Emmis finally unloads Chicago and NYC properties ...

Unfortunately, it's to Randy Michaels, the Destroyer of Radio Planets. This story's been bouncing around since yesterday morning...this version has all of the pertinent details.

Read it all at chicagoradioandmedia.com.

For many months, Emmis Communications has been shopping around its two failing Chicago stations WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM, as well as one New York station, WRXP-FM. These stations will very soon have a new owner and operator: Merlin Media LLC. The new company is owned and run by the disgraced ex-CEO of Tribune Company, Clear Channel and Jacor: Randy Michaels.

Since last year, Emmis Communications had been asking $100 million for WRXP and $100 million for the combo of WLUP/WKQX. There is no word from Emmis on the exact price of this transaction to Merlin Media just yet*. Michaels' Merlin Media, along with Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR, purchased controlling interest in the three Emmis stations. Emmis is not completely out of the picture, as it will retain what it describes as "a significant minority stake."