Salem Media Group

Salem Media Group, Inc.

Formerly	Salem Communications Corporation
Company type	Public
Traded as	OTCQX:  SALM
Industry	Mass media commercial radio broadcasting
Genre	Radio broadcasting, publishing, internet content provider
Founded	1974;51 years ago (1974)
Founders	Stuart Epperson Edward Atsinger III
Headquarters	6400 N Beltline Road Irving, Texas , U.S.
Revenue	$262.78 million (2018) [1]
Number of employees	1,173 (2019)
Website	salemmedia.com

Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and what it describes as "family-themed content and conservative values". ^[2]

Salem Media Group owns 117 radio stations in 38 markets, including 60 stations in the top 25 markets and 29 in the top 10, making it tied with Audacy for the fifth-largest radio broadcaster. ^[2]

In addition to its radio properties, the company owns:

• Salem Radio Network, which syndicates talk, news and music programming to approximately 2,400 affiliates.
• Salem Media Representatives, a radio advertising company.
• Salem Web Network, an Internet provider of Christian content and online streaming with over 100 Christian content and conservative opinion websites.
• Salem Publishing, a publisher of Christian themed magazines.
• Conservative websites Townhall.com, RedState, Hot Air, and PJ Media, as well as Twitter aggregator Twitchy.

The company was founded by brothers-in-law Stuart Epperson and Edward G. Atsinger III and is a for-profit corporation. This allows it to accept commercial advertising. It was formerly traded on Nasdaq until it was delisted on December 26, 2023 for not meeting exchange requirements; it now trades over-the-counter. ^[3]

History

Former logo of Salem Communications.

In 1974, Atsinger (chief executive officer) and Epperson (chairman of the board) combined their radio assets to create Salem Communications. Beginning with stations in North Carolina and California, Atsinger and Epperson purchased station properties in Boston, San Antonio, New York City, San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and other markets, converting them to Christian talk stations. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, they expanded formats to include contemporary Christian music (with most stations under this format branded as "The Fish"), ^[4] news talk (branded as "The Answer"), Spanish-language Christian content, and business programming. ^[5]

Many of Salem's stations are licensed to subsidiaries, organized by geographical area and media cluster as the company has acquired new stations and their previous licensees.

Salem Communications Corp acquired Twitter curation site, Twitchy.com. In January 2014, the Company announced the acquisition of the assets of Eagle Publishing, including Regnery Publishing, Human Events, and RedState, and sister companies Eagle Financial Publications and Eagle Wellness. ^[6]

On February 23, 2015, Salem Communications changed its name to Salem Media Group. ^{[7] [8]}

In 2015, Salem Media Group expanded their digital platform with acquisitions of several businesses and assets, including DividendYieldHunter.com, ^[9] Stockinvestor.com; ^[10] DividendInvestor.com, ^[11] a Spanish Bible mobile app, along with its related website and Facebook properties; the DailyBible mobile app; the Daily Bible Devotion mobile app; and also, Bryan Perry's Newsletters.

In 2016, Salem Media Group continued to expand by acquiring the websites ChristianConcertAlerts.com, Historyonthenet.com and Authentichistory.com; as well as Mike Turner's line of investment products, including TurnerTrends.com; ^[12] the Retirement Watch newsletter and website, Retirementwatch.com; ^[13] and the King James Bible mobile application. Salem Media Group also acquired Mill City Press from Hillcrest Publishing Group, Inc.

In July 2017, Salem Media Group merged DividendYieldHunter.com and transferred all content into DividendInvestor.com. ^[14]

In March 2019, political writer Raheem Kassam and lawyer Will Chamberlain purchased Human Events from Salem Media Group for $300,000. ^[15]

In early 2021, the company moved most operations from the former main operations city of Camarillo, California to Irving, Texas, the same location of their long-owned radio station KLTY.

On November 8, 2023, Salem exited the Upstate market after it sold WGTK in Greenville, North Carolina and the Earth FM stations to the Educational Media Foundation, resulting in WGTK switching to the K-Love network and WRTH and WLTE switching to Air1 several days before.

In December 2024, it was announced that the company had sold all remaining Christian Contemporary stations to the Educational Media Foundation. The move was intended to help the company repay debt to investors. Educational Media Foundation began operating the stations on February 1, 2025. ^[16]

Radio stations

Stations are arranged in order by state and city of license.

AM Stations	FM Stations

Stations owned by Salem Media Group ^[17]

City of license/Market	Station	Current format	Licensee
Phoenix, AZ	KKNT 960	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	KXXT 1010	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	KPXQ 1360	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Little Rock, AR	KDIS-FM 99.5	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	KDXE 101.1	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Riverside–San Bernardino, CA	KTIE 590	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Los Angeles, CA	KRLA 870	Conservative talk	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
	KKLA-FM 99.5	Christian radio	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Oxnard–Ventura, CA	KDAR 98.3	Christian radio	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Sacramento, CA	KFIA 710	Christian radio	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
	KTKZ 1380	Conservative talk	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
San Diego, CA	KCBQ 1170	Conservative talk	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
	KPRZ 1210	Christian radio	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
San Francisco–Oakland, CA	KTRB 860	Conservative talk	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
	KFAX 1100	Christian radio	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
	KDYA 1190	Urban gospel	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
	KDOW 1220	Business talk	SCA-Palo Alto, LLC.
	KDIA 1640	Christian radio	New Inspiration Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Colorado Springs, CO	KZNT 1460	Conservative talk	Bison Media
	KGFT 100.7	Christian radio	Bison Media
Denver, CO	KNUS 710	Conservative talk	Salem Media of Colorado, Inc.
	KRKS 990	Christian radio	Salem Media of Colorado, Inc.
	KBJD 1650	Spanish Christian	Salem Media of Colorado, Inc.
	KRKS-FM 100.7	Christian radio	Salem Media of Colorado, Inc.
Washington, D.C.	WWRC 570	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WRCW 1250	Conservative talk [a]	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WAVA 780	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WAVA-FM 105.1	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Orlando–Daytona Beach, FL	WORL 950	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WTLN 990	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Sarasota–Bradenton, FL	WLSS 930	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Tampa–St. Petersburg, FL	WTBN 570	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WLCC 760	Christian radio [b]	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WGUL 860	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Atlanta, GA	WDWD 590	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WGKA 920	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WNIV 970	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WLTA 1400	Christian radio [c]	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Honolulu, HI	KHNR 690	Conservative talk	Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.
	KGU 760	Sports	Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.
	KHCM 880	Chinese	Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.
	KHCM-FM 97.5	Country	Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.
	KGU-FM 99.5	Christian radio	Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.
	KKOL-FM 107.9	Classic Hits	Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.
Chicago, IL	WIND 560	Conservative talk	Salem Media of Illinois, LLC
	WYLL 1160	Christian radio	Salem Media of Massachusetts, LLC
Boston, MA	WEZE 590	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WROL 950	Christian radio	Salem Media of Massachusetts, LLC
Detroit, MI	WDTK 1400	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WLQV 1500	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN	KKMS 980	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WWTC 1280	Conservative talk	Salem Media of Massachusetts, LLC
	KYCR 1440	Business talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	KDIZ 1570	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
New York City, NY	WMCA 570	Christian radio	Salem Media of New York, LLC
	WNYM 970	Conservative talk	Salem Media of New York, LLC
Cleveland, OH	WHKW 1220	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WHK 1420	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Columbus, OH	WRFD 880	Christian radio	Salem Media of Ohio, Inc.
	WTOH 98.9	Conservative talk	Salem Media of Ohio, Inc.
Portland, OR	KPDQ 800	Christian radio	Salem Media of Oregon, Inc.
	KPAM 860	Conservative talk	Salem Media of Oregon, Inc.
	KDZR 1640	Regional Mexican	Salem Media of Oregon, Inc.
	KRYP 93.1	Regional Mexican	Salem Media of Oregon, Inc.
	KPDQ-FM 93.9	Christian radio	Salem Media of Oregon, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA	WFIL 560	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WNTP 990	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Pittsburgh, PA	WPIT 730	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WPGP 1250	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	WORD-FM 101.5	Christian radio	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Dallas–Fort Worth, TX	KTNO 620	Spanish Christian	Inspiration Media of Texas, LLC
	KSKY 660	Conservative talk	Bison Media
	KWRD-FM 100.7	Christian radio	Inspiration Media of Texas, LLC
Houston–Galveston, TX	KNTH 1070	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
	KKHT-FM 100.7	Christian radio	Salem Media of Illinois, LLC
San Antonio, TX	KSLR 630	Christian radio	Salem Media of Texas, Inc.
	KLUP 930	Conservative talk	Salem Communications Holding Corporation
Seattle–Tacoma, WA	KGNW 820	Christian radio	Inspiration Media, Inc.
	KKOL 1300	Conservative talk	Inspiration Media, Inc.

1. Simulcast of WWRC.
2. Simulcast of WTBN.
3. Simulcast of WNIV.

Salem Radio Network

Main article: Salem Radio Network

Salem Radio Network is a satellite radio network serving general market News/Talk stations and Christian-formatted stations through affiliate partnerships serving more than 2,700 radio stations. The five major divisions are SRN Talk, SRN News, Salem Music Network, Salem Media Reps and Vista Media Reps and SRN Satellite Services.

• SRN Talk produces general market News/Talk shows featuring nationally syndicated hosts Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Sebastian Gorka, Brandon Tatum, and Charlie Kirk. It also produces Christian market programming featuring The Eric Metaxas Show.
• SRN News is a news source for conservative and Christian radio serving over 2,000 affiliates, and stations also take newscast branded by Salem's Townhall.com. ^[18]
• The Salem Music Network has three satellite offerings – Contemporary Christian, Praise and Southern Gospel.
• Salem Media Reps specializes in Christian, family-themed and conservative media, radio, online, print and mobile.
• SRN Satellite Services provides satellite distribution and production services to over 70 organizations and ministries.

The satellite feed for Salem's general market programming can be heard on the CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks, on CRN3. ^[19]

Salem Publishing

Salem's flagship publication, CCM Magazine , was in the Christian music industry for more than 25 years. Salem no longer prints CCM Magazine, but it still exists in an online-only format. Other magazine publications include Singing News Magazine, which discusses happenings involving the Southern gospel community. ^[20]

Salem Author Services

Under the umbrella of Salem Author Service are Xulon Press, Mill City Press, and the websites Bookprinting.com, Bookediting.com, Publishgreen.com, and Libertyhill.com.

Xulon Press is a self-publishing digital publisher of books targeting a Christian audience. ^[21] They use print on demand technologies that store books electronically and print them only as they are ordered. Xulon was founded by Christian author and publisher Tom Freiling and was acquired by Salem in 2006. ^[22]

Salem Español Online

Salem owns a collection of Spanish language sites that provide a variety of Christian and family-friendly resources online. A few of those sites are CristoTarjetas.com; ElsitioCristiano.com; BibliaVida.com and LuzMundial.com.^{[ citation needed ]}

Political activities

The founders of Salem Communications support various religious causes, and are noted for their role in spreading politically conservative opinion to areas dependent on radio for current events information. In 2005, Epperson was reported in Time magazine as one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America". ^[23] In 2004 he co-chaired "Americans of Faith", a religiously based Republican electoral campaign. Both founders have served on the Council for National Policy, a group of conservative influencers, intellectuals, donors, and former elected officials, and Epperson has served as president of the Council. ^{[24] [25] [26] [27]} They gave $100,000 to the Bush presidential reelection campaign and $780,000 to the 2000 "California Defense of Marriage Act" (Proposition 22) ballot measure. ^[28]

In October 2022, Salem, along with Dinesh D'Souza and True The Vote, was sued by Mark Andrews for defamation in Dinesh D'Souza's film, 2000 Mules , for which Salem was the distributor as well as the publisher of a book of the same name. In the film, D'Souza, without any evidence, falsely accused Andrews of ballot stuffing. In May 2024, Salem pulled the film and book from distribution and apologized to Andrews, claiming they had relied on representations made by D'Souza and True The Vote, and had never intended to harm Andrews. The suit is ongoing. ^[29]

References

1. "Salem Media Group Company Profile". Craft. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
2. "About Us – Salem Media Group". salem.cc.
3. https://investor.salemmedia.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/833/inserting-and-replacing-salem-media-group-announces
4. "Contemporary Christian Music – Station Formats – Salem Media Group". salem.cc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012.
5. "History – Salem Media Group". salem.cc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012.
6. "SALM acquisition of Twitchy.com". Archived from the original on March 25, 2014.
7. "Salem rebrands to Salem Media Group". Radio Ink Magazine Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
8. "Salem Communications Corporation renamed to Salem Media Group". Radioandmusic.com. February 23, 2015.
9. "Salem Media Group Announces Acquisition of DividendYieldHunter.com". Cision PR Newswire (Press release). November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
10. "StockInvestor.com". Stock Investor.
11. "DividendInvestor.com". Dividend Investor.
12. "Salem Media Group Announces Acquisition of Mike Turner's Line of Investment Products". Cision PR Newswire. October 27, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
13. "Retirement Watch". Retirement Watch.
14. "Welcome Dividend Yield Hunter Readers". Dividend Investor. July 11, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
15. Wemple, Erik (March 1, 2019). "Breitbart alum to resuscitate Human Events". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
16. "Salem Media Group Sells Seven Stations To EMF; Repay All Debt With New Investor". RadioInsight. December 30, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
17. "Station Lists – Salem Media Group". salemmedia.com.
18. "SRN – About Us". November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
19. "Salem Radio Network – Salem Media Group". salem.cc. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
20. "Salem Media Group | Reaching audiences through radio, web and print media".
21. "Xulon Press – Salem Media Group". salemmedia.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
22. "Salem Communications Announces an 8.8% Increase in Second Quarter 2006 Total Revenue – Salem Media Investor Center". investor.salemmedia.com. June 7, 2023.
23. "Stuart Epperson – The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America". Time. February 7, 2005. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
24. Katie Thornton (November 22, 2022). "The Divided Dial: Episode 2 – From Pulpit to Politics – On the Media". WNYC Studios (Podcast). Retrieved November 26, 2022.
25. "The Council for National Policy: Behind the Curtain | Southern Poverty Law Center" . Retrieved May 19, 2020.
26. Berlet, Chip (2018). Trumping democracy in the United States : from Ronald Reagan to alt-right. London: Routledge. ISBN   978-1-315-43839-9. OCLC   1129904664.
27. Leonard, Kimberly; Relman, Eliza; Beckler, Hannah (September 24, 2021). "One of the most secretive and powerful groups in GOP politics just had its cellphone numbers leaked. Here's what its members said about Trump 2024 when we started calling". Business Insider.
28. "A Higher Frequency". Mother Jones. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
29. Wilkie, Christina (May 31, 2024). "Dinesh D'Souza election fraud film, book '2000 Mules' pulled after defamation suit". CNBC. Retrieved June 1, 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Business data for Salem Media Group:
  • Google
  • Reuters
  • SEC filings
  • Yahoo!