COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – It was announced earlier this week that a central Ohio alternative radio station was leaving the airwaves after 33 years.

However, there are now two competing narratives regarding the future of CD 92.9 – the brand’s owner and the owner of the station’s FCC license.

CD 92.9 owner Randy Malloy said in a social post on Friday that the station was unable to finalize a deal to keep it on the 92.9 FM frequency, ending its run on Jan. 31.

That new deal was to be an extension of an existing December 2020 agreement between the station and its FCC licensees, Delmar Communications Inc. and ICS Communications Inc.

“After extensive discussions, the FCC licensees… and WWCD, Ltd. Dba CD 92.9 were unable to finalize an agreement that would have allowed us to continue broadcasting on the FM dial,” Malloy said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.

However, Brent Casagrande, president of Delmar-owned station My 96.7 FM, said in a social media post that it would continue operating an alternative music radio station at that frequency come Feb. 1.

“Randy Malloy, president of WWCD Ltd has opted not to renew the agreement,” the post reads. “At midnight February 1, 2024, WWCD in its current form will cease broadcasting on the Delmar frequencies. Delmar Media is happy to report it will continue the legacy of WWCD by debuting A new and refreshing version of The NEW WWCD at that time.”

But what will that new WWCD sound like? Not like the current version, if Malloy has any say in the matter.

In another X post, CD 92.9 FM said it was asked by Delmar and ICS if the station would “transfer our music library and website to them.”

“We advised them that we own the intellectual property and that if they wished to use it, they would need to purchase it,” the post reads.

Delmar General Manager Mark Litton said Saturday that he has reached out via email to Malloy asking for a price on the music library and the website, but that Malloy had yet to respond.

The post further alleges that Delmar is violating its 2020 licensing agreement with Malloy and the station by insinuating that the Feb. 1 launch will be a “continuation of the brand that we spent 30+ years building.”

“They are using our intellectual property without authorization, and we will be taking legal action to protect our brand,” the 92.9 FM post states.

Litton said if Malloy does not want to sell his music library, Delmar will find its own access to the music it plans on broadcasting on the frequency. Litton concedes that Malloy does have a good amount of live recordings of acts that have played in Columbus, and while those would be “nice to have,” they are not integral to Delmar’s plans to move forward.

A website Casagrande mentions in his post, www.cd929columbus.com, is currently under construction, while www.cd929fm.com, the station’s current website, remains operational.

An update from CD 92.9 FM on Saturday gave its side of what transpired, breaking down how negotiations between WWCD Ltd. and Delmar/ICS happened.

According to the 92.9 FM update, ICS and Delmar were set to increase the station’s monthly payment to the companies to $26,000, plus an additional $14,000 for expenses related to two AM and two FM stations that WWCD simulcasted to.

Litton said the $26,000 payment was in accordance with the 2020 agreement, which had monthly payments increasing by $2,000 a month per year of the agreement (monthly payments increased to $22,000 at the end of 2021, $24,000 at the end of 2022, and $26,000 at the end of 2023).

WWCD Ltd. said in the post that the station proposed a 10-year deal that would allow it to purchase the FCC license for the 92.9 frequency and related assets, but that deal was initially rejected in September of 2023.

However, according to the update, Delmar presented a deal that would have allowed WWCD Ltd. to purchase those assets, accepting the offer in principle on Oct. 12. In the update, Malloy said he did not receive the details of the agreement until early December, at which point, he claims, ICS and Delmar added provisions that were not included in the initial agreement. Those provisions include a termination clause should the station make a payment one day late; that provision was later changed to a 10% penalty for any payment late by one day and immediate termination of the deal should the payment and penalty not be paid within seven days, according to the update.

Litton said the proposed agreement also contained a provision that WWCD Ltd. would forfeit any money it paid toward the purchase of the FCC license should the agreement be terminated for late payment.

WWCD Ltd. told ICS and Delmar that it could not sign any agreement containing those provisions.

Litton said those late payment provisions were worked into the deal because WWCD Ltd. had a history of late payments, which resulted in additional costs for Delmar in accounting and attorney’s fees.

On Dec. 20, 11 days before the 2020 licensing agreement was to end, Delmar told WWCD that it would not be moving forward with the purchase agreement. Delmar gave WWCD a 30-day extension, which ends Jan. 31.

As it currently stands, the current WWCD 92.9 is set to end broadcasting at midnight on Jan. 31; it remains to be seen what will take over that frequency come Feb. 1 and what that station will sound like.

“We are going to play that music and we are going to continue serving the community that listens to that music,” Litton said.

Litton added that Delmar owns the radio station and the license to broadcast on the 92.9 frequency and the license to use the WWCD call letters (assigned by the FCC) and that it would move forward with the format, regardless of whether or not Malloy strikes a deal to sell the CD 92.9 branding.

Malloy said he would continue broadcasting via the CD 92.9 website. Whether the brand finds a new terrestrial radio home remains to be seen.