JANE VINCENT CRAFTS A SWEET DEAL TO BUY WRAU AND EXPAND ITS SERVICE AREA

Jane Vincent

Jane Vincent, President of Delaware Public Media (DPM) is about to expand the coverage of DPM’s NPR News/Talk station. 

DPM has signed an agreement to pay WAMU $537,000 for the license of WAMU’s repeater station WRAU 88.3 FM. 

The transfer needs FCC approval, which is expected in June 2020.

Several organizations had been pursuing WRAU. 

American University, the licensee of WAMU, announced last fall that they were looking for a buyer for WRAU. 

WAMU is planning on using the proceeds of sale to increase their digital services and focus their programming on the Washington, DC metro area.

DPM [link] currently operates WDDE 91.1FM in Dover, WMPH 91.7 FM in Wilmington and WMHS 88.1 FM in Pike Creek, Delaware. 

WMAU’s projected coverage area

WRAU not only covers the state of Delaware, its signal reaches almost the entire Delmarva 

peninsula.

A map of WRAU’s coverage area is on the right. 

The station is licensed to Ocean City, Maryland and broadcasts with 50,000-watts.

Vincent has been President of DPM since 2017. 

The station began in 2012. 

Public radio pro George Boosey managed WDDE in its early days. WDDE was the first NPR member station in Delaware and it remains the only NPR station licensed within the state.

DPM’s purchase agreement for WRAU is notable because of the terms of the deal. DPM will pay American University $100,000 in cash and commit to a $437,500 promissory note. The note will be due in a two of installments two years following the sale’s closing.

The terms of the agreement expresses the confidence that the seller has in the Vincent’s management and the future of DPM.

Before joining DPM, Vincent was known for her long career in government service. President Barack Obama appointed her as a Regional Administrator for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2013 Vincent received the Justin Herman Memorial Award, given by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment.

Vincent is active consulting other nonprofit organizations. She also serves as Senior Fellow and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Delaware.

Spark News reached Vincent for comments via email. DPM’s primary mission is its service to Delaware but she is aware that WRAU’s signal covers a much larger area. She told us:

“Our focus and mission is service to Delaware. We recognize that some issues we cover have broader interest and are not confined to the state.”

WRAU covers two Nielsen radio markets: Salisbury-Ocean City (Nielsen market #134) has an estimated 12+ population of around 360,000 and Wilmington, Delaware (Nielsen market #81) has an estimated 12+ population of around 626,000.

DPM will continue to air full-time NPR News/Talk programming but the exact schedule is still in the planning stages.