GAHANNA, Ohio — River Radio Ministries has completed its $328,500 purchase of five full-power Ohio radio stations and three FM translators from Soaring Eagle Promotions, moving a previously announced operating merger into formal license ownership.
The Federal Communications Commission accepted eight notifications of consummation on November 3, 2026. Those filings confirm that the transaction has closed; earlier programming and branding changes did not by themselves transfer the licenses.
Five full-power stations, three translators
The full-power noncommercial educational stations are WSOH 88.9 in Zanesfield, WHEI 88.9 in Tiffin, WVMC-FM 90.7 in Mansfield, WJEE 90.1 in Bolivar and WKEN 88.5 in Kenton.
The transaction also includes W204CU 88.7 in Findlay, W216AH 91.1 in Ashland and W275DG 102.9 in Jefferson. Those three translators are tracked separately and should not be counted as full-power stations.
The FCC filing numbers are 0000306520 through 0000306527, corresponding to the five stations and three translators. The underlying assignment applications were filed January 20, 2026.
Ownership records change
Soaring Eagle Promotions, Inc. was the legal licensee. River Radio Ministries, Inc. becomes the licensee and ultimate nonprofit parent represented by the transaction. River describes itself as a listener-supported 501(c)(3) organization.
On the affected portfolio, River gains five full-power stations and three translators, while Soaring Eagle loses the same number. River’s exact companywide before-and-after full-power count still requires a facility-level reconciliation because network signals and translators can otherwise be double-counted.
The parties had already combined programming operations under The River brand. The closing formalizes ownership of licenses that listeners had been hearing as part of the same network.
What it could mean for communities and employees
The potential community benefit is access to a larger nonprofit’s engineering, fundraising, administrative and programming resources. River has said the combined operation would retain local sponsorships, events and community involvement.
The downside is that a larger shared network can reduce local programming autonomy and duplicate jobs or functions. No layoffs, station closures or additional format changes were identified in the closing notices reviewed by Radio News Now. The programming consolidation occurred before the license transfer, so the immediate public-facing change may be limited.
The stations are noncommercial educational facilities, making this principally a nonprofit ownership and control change rather than a test of the FCC’s commercial local-radio ownership caps.