Itsme

From Yesterday's North County Times...

There was other big news on the local radio front this week: Three radio stations should soon change hands.

Finest City Broadcasting, a new company headed by former local Clear Channel executive Mike Glickenhaus, is looking to take over management of hip-hop station Jammin Z90, alternative rocker 91X and R&B station Magic 92.5.

Last year, new federal regulations closed a loophole that had allowed Clear Channel to hurtle past the eight-station-per-market limit by running a handful of south-of-the-border stations. As a result, Clear Channel has to reduce its fold to eight stations, including L.A.'s KFI, which has a big audience here. Its only remaining Mexican station is oldies "Kool 99.3," and its fate hasn't been announced.

(The Mexican stations, all Mexican-owned, allow Americans to run them for a fee.)

According to Glickenhaus, it may take several months for the deal to be finalized; no one has announced whether staff members like 91X's veteran morning host Chris Cantore will stick around. The dollar amount of the deal, meanwhile, hasn't been announced, but it could be in the tens of millions.

Glickenhaus, who's been part of the San Diego radio scene since 1980, abruptly left Clear Channel in 2004 under unexplained but much-speculated-about circumstances; according to him, there were "philosophical differences."

If Glickenhaus is smart, he'll make few changes to Z90 and 92.5 and spend more time tinkering with the struggling 91X. And he's just the person to do it: He started working in the sales department of 91X and is credited with helping to turn it into a landmark station with a national reputation.