Lynchburg’s WLNI changes owners

By Bryan Gentry

Published: July 3, 2008

Lynchburg’s talk radio station WLNI (105.9 FM) now belongs to a Washington, D.C.-based media company connected to the Washington Redskins.

Red Zebra Broadcasting purchased WLNI and two Roanoke music stations from Centennial Broadcasting on July 1.

Red Zebra did not make any programming changes except promising coverage of Redskins games this fall. But a company official said other changes could come later.

WLNI currently broadcasts Virginia Tech sports and Fox news. It has a local talk show called the Morningline and plays several talk shows throughout the day.

Bruce Gilbert, CEO of Red Zebra Broadcasting, said his company started in 2006 with an all-sports station in Washington, D.C.

Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, is the company’s principal investor, Gilbert said.

The company bought a Richmond radio station in the fall of 2006 and a Norfolk/Virginia Beach station in 2007.

“For that entire time we’ve been looking for opportunities across the Mid-Atlantic,” Gilbert said. The Lynchburg and Roanoke region was an important market for them to fill in Virginia, he said.

On July 1, Red Zebra Broadcasting bought WLNI along with oldies station WLEQ/BOB-FM (106.9 FM) and rock station The Planet (101.5 FM / 97.9 FM).

Gilbert said the company wants to take some time before making any changes to format or programming at the stations.

“The people that are there are very good at what they do,” he said. “We do want it to be business as usual.”

However, “we wouldn’t be good businesspeople if we didn’t take a close look at everything” and consider changes, he said.

He said the company is glad to be in the Lynchburg market.

“There’s a lot of buzz about The Planet, and WLNI has a good foothold in Lynchburg,” Gilbert said. “And we’ll try to advance the oldies station as well.”

Centennial Broadcasting, which had owned WLNI since 2005, is based in the Winston-Salem, N.C., area.