Coast 101.1 co-founder selling stake, taking a break
Andy Newman, one of the Coast 101.1's "two guys from Paradise," will be taking a little time off — after selling his half of the station for $1.8 million.
Newman sold his portion of the radio station he founded to his business partner Andrew Bell, the other guy from Paradise, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced Friday.
Newman told CBC he'd decided he wanted a change.
"I started very early in my career — I was 16 when I started — so I've had 34 years of the same industry, essentially, doing the same thing," he told CBC News.
"So I approached [Bell] some time ago, and said, 'Hey, what do you want to do with this?' and he said, 'Well, you know, I'll take it.'"
Newman said he's glad the station will continue on in local hands, and added the station has far exceeded his vision of what it could be when it started operating in 2004.
"We launched our Clarenville repeater last year. We've had great market share," he said. "We've had great ratings success, our listeners are very loyal. The business side of it has been very good."
Newman said he doesn't have immediate plans beyond taking some time off once he's done, sometime in the next couple of weeks.
"That is a commitment that I've made to my family," he said.
"If I resurface in the industry, it will likely not be in the same role, not even in the same market necessarily. My own plan is to take some time off and explore some other options that I have."
Bell wished his partner well.
"Andy has had over 30 years in the radio business, a fantastic career," he said. "He's been a great partner of mine, and I've really enjoyed working with him and building the station. We both bring a different skill set to the picture."
Bell said those different skill sets are a big factor in Coast's success, Newman in operations and Bell in strategy and sales.
"I'm going to continue on with it," Bell said. "I like the idea of a local station and local broadcasting, and I'll continue to drive the business and run the business and have fun doing so."