WCHL, Chapelboro to transfer ownership to Leslie Rudd

Chapel Hill’s top radio source for local news, sports and talk was bought out of bankruptcy by a Kansas-based investor this month.

WCHL 97.9 FM and its affiliate, community news and features website Chapelboro.com, are currently undergoing court proceedings to turn the business over to Leslie Rudd, founder of Leslie Rudd Investment Company, whose operating companies are primarily in the publishing and food and beverage industries.

Jim Heavner, WCHL’s previous owner, said he had hoped the company would be sold to a Chapel Hill resident but that Rudd’s bid was a happy surprise.

“By all accounts, (Rudd) is a superb and very successful businessman,” Heavner said in an email. “He certainly has the financial capability to do about anything with it, and he says he wants to make our programming even better. So all in all, I think this could be a great outcome for all, especially the community.”

WCHL’s bankruptcy wasn’t a surprise, but instead intentional, Heavner said. It was a strategy to thwart an attempted hostile takeover by a potential buyer who bought the company’s debt.

He said putting WCHL in the court’s protection by filing for bankruptcy allowed the company to be selective about its new owner.

In a statement posted on Chapelboro.com, Rudd said he is exploring the idea of taking on area investment partners to create a local ownership group for WCHL. He said this is something his investment company has done with other firms it has acquired.

Although the company is headquartered in Wichita, Kan., WCHL acting general manager Jan Bolick doesn’t see the new owner as an outsider.

“Leslie Rudd has lived in Chapel Hill, owned property here and is still a frequent visitor,” Bolick said in a statement posted on Chapelboro.com. “He loves this community and has many friends here; he also loves this radio station and wants to see it survive and flourish.”

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce President Aaron Martin Nelson shared that sentiment.

“We’re very excited to back a Chapel Hillian,” he said. “Often when a transition happens, you don’t get someone who knows the community that well.”

In 2013, the chamber inducted Heavner, the previous owner, into its Hall of Fame to honor his more than 40 years of business leadership and contributions to the community.

“I don’t attribute his bankruptcy to bad management or bad leadership,” said Nelson. “A bad thing happened to a very good businessman. It’s tragic for him to lose something he spent so much time building.”

Rudd will officially become the owner sometime this fall, WCHL news director Blake Hodge said.

“The sale isn’t really final until the FCC license transfers,” he said. “It takes several weeks from the time of the court approval to go through the FCC process.”

Even with a new owner, day-to-day operations at the station will remain about the same.

“We’re all coming in and working on the same things that we were doing before,” Hodge said. “We’re just looking forward to continuing doing those things.”

@rachel_herzog

city@dailytarheel.com