements in such a way that Indie 103.1 constitutes Clear Channel's ninth station here, and federal media rules bar any company from owning more than eight.
One new tidbit: Clear Channel L.A.'s Roy Laughlin tells the paper that it will officially end its ties with Indie 103.1 on April 1. Entravision declined comment for the story; get those "Keep Indie 103.1" campaigns organized now!
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