Manuel Sarmento’s Prestige Media Group has filed a $50,000 agreement to buy talk station WSAR (1480 AM) and its Fall River-licensed translator W240EB (95.9 FM) from James Karam’s Bristol County Broadcasting, according to Insideradio.com.
Under the terms, Bristol County Broadcasting will pay half the cost of a tower so WSAR can broadcast from a Fall River site, a cost expected to exceed $100,000. Prestige will pay half the cost of moving the station to new studios, expected to exceed $20,000. Prestige does not own any other stations. When the sale closes, Bristol County Broadcasting will exit radio ownership.
The filing comes after a separate plan for the station fell through. In February, WSAR owners Jim and Bob Karam, along with Fall River businessmen Cliff Ponte and Michael Silvia, publisher of the Fall River Reporter, said a joint venture agreement for the management transition and planned relocation of the station had been mutually terminated.
Sarmento is the president of Prestige Auto Mart Inc.
