Gay Group Loses Battle For AM Station
Wednesday, October 6, 1999
sltrib.com
Salt Lake City came within a whisker of having its first gay-and-lesbian radio station. But when the smoke cleared from a three-way bidding battle over the bankrupt Venture Broadcasting's KWUN AM station, the winner was Citadel Broadcasting, which already owns several stations in Utah.
The apparent high bidder on Monday was Triangle Multimedia of Palm Springs, Calif., which planned a full-scale gay-and-lesbian-focused talk and entertainment format. But in the final round Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Salt Lake City, Citadel came in with a bid of nearly $500,000 to win the right to take over the 1230 AM frequency.
"We have an advantage over the others because all the stations in Salt Lake are going after the same advertisers," said Frank Olsen, a principal in Triangle, which is building a nationwide gay-and-lesbian network. "We are going after a unique advertising dollar because we target a gay-and-lesbian audience," Olsen said before the final bid.
Triangle announced its impending takeover of the station on Monday, causing speculation that its announcement may have given added incentive to competitors that might not want a gay-and-lesbian station in Utah.
"We bid up to $485,000, but Citadel bid $490,000 and said it was prepared to go to $700,000," said Triangle's Gary Goldman. |
