Glenn Wheatley’s Sunshine Coast stations sold to radio veterans

The parent company of two Sunshine Coast radio stations associated with the late Glenn Wheatley has been sold to a consortium of veteran radio executives.

Wheatley’s EON Broadcasting Pty Ltd owned and operated 91.9 SEA FM and 92.7 MIX FM through its subsidiary Sunshine Coast Broadcasters Pty Ltd.

EON, and the two stations, have now been acquired by Great Southern Land Media Group.

GSL Media is led by Rhys Holleran, a former CEO of Southern Cross Austereo (SCA); Guy Dobson, former chief creative officer of SCA; and Nick Scott, who was formerly the general manager of SCA’s Gold Coast operations.

EON CEO John Williams will continue to lead the network, with Holleran saying the trio would add value to the leadership where they can.

“GSL’s media focus will continue to be strong, local content that is relevant to its audience and working with local business to achieve their business goals,” Holleran confirmed.

He added that they were thrilled to acquire the assets and that the Sunshine Coast team is one of the best in the business.

Williams said he was anticipating a smooth transaction.

“It’s a touch of deja’vu in that eight years ago the current owners purchased the stations from Southern Cross Austereo and here we are now with former executives buying back the farm,” he said.

“Rhys and his group are well known to the majority of staff so the transition should be very smooth.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

The two stations were put on the market last September.

Wheatley owned 10% of EON, with the remainder under Southern African firm Oceania Capital Partners.

EON was the name of the company he used when he and a consortium set up the first commercial FM station in Melbourne.

Today EON FM, which went to air on July 11,1980, is known as Triple M Melbourne.

Wheatley later shifted his focus on his artist management company Talentworks, with the careers of John Farnham and Delta Goodrem keeping him busy, nightclubs such as Billboard and the Ivy, and with non-music business projects.

He returned to radio in 2013, when he and Oceania Capital Partners bought the two Sunshine Coast stations for $17.75 million, following the merger of Southern Cross and Austereo.

In 2017 he and Williams expanded EON with the buy-out of Sydney station 2CH for $5.6 million from Macquarie Radio.

It was sold three years later for $11.2 million to Pacific Star Network, now known as SEN.

Glenn Wheatley died earlier this month from COVID-19-related complications at the age of 74.