Blue Point Media is expected to take over four Duluth radio stations by mid-summer.   4/19/2007 by Paul Lundgren

When Clear Channel Radio entered the Duluth/Superior market four years ago, few people had to ask, “What is Clear Channel?” The radio industry giant was as well known, and frequently maligned, as Wal-Mart.

The tentative new owner of Clear Channel’s Duluth stations is not nearly so infamous. But it is no rookie. Though Blue Point Media, LLC is a new company, its sole owner, Christopher F. Devine, has had ownership shares in more than 100 stations over the past decade.

Blue Point intends to buy 46 Clear Channel stations in 11 markets. It is headquartered in Chicago, but also has a presence in Denver, where president and CEO Skip Weller is based. Neither Devine nor Weller responded to interview requests for this story.

Devine has ownership interest in several other radio companies with a partner, Bruce Buzil: Marathon Media, Lakeshore Media and 3 Point Media. Marathon Media owned 89 stations in 2000, but went on to sell many of them to Clear Channel.

Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan sent a memo to managers in 17 Clear Channel markets in January saying: “We have entered into an official agreement to sell your stations to Blue Point Media, LLC. Though an agreement for sale has been signed, the sale is subject to standard regulatory approvals. We anticipate the sale of your stations to be finalized by mid-year, if not sooner.”

Clear Channel of Duluth is without a general manager. Ron Stone, who came to Duluth to run the stations in 2004, resigned in December. Three executives there have jointly assumed his duties until the sale is approved: Merry Wallin, general sales manager; Derek Moran, operations manager; and Sue Garver, business manager.

“We have virtually no information on the sale,” Wallin said. “It’s not fleshed out yet. We still have contact with Clear Channel; we don’t have contact with the new company.”

Wallin said it will be “business as usual” for the four stations until the Blue Point Media deal closes. “There’s really no difference here with the exception (that) we don’t have a general manager in place,” she said.

Stone has returned to the Twin Cities where he is president and managing partner of All Over Media, a company that sells display advertising at gas pumps and on airport carts, as well as indoor print and digital ads typically found in restaurant restrooms. The company recently moved from Maple Grove to Bloomington.

“It was an opportunity for me to be part of my own company, and an opportunity for me to be back down in the (Twin) Cities near my daughters,” Stone said of his choice to buy into All Over Media. “I went to work in Duluth to work for Clear Channel. I don’t know that I would have worked for another company. My desire to work for Clear Channel was strong.”

Stone said he doesn’t know much about Blue Point Media. “I was in the radio business for 22 years and I never encountered any of those people, so I can’t say that I know them,” he said. “They’re buying a lot of stations, so I’m sure they’re going to be good operators … I can’t imagine they’re buying those stations without a good, solid plan coming into the market. They’re getting great stations,” he said.

Stone said Devine, Blue Point’s owner, could be “more inclined to be personally involved (with the Duluth stations) because he doesn’t own 1,200 radio stations” as did Clear Channel at its peak.

Devine is perhaps best know for his interest in marathons, which he runs both in the physical sense and the business sense. He is chairman of Devine Racing LLC, another Chicago-based company he formed in 2003. During the past four years, Devine Racing has purchased the Los Angeles Marathon, Las Vegas Marathon, Banco Popular Chicago Half Marathon and Chicago Big 10K. It also created the Salt Lake City Marathon.

Devine and his business partner Buzil owned and operated the Chicago Marathon from 1993 to 1996 when they sold it to the current owner, LaSalle Bank.

By coincidence more likely than “Devine intervention,” Clear Channel of Duluth landed a five-year deal in September to become the exclusive radio sponsor of Grandma’s Marathon. Clear Channel will provide live coverage of the race on WEBC-AM 560, and promote it on all of its stations. KDAL-AM 610, owned by Midwest Communications, was the previous sponsor.

Any interest Devine might have in purchasing Grandma’s Marathon or the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon would be futile, said Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma’s Marathon.

“It’s not going to happen,” Keenan said. “Grandma’s Marathon is a nonprofit corporation. We can’t be purchased.”

Keenan said he’s familiar with Devine’s name in the marathon industry, but never has had contact with him. Shortly after Clear Channel inked the Grandma’s Marathon contract, the company announced it is exiting the Duluth/Superior market. The change hasn’t affected Keenan’s assessment of the five-year deal, which the new owner will inherit.

“They have a great team-management style going on there right now,” he said. “Everybody (at Clear Channel of Duluth) is so supportive of Grandma’s Marathon. That is one of the main reasons why we went with them.”

Clear Channel of Duluth employs a payroll of about 40. Arbitron’s Fall 2006 radio market ratings rank Duluth/Superior as the nation’s No. 204 market with a population of 175,500.

Clear Channel’s Duluth/Superior stations

WEBC-AM 560 “The Fan” (sports)

KLDJ-FM101.7 “Kool 101.7” (oldies)

KKCB-FM105.1 “B-105” (country)

KBMX-FM107.7 “Mix 108” (adult contemporary)

Five Years of Changes

Aug. 27, 2002

Ohio-based Regent Communications, Inc. receives final approval in bankruptcy court to acquire 12 stations from Virginia-based Brill Media Co., LLC, including four Duluth/Superior stations held by its subsidiary, Northland Broadcasting, LLC.

Sept. 11, 2002

Regent begins providing programming and other services to the stations under a time brokerage agreement.

Feb. 25, 2003

Regent completes its 12-station purchase from Brill for $63.6 million, including acquisition-related costs and assumed liabilities of approximately $1.8 million.

Feb. 27, 2003

Regent enters an agreement with Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. and its affiliates to exchange the four Duluth stations, plus $2.7 million, for five Clear Channel stations serving the Evansville, IN market.

March 1, 2003

Clear Channel begins providing programming and services to the Duluth stations.

Jan. 28, 2004

Regent completes its sale/exchange with Clear Channel.

Nov. 16, 2006

Clear Channel Communications, Inc., agrees to an $18.7-billion buyout by a private consortium and announces a divestment strategy in which it will sell its stations in Duluth/Superior and other small- to mid-sized markets.

Feb. 7, 2007 | Blue Point Media, LLC announces its intention to purchase stations from Clear Channel Radio in a $45.7-million asset-for-cash deal that, in total, includes 22 FM, 13 AM and six translator stations in the Midwest and Mountain West, including the four Duluth stations.

• Investment in colleges, universities totals $270 miliion since 2000 -8/25/2010
• Despite recession, Range Readiness Initiative continues -8/17/2010
• Wide Open Future -8/10/2010
• Highway design change sends customers elsewhere -8/3/2010
• Visitors make Bayfield a business destination -7/27/2010