Altoona radio station WRTA-AM will soon be under new ownership.

Claysburg-based Lightner Communications LLC has filed an asset purchase agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to acquire WRTA-AM and three other radio stations owned by Rebecca Barger — the owner of three corporations and four stations.

The purchase agreement calls for Lightner to take over:

— WRTA-AM 1240 in Altoona; Handsome Brothers’ “Talkradio 98.5,” FM translator W253CJ and WKMC-AM 1370, an oldies station using FM translator W241CQ at 96.1 MHz.

— Sherlock Broadcasting’s WBXQ-FM 94.3 in Patton, using a four-watt booster in Altoona for its “Q94” classic rock programming.

— Sounds Good Media’s WBRX-FM 94.7 in Cresson, airing an adult contemporary format as “Mix 94.7.”

The acquisition of the properties by Lightner sees the company acquire the studio building and land at 2513 Sixth Ave. in Altoona for $275,000. All tower sites, equipment, ongoing business goodwill and licenses for each station are being sold for $100,000 each (totaling $400,000).

“If everything goes exactly as planned, the approval process is normally around 60 days or so,” Matt Lightner, president of Lightner Communications, said. “The FCC is very diligent on any license transfers (purchases), so it’s not unheard of for them to take a little longer to approve if they have any questions or are busy processing other applications. After FCC approval, we then can take over the operation of the stations typically within 10 days.”

Lightner had purchased WTRN-AM and WTRN-FM, Tyrone in 2017 and WWGE-AM and WYUP-FM (JACK-FM), Ebensburg, in 2018.

Lightner had done engineering work for the Bargers for several years.

Lightner and Scott Barger, general manager of Sounds Good Media, talked a couple of times about a possible sale.

“He told me his mother, Rebecca Barger, who serves as the president of the stations, would like to retire, and they were considering a sale,” Lightner said. “They were looking for the right buyer who would take care of their staff, as many of them have been there for a long time and are considered family. The fact that they have a great staff in place is one of the major reasons I decided to purchase the stations.”

Barger said, “My mother wanted to retire and was ready to move on to other opportunities. He (Lightner) was the most qualified buyer. We had some other interest, but they weren’t as qualified as Matt. When we needed something, he was the guy we would call.”

The addition of Barger’s staff is important to Lightner.

“Adding their staff, with the staff we already have at WTRN/WYUP, and having a total of six stations in the market just made sense,” he said. “Everyone was happy that the stations will remain locally owned. Being a smaller, locally owned company will put us in a better position to be very versatile to work with business of all sizes to come up with an advertising package to fit their price range.”

Lightner said the first focus for the stations will be on building sales.

“The programming of the stations is fairly solid,” he said. “I would like to further expand WRTA with some more local programming and local news content. We also want to bring back some local high school sports broadcasts in the future, like WRTA did in the past. Being local is what radio is all about, and this sets us apart from the national online streaming services, which have nothing local.

“As far as the other stations, we are going to conduct some market research in the future and see if it makes sense to change anything with them. I don’t see any major changes coming soon, however, as the music formats are doing well.”