After spinning off several of its South Dakota stations earlier this year to local staff in Brookings, Connoisseur Media has found another in-state broadcast company to divest stations it originally acquired in its purchase of Alpha Media.
Connoisseur will sell its six Watertown, S.D., stations to Riverfront Broadcasting, a family-owned company headquartered in Yankton. The transaction is pending FCC approval and is expected to close in late summer.
The stations include four Watertown 100 kW signals in 92.9 KSDR(FM), 96.1 KIXX(FM), 96.9 KDLO(FM) and 104.3 KKSD(FM), the latter of which is licensed to Millbank, as well as 950 KWAT(AM) and 1480 KSDR(AM).
“The Watertown market was not a market we felt Connoisseur could make a material difference in, given the focus and approach we bring to radio,” said Jeff Warshaw, founder and CEO of Connoisseur Media.
But Warshaw said in a release that the company had been talking with Carolyn Becker, Riverfront’s president, for several months, and it believes Riverfront can carry on providing local content to Watertown.
Riverfront Broadcasting was founded in 2004 by Carolyn and her husband, Doyle. It operates 21 AM and FM radio stations in South Dakota and Minnesota.
In 2014, the Beckers were named the South Dakota Broadcasters of the Year by the South Dakota Broadcasters Association. Carolyn is also a graduate of the Broadcast Leadership Training program.
Kalil & Co., Inc. served as the broker for the transaction. Connoisseur Media was represented by Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, while Riverfront Broadcasting was represented by Marlow, Woodward & Huff.
