Draper Media is asking the Federal Communications Commission to waive its local radio ownership limits as part of a proposed $2.5 million acquisition of five radio stations from Forever Media that would create a nine-station cluster in the Salisbury, DE-Ocean City, MD market.

Draper Media has filed to buy country “Chicken 101.3” WCHK-FM, hot AC “Eagle 97.7” WAFL, classic hits “97.1 The Wave” WAVD, news-talk “Delaware 105.9” WXDE, and classic hits “Cool 930 AM” WNCL. The deal also includes the Milford, DE-licensed translator W271CX at 102.1 FM, which simulcasts WNCL, and a construction permit for the Milford, DE-licensed translator W238DJ at 95.5 FM.

It is a market where Draper is well established. It already owns four stations in market No. 127, including AC WBOC-FM (102.5), classic rock “Big 107.7” WGBG, country “Coast Country 103.9 3” WRDE, and rock “93.5 The Beach” WZBH. The company also owns TV stations WBOC-TV and WRDE-TV in the area.

As a result, the deal would expand Draper’s existing Salisbury-Ocean City radio holdings from four stations to nine, including eight FMs. That exceeds the FCC’s current ownership cap in the market, which permits ownership of no more than seven stations, including no more than four AMs or four FMs. That has led Draper to file a waiver request with the FCC arguing the combination would strengthen, rather than diminish, local service and competition.

Making Case For Nine

The Salisbury-Ocean City market contains 41 radio stations owned by 19 different groups, according to Draper’s waiver request. It says the market remains highly competitive, noting iHeartMedia currently leads with roughly one-third of market revenue and more than 40% of audience share, while Draper ranks second. Even after the acquisition, Draper says iHeart would remain the market leader in both revenue and ratings.

Yet Draper argues the additional scale would allow it to better compete with other radio operators as well as digital audio platforms. It suggests that scale will give it the resources to invest more heavily in local programming.

“The proposed transaction will significantly enhance local service to listeners in the metro while maintaining a highly diverse and competitive market,” the company writes.

The broadcaster also points to recent FCC decisions granting ownership waivers in Fort Myers and San Francisco, saying those cases demonstrate the Commission’s growing willingness to depart from ownership caps when applicants show public interest benefits. In particular, Draper compares its proposal to the waiver granted earlier this year allowing Connoisseur Media to acquire nine FM stations in San Francisco, arguing the situations are similar because several of the stations at issue sit on the edge of their Nielsen markets.

A central piece of Draper’s argument involves the three Milford, DE-licensed stations — WAFL, WCHK-FM and WNCL. Although FCC rules count them as part of the Salisbury-Ocean City market because Milford straddles Sussex and Kent counties, Draper says Nielsen and BIA do not treat them as Salisbury stations and they contribute little to no competition within the metro. The waiver argues that the stations primarily serve the Milford area rather than the broader Salisbury market, making their inclusion under the ownership cap the result of what it calls “an unusual quirk” in FCC rules.

No Format Changes

Draper Media bought its existing Salisbury-Ocean City cluster as part of an earlier $11 million deal with Forever Media that also gave the company stations in the Wilmington, DE market. The company says it has demonstrated its commitment to local programming on those stations. Since that transaction, Draper says it has added hourly local news and weather updates, traffic reports, and weekly public affairs programming. It has also made infrastructure investments, while leveraging its sister television news operation to strengthen radio coverage. Draper says listeners can expect similar improvements if the latest acquisition is approved.

Draper also tells the FCC it has no immediate plans to change formats at the Forever stations it hopes to buy. It instead is pledging to preserve the market’s current programming diversity while using the larger cluster to support additional investment in local news, weather, traffic, sports and entertainment.

After this latest sale closes, Forever Media will continue to own stations in the Pittsburgh and York, PA markets.