Colonial Media and Entertainment

Colonial Media and Entertainment, formerly and alternately known as Colonial Radio Group, is a multimedia marketing firm that owns several radio stations in the United States. It is controlled by the Andrulonis family and currently has stations based in the Grand Strand of South Carolina and Cumberland County in North Carolina.

In 2016, Colonial Media and Entertainment CEO Jeff Androulonis called East Carolina University's national anthem protest a "shameful" disrespect of the U.S. military and, in counterprotest and in concurrence with the company's advertisers, dropped a planned broadcast of the team's game against the University of South Florida from WFAY.[1]

From 2008 to 2018, Colonial also held stakes in stations in the Twin Tiers region of New York and Pennsylvania. The company strategy was to take rimshot signals in farther-flung boroughs such as Kane and Coudersport and move them to towns adjacent to the area's largest city in Olean, hoping to gain market share from the two main broadcasters in the area, Backyard Broadcasting (then owners of WPIG, the dominant station in the region, now owned by Community Broadcasters, LLC) and Pembrook Pines Media Group (whose stations are now owned by Sound Communications). From 2011 to 2013, Colonial operated a local television station in Olean.[2] Andrulonis sold the last of those stations to Rick Freeman, a Scranton-based businessman previously in the newspaper industry. Andrulonis and agreed to sell the stations to Freeman in a transaction consisting of 10% cash (to consummate a time-brokerage agreement until the sale consummates) and 90% cryptocurrency, the first time cryptocurrency has ever been used in a broadcast license transaction; he stated that "it was time" for him to give up the stations to someone else more interested in building them.[3][4]

A spinoff company, Colonial Radio Group of Williamsport, owns radio stations in central Pennsylvania. Andrulonis no longer owns a stake in this company, which is now owned by Todd Bartley.

Current assets

Radio

Sorted by format:

Country music stations
WMIR (Carolina Country), FM 93.9, Conway, South Carolina[5]
WFAY (All American Country), AM 1230/FM 100.1, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Classic rock (Rock without the Hard Edge)
WMRV, AM 1450/FM 106.5, Spring Lake, North Carolina (The River)

WNMB, AM 900, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (The Drive)

Rejoice! Musical Soul Food
WJXY, AM 1200, Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
WXJY, FM 93.7, Georgetown, South Carolina

Former assets

South Carolina

Pennsylvania

New York

Stations owned by Colonial Radio Group of Williamsport

All stations based in Pennsylvania.

References

  1. ↑ Martin, Nick (October 6, 2016). Local ESPN Radio Station To Drop ECU Game After Band Protest. Deadspin. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  2. ↑ Fybush, Scott (May 6, 2013). Local TV newscasts shuttered. NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ Colonial Media Group selling local stations. The Bradford Era (April 24, 2018). Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Tom (April 25, 2018). More crypto-currency station sales ahead?. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  5. ↑ ‘Carolina Country’ hits air on former news-talk station WJXY


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