Sacramento's only "classic" oldies station, K-HITS (92.1 FM), has been sold by longtime owner First Broadcasting of Dallas to Results Radio, which owns and operates 11 radio stations in Northern California.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is expected to be finalized by the Federal Communications Commission within a few months.
K-HITS, which officially still carries the call letters KCCL, was the fourth format in as many years tried by First Broadcasting to improve ratings. The station had previously tried country music, a "Bob" (play anything) format, '80s rock and, since January of 2007, oldies from the '60s to '80s.
In the most recent Arbitron ratings survey, KCCL finished 22nd out of 31 Sacramento stations in the 12-plus demographic with a 1.3 rating.
Jack Fritz, owner of Results Radio, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. But Barry Cooper, the chief financial officer, says from his Santa Rosa office that the company is committed to improving the station.
Cooper also says there are no immediate plans to change the format of K-HITS.
"Our plans are simple: to make it a radio station that's performing well and is a profitable entity," says Cooper, who pointed out that Results Radio-owned stations in Redding, Chico and Yuba City are top-rated in their areas.
"We hope to do the same thing in Sacramento," Cooper adds.
First Broadcasting chief executive Gary Lawrence says in a statement that the company is "transitioning" away from radio in favor of television and wireless media.
"We are delighted that longtime local broadcaster Jack Fritz and his partners are acquiring KCCL," Lawrence says in the statement. "Jack is very community-foused and an outstanding station operator."
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