A potential buyer of the bluegrass station and stream run by WAMU in Washington, D.C., now has until February to finalize a deal.
The Bluegrass Country Foundation, a community group founded to save WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, has until Feb. 6 to wrap up negotiations after the two parties agreed to extend the Jan. 1 deadline, according to letters on their websites.
WAMU will continue operating Bluegrass Country until the new deadline, according to the letters.
The foundation is looking to raise $50,000 by the end of the year to keep Bluegrass Country going through next year and to negotiate a deal with the owners of the station’s FM signal. The 105.5 FM frequency is not owned by WAMU. WAMU has already sold two other translators in Maryland that were airing Bluegrass Country.
“Because of the new start date, the Bluegrass Country Foundation is now in a position to assume operations of WAMU with significantly less risk,” said Jeffrey Ludin, president of Bluegrass Country Foundation. “We have presented an operating plan that addresses the concerns of WAMU management and are confident that if we meet our expected funding levels we will be able to keep broadcasting in the Washington DC area.”
WAMU announced plans in July to sell Bluegrass Country’s intellectual property, branding rights, music library and use of an HD Radio subchannel. The station cited advice from consultants that its listeners were more interested in its news and information programming.