On Tuesday, October 3, WJMC, WAQE and WKFX radio stations officially transferred from the long-time ownership of Tom Koser and TKC Inc., to Armada Media Partners. The seven Rice Lake radio stations join 30 other small-market, local stations owned by Armada in Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, Kansas and Colorado. The company’s owners, including Tommy Thompson, were in Rice Lake Tuesday, to meet with community members and staff. The former governor and former Secretary of Health and Human Services, said Armada was committed to maintaining the quality, locally-focused programming built by Koser.
“First off, I think Tom Koser and the Koser family have a tradition of being excellent. And we want to participate and continue on with that,” Thompson said to staff. “We’re going to be good stewards. We’re going to be good for the community like you are. We are going to follow in the Tom Koser tradition.”
Koser is retaining ownership of WRLS in Hayward and will remain at the Rice Lake stations in a managerial role.