RADIO STATIONS CONSOLIDATE MARKETING AND OPERATIONS
By Adnews Staff
Three radio companies have teamed up to consolidate the resources of their five Halifax radio stations. The companies in the deal are Toronto-based CHUM Ltd., Newcap Broadcasting Ltd. and Sun Radio Ltd. They will work under the name, Metro Radio Group. Under the plan, operations of the five stations will be housed in one building by the end of March, with sales, marketing and engineering departments amalgamated. News and programming will remain separate. Newcap of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia will be the managing partner of the new group. Profits will be divided 40% each to Newcap and CHUM, while Halifax-based Sun will get 20%. The group is made up of two NewCap stations, two CHUM stations and one Sun station. The stations are Sun FM, Q104, 780 KIXX, C100 and CJCH. Newcap and Sun have been working under a similar agreement for the past three years. Each year, advertisers spend about $12 million on radio in Halifax, about 10% of the total ad dollars in the city.