WAMU-FM in Washington, D.C., will enter the Fredericksburg, Va., market with the pending purchase of 8,000-watt WWED 89.5-FM.
WAMU has proposed to buy WWED from the Educational Media Corp., a nonprofit Christian ministry based in Spotsylvania, Va. According to an asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC, WAMU licensee American University will pay $375,000 for WWED and a booster signal in Fredericksburg.
WWED and sister station WWEM-FM in Lynchburg, Va., went dark as of Aug. 1, 2013, according to fredericksburg.com. The stations previously aired classical music. Educational Media Corp. is selling WWEM to North Carolina–based Pathway Christian Academy Inc. for $136,000.
WAMU currently operates translators in Frederick and Hagerstown in Western Maryland, as well as WRAU-FM, a 50,000-watt signal in Ocean City, Md.
In addition to the WWED sale, All Access has reported that New Hampshire Public Radio is purchasing noncommercial classical station WCNH for $75,000 and that the University of Washington Board of Regents is turning the license of noncommercial Triple A station KEXP-FM in Seattle over to an independent nonprofit, Friends of KEXP. That deal involves $4 million worth of non-cash consideration over the next 10 years.
Hat tip to RadioInsight for the WAMU news.