From June 1945 until the 2023 sale of KRDC in Los Angeles, the American Broadcasting Company owned and/or operated several radio stations in numerous markets throughout the United States, big and small. The station portfolio for the ABC Radio Network further grew in 1986 when the network was acquired by Capital Cities Communications and became Capital Cities/ABC; The Walt Disney Company then purchased Capital Cities/ABC in 1996. Further expansion of the radio division occurred with the launches of ESPN Radio in 1992 and Radio Disney in 1996, both of which had owned-and-operated stations held directly by Disney/ABC.
In 2005, ABC began to explore the sale of its radio division. The two leading competitors for the purchase of the network, which included twenty-two of ABC Radio's top stations, as well as ABC's talk and music networks, were Entercom Communications and Forstmann Little & Company's Citadel Broadcasting unit. Citadel was chosen as the top bidder and the deal to purchase the stations and the network was struck in February 2006."Citadel to Buy Most of Disney Radio Assets," The Wall Street Journal, February 6, 2006.
The deal did not include Radio Disney or ESPN Radio, or their owned-stations. The ABC name, which also remained in Disney's hands, was licensed to Citadel for two years. Disney's ABC News unit continued to produce ABC News Radio programming for distribution by Citadel."ABC Radio to Merge with Citadel Broadcasting." Official press release. February 6, 2006. The acquisition of ABC Radio by Citadel Broadcasting was officially completed on June 12, 2007."Disney and Citadel Announce Completion of ABC Radio Merger" Official Press Release. June 12, 2007
Disney/ABC initiated plans in late 2014 to sell off their Radio Disney stations in order to focus on digital platforms; KDIS in Los Angeles was the only station retained. While the Radio Disney stations were all initially planned to be taken silent, this was quickly reversed and the stations continued to carry network programming. The sales were completed by September 2015. KDIS switched to carrying Radio Disney Country in 2017 as KRDC, Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country were both closed down in late 2020. The ESPN Radio stations—WEPN, KSPN, WMVP, and WEPN-FM's local marketing agreement—were sold by Disney/ABC to Good Karma Brands, while KESN was sold to VCY America. KRDC was sold to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa on June 12, 2023, for $5 million, the station simulcast KSPN during the sale process.
ABC Radio stations Media market State/District Station Purchased Sold Notes Los Angeles California KMPC 1995 1997 KABC 1945 2007 KLOS 1947 2007 San Francisco KGO 1945 2007 KSFO 1995 2007 KSFX 1947 1984 Washington, D.C. District of Columbia WJZW 1997 2007 WMAL 1977 2007 WRQX 1977 2007 Atlanta Georgia WKHX 1986 1996 WKHX-FM 1986 2007 WYAY 1993 2007 Chicago Illinois WENR 1945 1954 WLS 1954 2007 WLS-FM 1948 2007 Detroit Michigan WDRQ 1997 2007 WDVD 1986 2007 WJR 1986 2007 WRIF 1948 1986 WXYZ 1946 1984 Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minnesota KQRS 1986 1996 KQRS-FM 1986 2007 KXXR 1994 2007 WGVX 1997 2007 WGVY WGVZ New York City New York WABC 1945 2007 WPLJ 1948 2007 Fremont Ohio WFRO 2002 2004 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania KQV 1957 1974 WDVE 1962 1974 Providence Rhode Island WPRO 1986 1993 WPRO-FM 1986 1993 Dallas–Fort Worth Texas KSCS 1986 2007 KTYS 1998 2007 WBAP 1986 2007 Houston KAUM 1968 1986 KXYZ 1968 1979
Radio Disney stations Media market State Station Purchased Sold Notes Mobile Alabama WQUA 2002 2005 Phoenix Arizona KMIK 1998 2015 Little Rock Arkansas KDIS-FM 2003 2014 Los Angeles California KDIS 1997 2003 KDIS 2000 2017 KRDC 2020 2023 Sacramento KIID 2000 2015 San Francisco KMKY 1997 2015 Denver Colorado KDDZ 1998 2015 Hartford–New Haven Connecticut WDZK 2000 2010 Jacksonville Florida WBWL 2002 2010 Miami–Fort Lauderdale WMYM 1999 2015 Orlando WDYZ 2001 2015 Tampa–St. Petersburg WWMI 1999 2015 West Palm Beach WMNE 2000 2010 Atlanta Georgia WDWD 1996 2015 Chicago Illinois WRDZ 1999 2015 WPJX 1998 2002 Indianapolis Indiana WRDZ-FM 2003 2015 Wichita–Hutchinson Kansas KQAM 2002 2010 Louisville Kentucky WDRD 2002 2010 New Orleans Louisiana WBYU 2003 2011 Boston Massachusetts WMKI 2000 2015 Detroit Michigan WFDF 2002 2015 Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minnesota KDIZ 1996 2015 St. Louis Missouri WSDZ 1998 2015 Albuquerque New Mexico KALY 2003 2010 Albany–Schenectady New York WDDY 2002 2014 New York WQEW 2007 2015 Charlotte North Carolina WGFY 2000 2015 Greensboro–Winston-Salem WCOG 2005 2010 Cleveland Ohio WWMK 1998 2015 Tulsa Oklahoma KMUS 2003 2011 Portland Oregon KDZR 2003 2015 Philadelphia Pennsylvania WWJZ 1999 2015 Pittsburgh WDDZ 2011 2015 Providence Rhode Island WDDZ 2001 2010 Dallas–Fort Worth Texas KMKI 1998 2015 Houston KMIC 1999 2015 San Antonio KRDY 2003 2014 Salt Lake City Utah KWDZ 2003 2015 Norfolk Virginia WHKT 2002 2010 Richmond WDZY 2000 2013 Seattle–Tacoma Washington KKDZ 1998 2015 Milwaukee Wisconsin WKSH 2002 2014
ESPN Radio stations Media market State Station Purchased Sold Notes Los Angeles California KSPN 2000 2003 KSPN 2003 2022 Chicago Illinois WMVP 1998 2022 New York City New York WEPN 2001 2022 WEPN-FM 2012 2022 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania WEAE 1999 2011 Dallas–Fort Worth Texas KESN 2000 2022
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