• by Fern Siegel , March 3, 2020

WABC Radio, New York’s talk-radio station, was purchased by Red Apple Media for $12.5 million. Cumulus Media was the previous owner.

Billionaire John Catsimatidis is Chairman-CEO of Red Apple Group, the parent company of Red Apple Media. Red Apple Group invests in the real-estate, insurance, finance and supermarket industries.

Per Forbes, Catsimatidis is worth an estimated $2.7 billion. He is best known for his supermarket chain Gristedes.

Known as 77 WABC, the station has a strong conservative talk format, including “Bernie & Sid in the Morning,” the “Brian Kilmeade Show,” “Curtis & Juliet,” “The Ben Shapiro Show” and “The Mark Levin Show.”

In an interview with Radio Ink last June, Castimatidis said he did not plan to alter the format.

WABC began broadcasting in 1921, originally as WJZ in Newark, New Jersey. It is one of the oldest radio stations in the U.S.

Chad Lopez, vice president/market manager, 77 WABC, stated: “John’s passion for radio, along with his appreciation of the rich history of the station, makes this partnership ideal as we work together to give New York City what it deserves: the best news-talk station in the tri-state.”

Catsimatidis added the acquisition was “exciting for our company to be stepping into the broadcasting industry with WABC as the anchor for our growing media assets.”

In January, The Real Deal reported Catsimatidis might run for New York City mayor again in 2021. Catsimatidis, a major GOP donor, ran for mayor as a Republican in 2013, but lost the Republican primary to Joe Lhota, a former deputy mayor. Lhota lost the general election to Bill de Blasio.

The 2021 mayoral race is expected to be competitive. Term limits prevent Mayor de Blasio from running for re-election.