Sillerman to Merge With Metropolitan Radio Empire

Metropolitan Broadcasting Holding Co., formed two years ago to acquire nine Metromedia radio stations and a Texas radio network for $285 million, said Friday that it has agreed to merge with New York-based Sillerman Acquisition Corp. for a sum in excess of $300 million.

Metropolitan’s stations include KTWV-FM in Los Angeles, which last year launched a new format called “the Wave,” described in some quarters as elevator music for young urban professionals. After an initial spurt of success, the format’s performance has leveled off in recent months, prompting some industry sources to question its long-term prospects.

At the time of the stations’ purchase in March, 1986, by a management-led group, Metromedia Radio President Carl C. Brazell Jr. termed the purchase price “reasonable” and said the group did not plan to sell any of the stations.

Neither Brazell nor KTWV-FM General Manager Allan D. Chlowitz could be reached for comment late Friday, but one radio industry executive observed that the debt had turned out to be a significant problem.

Some Sales Reconsidered

Metropolitan sold its Washington station, and had announced plans to sell WNEW-AM in New York, WWBA-FM in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., and WOMC-FM in Detroit.

Sillerman Acquisition, formed by seasoned broadcast operator and investor Robert F. X. Sillerman and certain associates, said it has taken WNEW-AM off the market and is reconsidering the proposed sale of the Tampa-St. Petersburg station. The company will go forward with its announced sale of WOMC-FM in Detroit to Infinity Broadcasting, however, which is awaiting approval by the Federal Communications Commission, Sillerman said.

Sillerman and his associates are the largest shareholders of Legacy Broadcasting, which owns and operates KJOI-FM in Los Angeles as well as stations in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, Washington, Detroit and Denver.

Completion of the sale is contingent on FCC review and approval, the companies said, but if concluded, Metropolitan’s management is expected to remain “substantially intact,” Sillerman said in a prepared release. He said Metropolitan would also retain its name.

“Metropolitan Broadcasting is a premier radio group,” he said. “We believe our financial resources and strong broadcast operating expertise will provide Metropolitan with a solid foundation of renewed growth.”

While not specific about the transaction’s price, the two companies contended that the deal will be the “largest in radio broadcast history.” The price includes the value of Metropolitan’s debt, the companies said, although the sum of the debt was not disclosed.