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Published January 11, 2024 at 6:25 p.m.
Two local businessmen, both former Republican candidates for office, are buying central Vermont WDEV radio from the Squier family, which has owned it for nearly a century.
The sale to Myers Mermel and Scott Milne comes about two months after longtime owner Ken Squier, a racing and radio legend, died at age 88.
The sale to Myers Mermel and Scott Milne comes about two months after longtime owner Ken Squier, a racing and radio legend, died at age 88.
The two buyers, along with Squier's daughter, Ashley Squier, announced the pending sale on Thursday on air from WDEV’s studio in Waterbury.
“We didn’t want to just turn the station over to anybody who was interested; we wanted buyers that understood the legacy that WDEV has been for all of us in central Vermont,” said Squier, who inherited the station. She noted that she's a teacher and her brother is an engineer in California; neither want to run the company. The family had been looking for a new owner since last summer, she added.
In an interview, Mermel said the new owners want to focus on the local programming that has been a hallmark of the station’s offerings.
“What we want to do is drill down on Vermont,” he said. Mermel, 61, added that he doesn't expect to change the format "as long as I'm alive."
Station manager Steve Cormier said the existing team of workers is expected to stay in place. The sale of WDEV, along with two other stations — WLVB and WCVT — requires FCC approval.
Mermel, an investment banker and businessman who lives in Manchester, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2022. More recently, he served as president and director of the Ethan Allen Institute, a conservative Vermont think tank. But Mermel was pushed out in September and, VTDigger.org reported, he complained to the state Attorney General’s Office that he’d been removed in retaliation for requesting more financial transparency from the group.
In an interview, Mermel said the new owners want to focus on the local programming that has been a hallmark of the station’s offerings.
“What we want to do is drill down on Vermont,” he said. Mermel, 61, added that he doesn't expect to change the format "as long as I'm alive."
Station manager Steve Cormier said the existing team of workers is expected to stay in place. The sale of WDEV, along with two other stations — WLVB and WCVT — requires FCC approval.
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Milne, owner of South Burlington-based Milne Travel, has run for a variety of statewide seats as a Republican, including lieutenant governor in 2020. Most notably, he nearly knocked off incumbent Democratic governor Peter Shumlin in the 2014 election.
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Milne described himself as a fellow investor and said he expects to remain focused on his travel business, leaving some of the programming decision making to Mermel.
“I think Myers is putting his personal life on hold to learn this business,” Milne said, adding that both see the station as a public asset.
“Obviously, the way we can learn this the best is learning from the owners of the radio station, the people who are listening right now,” Milne said. “There’s a lot of opportunity to become an even more important part of Vermont.”
He asked listeners to participate. “Be vocal," Milne said. "Let us know what we’re doing right, what we could do differently.”
“I think Myers is putting his personal life on hold to learn this business,” Milne said, adding that both see the station as a public asset.
“Obviously, the way we can learn this the best is learning from the owners of the radio station, the people who are listening right now,” Milne said. “There’s a lot of opportunity to become an even more important part of Vermont.”
He asked listeners to participate. “Be vocal," Milne said. "Let us know what we’re doing right, what we could do differently.”
WDEV is that increasingly rare thing on the radio landscape: a privately owned station with programming rich in local news and commentary, including several weekly interviews with journalists and newsmakers. Ken Squier, a Waterbury native, spent decades hosting a twice-daily sports show and quirky weekly program called “Music to Go to the Dump By.” He also built the Thunder Road auto racetrack in Barre and owned it for more than 50 years before selling it in 2017.
Mark Johnson, a longtime Vermont journalist who hosted a radio show on WDEV for 16 years, described it as one of the last local community radio stations to survive after a wave of consolidation that started in the 1990s. Its local coverage is crucial, he said.
"When the floods in early 1992 happened and people asked [Gov.] Howard Dean what was going on, he said he tuned in to WDEV," Johnson said. "When Tropical Storm Irene happened, literally everyone who worked at WDEV went out in the field and covered the news. I don't think a lot of radio stations can make that same claim."
Johnson was happy to hear that the new owners seem to share Ken Squier's vision. "When the floods in early 1992 happened and people asked [Gov.] Howard Dean what was going on, he said he tuned in to WDEV," Johnson said. "When Tropical Storm Irene happened, literally everyone who worked at WDEV went out in the field and covered the news. I don't think a lot of radio stations can make that same claim."
Mermel said WDEV survives on advertising revenues, and he's confident it can continue to do so.
"People want to know what is going on locally," he said.
"People want to know what is going on locally," he said.
"I'm just glad some big national chain didn't come in and scoop them up and put on a preprogrammed music format that is running in Cleveland and Minneapolis and Tampa — and also in Waterbury, Vt.," Johnson said. "That, to me, would be a real shame."
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About The Authors
Kevin McCallum
Bio:
Kevin McCallum is a political reporter at Seven Days, covering the Statehouse and state government. He previously was a reporter at The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Kevin McCallum is a political reporter at Seven Days, covering the Statehouse and state government. He previously was a reporter at The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Anne Wallace Allen
Bio:
Anne Wallace Allen covers breaking news and business stories for Seven Days. She was the editor at the Idaho Business Review and a reporter for VTDigger and the Associated Press in Montpelier.
Anne Wallace Allen covers breaking news and business stories for Seven Days. She was the editor at the Idaho Business Review and a reporter for VTDigger and the Associated Press in Montpelier.
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