Chapel Hill’s – WCHL – gets a new ownership group. Art Chansky NOT in group. Sources say – Art has locked himself in the studio refusing to leave “until NCAA completely clears Carolina… and Dan Kane agrees to eat a bug”.
Because I was, for THREE years, “on-air talent” at WCHL (still can’t believe that), I do mention the legendary Chapel Hill Multi-media Behemoth Conglomerate occasionally. So I should report that it has been purchased by a new ownership group as noted in the attached article.
Most of you only care about what’s gonna happen to “my buddy” Art Chansky? I will not accept “suggestions” as to what you “want to happen” to Art as this is, on occasion, a family website…. when I’m not running Kate Upton and Tiki Girls pics.
No clue what Fate holds for Art but I expect he will survive the ownership change for as long as he wishes to do so. He did tell me once he saw himself either “running a charter boat out of The Keys” or “selling snow blowers in Saskatoon”; but I think he still has a few opinions left to share before he says “I won’t ‘see ya’ any more.”
My other ‘CHL pal – Aaron Keck a/k/a “The Smartest Guy In Chapel Hill” – will surely survive and prosper if the new owners have good sense.
Certainly “Mr WCHL” Ron Stutts will survive since he not only knows where all the skeletons are buried….. he buried most of’em.
Community Radio is NOT a growth industry; but all of these guys seem to be savvy business-types so who knows. I don’t know squat about a single one of’em; so no clue “what direction” they might take the station.
Conservative Talk is, I am quite sure, NOT on any short, or long list, of possibilities. EIB will not be heard along “beautiful Franklin Street” except in the very well-hidden Rush Rooms that have been operating for the past 27 years.
OK, I’ve checked and double checked…. I have not mentioned NC State anywhere in the above text. BK will probably be torqued that I DID NOT. Jeeezzz.
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Rudd Media Takes Over WCHL and Chapelboro, Announces New Local Ownership Group of Four
http://chapelboro.com/news/new-owners/
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Rudd Media, LLC, has closed on ownership of WCHL Radio and Chapelboro.com, and principal Mr. Leslie Rudd has announced a partnership agreement with four local businessmen who have formed an owner/operator group that has bought into the two local media properties, pending their approval by the FCC.
Chris Ehrenfeld, Jim Kitchen, Mark Vitali and Aaron Wright, together with Rudd, own 100 percent of the AM/FM radio station and website that serves the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and surrounding communities and is the flagship station of the Tar Heel Sports Network.
Leslie Rudd on new WCHL local ownership group: “This was the plan I hoped would take place.”
“This was the plan I hoped would take place,” Rudd said after accepting the offer made by the group. “In our other investments, we depend heavily on local ownership that knows the market and is well-known and respected. Each new owner has an impressive record of professional accomplishment in his own right and together will make an outstanding leadership team.”
Ehrenfeld owns Domicile Realty and Bold Construction in Chapel Hill. The Pittsburgh native graduated from UNC and remained in the area to build his business portfolio. Domicile Realty, which owns Governors Club Realty, lists and sells commercial and residential property, and Bold Construction builds custom homes and develops unique commercial space in Orange and Chatham Counties. Ehrenfeld and his wife Jana have twin sons, Max and Mason, three years old.
Kitchen arrived in Chapel Hill as a UNC student in 1982 and built and sold a successful travel company that was headquartered on Franklin Street. After receiving a Masters in Management and MBA, he now teaches entrepreneurship at Kenan-Flagler Business School and works tirelessly to improve the community. He started the business incubators LaUNCh Chapel Hill and 1789 in 2013. Kitchen and his wife Susan have two children, Kenan, 16, and Karsen, 12.
Vitali moved to Chapel Hill in 1982 with his wife Fai and, since 1993, has amassed one of the largest Nationwide Insurance businesses in the United States. Vitali currently owns ten agencies in Burlington, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Eden, Graham, Hillsborough and Raleigh. He speaks across the country on how to build a business from the ground up. Vitali also owns and develops commercial properties. Their son Nick, 25, works for Nationwide corporate.
Wright is from Franklinton, NC, and a second-generation UNC alumnus. He is a graduate of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and has started two different healthcare companies, building successful sales teams and organizations. Wright and his wife Lisa have three children, Peyton, 14, Cole, 11, and Lyndon, 10. He has served on the UNC Board of Visitors, the Eshelman School Foundation Board and, like his new partners, is an avid Tar Heel fan.
The current WCHL and Chapelboro staff will continue day-to-day operation of the radio station and website, which will also be airing and publishing news and feature stories, columns and commentaries from all of their regular and part-time contributors.
As long-time WCHL listeners, the local ownership group knows the value of the radio station to the community and said its goal is to improve programming and service with the help of feedback from the public. Comments and suggestions are welcomed by emailing [email protected].
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