IN CLASSIC FOLLOW-UP TO DEREGULATION, WFLN-FM SOLD AGAIN
GREATER MEDIA AGREED TO BUY IT, THE FIFTH OWNER IN
ABOUT A YEAR. FEARS WERE VOICED OF FORMAT CHANGES.

Section: BUSINESS

Page: C01

By Kevin L. Carter, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

For the fifth time in 13 months, Philadelphia's only commercial classical music station is being sold.

Greater Media Inc. announced yesterday that it has agreed to buy WFLN-FM (95.7) from Texas-based Evergreen Media Corp. for $41.8 million. Its value has steadily increased from its sale price of $28 million a little more than a year ago.

While a Greater Media manager said no format changes were planned, there was concern among station employees and outside experts that the station's 50-year run as the area's only commercial classical music station might be in jeopardy.

The ownership change is an indication of the frenzy of consolidations and acquisitions that has come about as a result of last year's federal deregulation of the broadcast industry.

The sale and resale of WFLN have prompted nervousness among station employees and given rise to a humorous bumper sticker that some people in local radio started displaying on their cars the last time the station changed hands, a mere eight months ago. The sticker says: ``Honk if you own WFLN.''

New owner Greater Media also owns Philadelphia's WMGK-FM (102.9) and WPEN-AM (950), and is buying WMMR-FM (93.3). It also owns Greater Media Cable.

Dennis Begley, general manager of the other Greater Media radio properties in the city, said there were no plans to change the station's personnel or format. ``We wanted to solidify our position in this market and own four stations,'' Begley said. ``This puts us in a very good, competitive situation.''

Some industry observers expressed skepticism about the format, however, noting that the new owners may want one that brings in more money.

At least one personnel change is in the works. Begley said he would take over as general manager at WFLN, replacing Jim Meltzer, who will stay on as station manager.

The purchase of WFLN and the acquisition of WMMR earlier this year has greatly increased Greater Media's share of the Philadelphia market. The company now controls stations that brought in a total of $31.5 million in advertising revenue in 1996.

The move makes Greater Media the third-highest revenue-producer in the market, behind CBS Radio, at $77 million last year, and Evergreen, whose remaining stations brought in $50 million.

Last spring, the station was sold to American Radio Systems Inc. for $28 million in a complicated swap with longtime owner Woody Tanger. American then turned around in June and traded the station to Secret Communications of Cincinnati for one in Sacramento.

In August, Evergreen agreed to buy WFLN and three Detroit stations from Secret, which received $38 million for WFLN alone.

WFLN's increased value reflects the post-deregulation climate, said Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio, a Cherry Hill-based trade publication. ``The value of FMs has gone up,'' he said. ``There was a time when you could have bought any FM in town for peanuts.''

Those days are long gone. Evergreen bought WDAS-FM (105.3) and WDAS-AM (1480) for $103 million in September. (The FM is of much greater value than the AM). In January, Greater Media paid $65 million for WWDB-FM (96.5).

Taylor also said that WFLN has been sold so often precisely because it is not a huge cash cow. Despite broadcasting to an affluent audience desirable to advertisers, WFLN is only the 17th-largest revenue-producer in Philadelphia, and usually ends up somewhere in the lower teens in the quarterly Arbitron ratings of listeners.

``Imagine a bunch of kids trading baseball cards,'' Taylor said. ``The card that might have the least immediate value is WFLN. Since [deregulation], . . . you keep the ones that can help you immediately and deal away the others.''

Yesterday's transaction did not come as a surprise. After Evergreen purchased the station, the company said it would sell one of its Philadelphia properties to satisfy Federal Communications Commission requirements.

``Philadelphia has always been a very important market for [Greater Media],'' said Taylor. ``Greater Media has become a three-market group - here, Boston and Detroit. So they wanted to fortify their position here.''

Robert Unmacht, editor of M Street Journal, a Nashville-based trade magazine, said he would be surprised if Greater Media kept the classical format.

``When a large group takes over a classical property, it usually looks to do something else,'' Unmacht said. With the high purchase price of the station, Greater Media will want a bigger return on its investment, he said.

``Classical should work, and can work, but most [broadcast owners] do not want to spend time making it work,'' he said.