[Brantford Expositor]

Brantford's Christian radio station has been sold to the owners of Jewel 92 and 1380 CKPC, pending approval from the CRTC.

Unlike a failed 2011 bid to buy 93.9 Faith FM, this one is almost certain to be approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, said Dave MacDonald, president of Sound of Faith Broadcasting.

"It's written into the application that they're not going to change the format," MacDonald said about the sale to Dufferin Communications Inc., which is owned by Evanov Communications.

Evanov owns more than a dozen radio stations of various formats in Ontario and around Canada.

The failed pitch to buy Faith FM in 2011 ended up attracting MacDonald and Sound of Faith, which made a successful bid for the station, purchasing it for $355,000.

"We bit off more than we could chew," he admitted. "It's been difficult to try and run it from Kitchener. We've improved the sound but we've never been able to turn a profit."

Sound of Faith also owns stations in Woodstock, London and Kitchener.

The Brantford station, whose only on-air personality is Kevin Rolph, relies on a simulcast from Kitchener.

MacDonald said the sale will provide Sound of Faith with $500,000, which it will use to operate its other stations. The plan calls for Faith FM to move into the CKPC station on West Street from its home on Greenwich Street.

"We can bring a lot of efficiencies to the table," said Carmela Laurignano, Evanov's vice-president and radio group manager.

"It makes perfect sense for us to have a third radio station in the market since we operate the other two. We can share the building, expertise and our creative and production departments."

Laurignano said the public needn't worry about the station losing its Christian format.

"We asked to take it over under the same conditions and we can't arbitrarily change the format. We're actually very excited to include it in our radio family."

Evanov plans to strengthen the station which, Laurignano said, has been operating on a shoestring. Those plans will likely mean jobs, she said, and some new infrastructure.

Both Laurignano and MacDonald are encouraging letters of support for the sale before Sept. 10. Go to http://bit.ly/1VuPMDJ for more information or to submit a comment.

A hearing will be held in October. MacDonald said he expects a positive decision by the end of the year. Meanwhile,

Dufferin Communications has offered to move the station into the CKPC building, rent-free, within the next month or two.

"It's highly unlikely, but if the CRTC turns us down, Dufferin will give us a year rent-free.

"We gave it our best shot but these guys have the money and resources to make it work."