WILMINGTON -- Draper Media has reportedly closed on a deal to acquire Forever Media's six radio stations this month, now boosting its market share in the northern Delaware market.
The deal was $11 million, according to various trade reports. That includes $2.2 million for the WDEL/WSTW offices on Shipley Road, according to New Castle County land records. The property sale was completed Oct. 13.
With the sale of the six radio stations, Forever Media has formally exited the northern Delaware market. However, the company still holds onto five radio stations in the Salisbury, Md. market. It still holds onto an office in Milford. In 2019, Forever Media bought 10 radio stations for $18.8 million.
Headquartered in Salisbury, Md., Draper Media owns WBOC-TV (CBS/FOX), WRDE-LD (NBC) and Telemundo Delmarva (WBOC), as well as Antenna TV, My Cozi TV and The DSN Sports Network.
The company already owns eight radio stations on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware.
The deal takes over Forever Media's Wilmington stations news talk WDEL-AM (1150/107.7), Top 40 station WSTW (93.7), country station WXCY-FM (103.7). In Maryland's Eastern Shore, it also takes on AC WCEI (96.7) and country WINX (94.3).
Draper Media also acquired W245CJ 96.9 which is a licensed translator that simulcasts WXCY-FM.
Wilmington is a new radio market for Draper Media, though the company has been on the air for about 60 years. The family bought WBOC in the late 1970s and grew it as a regional media station with its news programs covering as far north as Dover.
A request to Draper Media for comment was not immediately returned.