Connoisseur Media LLC is an American media company. It is based in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

and led by Jeff Warshaw. Connoisseur operates radio stations and digital assets in markets across the

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. cities of Billings, Fredrick, Maryland; Bay Shore, Hempstead, Smithtown, Patchogue, New York; and Bridgeport, New Haven, Southport and Westport, Connecticut.

History

Founder and CEO, Jeff Warshaw built his first station while still a student at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1993, Warshaw founded Connoisseur Communications Partners LP, which he later sold to Cumulus Broadcasting in 2000 for $258 million. In 2004, he and CFO Mike Driscoll formed Connoisseur Media which operates 13 radio stations and various digital markets. The first company's acquisition involved several stations in Bloomington, Illinois with capital from hedge fund Farallon Capital, along with its founders. Through a combination of start-ups, move-ins, and acquisitions, Connoisseur Media expanded. It maintains a significant presence in the New York City media market. It was announced in July 2015 that Petrus Holding Company LP had invested in Connoisseur Media. On March 27, 2019, Connoisseur Media announced that it would acquire

WFRE WFRE (99.9 FM) is a radio station located in Frederick, Maryland, in the United States. It plays Country music and is owned by Connoisseur Media along with its sister station 930 WFMD. Despite the station being located approximately 45 mil ...

and sister station WFMD from the Aloha Station Trust in exchange for transferring its

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

cluster to iHeartMedia. The sale closed on May 21, 2019. On April 14, 2022, Connoisseur Media made an offer to purchase the assets of Atlanta, GA based Cumulus Media (Symbol: CMLS) including its debt. Cumulus has a national footprint as well as the owners of Westwood One, a satellite driven company which provides programming to non-affiliated entities. The stock price of CMLS popped 39% at the announcement.

Company Portfolio

Radio

Bay Shore, New York * WBZO (103.1 Max FM) Bridgeport, Connecticut * WEZN-FM (Star 99.9) * WICC (WICC600)

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the inter ...

* WFMD (Free Talk 930 WFMD) *

(Free Country 99.9 WFRE) Hempstead, New York * WHLI (1100 WHLI) * WKJY (K98.3) New Haven, Connecticut * WPLR (99.1 PLR) * WYBC-FM (94.3 WYBC) Patchogue, New York * WALK-FM (WALK 97.5) Smithtown, New York * WWSK (The Shark 94.3) Southport, Connecticut * WFOX (95.9 The Fox)

* WEBE (WEBE108)

References

External links

* https://connoisseurmedia.com/ {{Connoisseur Media Radio broadcasting companies of the United States Companies based in Westport, Connecticut Connoisseur Media radio stations