“Pausing” Radio Stations

The author is publisher of Inside Music Media, where this commentary first appeared. Subscription info can be found here.

Owners finding themselves deeper in debt and far from turning a profit are switching strategies in a market where buyers do not exist — silencing stations that are losing money and dealing with them later.

Townsquare Media is the model — the company is shutting down 103.9 KKAM(FM) in Lubbock, Texas, citing economic conditions. They’ve told the FCC they may return it to the air but most likely they will either sell it to someone in the market or relinquish the license.

As things get tougher for radio advertising, groups are not just laying people off — they’re still doing that — but pressing the pause button on the stations that are a burden to their financials.

KKAM was that kind of station for Townsquare.

Recent Townsquare divestitures

KOLM(AM) Rochester, Minn. — License returned and cancelled in April after being silent for one year — Townsquare cited “economic problems” for the initial sign-off.
WDLA(AM/FM) Walton, N.Y. — Taken silent for “economic reasons” in 2025; eventually sold to Bold Gold Media Group for a nominal $50,000 in September.
KBOB(AM) Davenport, Iowa — License returned and station shut down recently.
KSLI(AM) Abilene, Texas — The “Red Dirt Country” outlet was silenced due to market conditions.
WJLK(AM) & WOBM(AM), Monmouth/Ocean County, N.J. — Townsquare shut down these AM signals and their associated translators, 104.1 and 96.7, in Lakewood and Asbury Park, which previously served as coverage extenders for their FM counterparts.
WJZN(AM), Augusta, Maine — Ceased operations and surrendered the license after a period of silence.

Other group sign offs

The industry is seeing a “cleansing” of the AM band as companies prioritize digital growth and FM assets.

Cumulus initiated a massive wave of shutdowns starting in February and March last year, pulling the plug on nearly 20 stations including WAPI(AM) in Birmingham, Ala., KIKR(AM) in Beaumont, Texas and WLZR(AM) in Melbourne, Fla.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March to restructure $592 million in debt.

Post-bankruptcy, Audacy has continued to “thin the herd” by selling off surplus real estate — transmitter sites — and surrendering licenses for AM signals where the land value exceeds the broadcast cash flow.

iHeart strategy

While less prone to total shutdowns, iHeartMedia is utilizing “non-human selling” and AI-driven localization to slash overhead, while quietly divesting or silencing smaller-market AMs that do not fit their “National Scale” model.

WLAN(AM) (Lancaster, Pa.) — iHeart officially surrendered this license in March after the station lost its tower site lease but rather than finding another, the company moved the “Rumba” programming to an FM HD-subchannel and translator, effectively killing the AM signal.
Real estate monetization — In Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, iHeart generated over $20 million from selling land and transmitter sites. This frequently leads to AM stations going dark permanently if a new transmitter site cannot be secured cheaply.
iHeart market withdrawals — The company has been “quietly” evaluating signals in their smaller multiplatform Group clusters, favoring “programmatic-ready” FM signals over high-maintenance AM facilities.

Facing severe liquidity pressure, Beasley has engaged in headcount reductions and has signaled potential asset sales to address its debt maturities coming due in late 2026.

What it means

The “economic conditions” cited by Townsquare are now industry-standard code for: high AM transmitter power bills, aging tower infrastructure costs and a lack of advertiser interest in low-rated AM signals.